Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
★★★ — Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
There are films that arrive with perfectly reasonable ambitions and somehow end up being something else entirely, something stranger and more alive than anyone planned. Escape from New York had a bit of that quality, and John Carpenter has always had a talent for genre films that refuse to sit still. Big Trouble in Little China, released in 1986 through 20th Century Fox and produced under the SLM Production Group and Taft Entertainment Pictures banner, is perhaps the most extreme example of that restlessness. On paper it is a fairly straightforward action adventure: a kidnapping, a rescue mission, a villain who needs to be stopped. In practice, it is something considerably harder to categorise.
The film drops us into San Francisco's Chinatown, where truck driver Jack Burton gets pulled into an ancient supernatural conflict after his friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is snatched by the followers of the sorcerer Lo Pan, a figure of considerable and very peculiar power. Carpenter was, by 1986, a director with a strong body of genre work behind him, from the lean early tension of Assault on Precinct 13 through to the sardonic science fiction of They Live, which followed two years later. Big Trouble sits somewhere in the middle of that run, tonally distinct from most of his output and clearly relishing the freedom to be genuinely, cheerfully odd. The production design leans hard into a comic-book version of Chinese mythology and martial arts cinema, with sets and creature work that feel more hand-crafted than polished but unremarkable, which suits the material rather well.
Kurt Russell takes the lead as Jack Burton, and it is a performance that requires a particular kind of confidence to pull off. Russell had already shown real range across his career, and here he commits without reservation to a character who is, at his core, a figure of fun. James Hong plays Lo Pan with relish, chewing scenery in the best possible way, while Dennis Dun as Wang Chi provides genuine warmth and, in practice, does most of the actual heroic work. Kim Cattrall, then best known for her comedy roles, holds her own in a part that could easily have been decorative. Victor Wong rounds out the principal cast as the worldly-wise Egg Shen, a character who brings a kind of grounded mythology to proceedings that might otherwise float away entirely. This was not, by any measure, a box office triumph on its initial release, but it found its audience steadily over the years that followed, which is often the trajectory that suits films like this.
Big Trouble in Little China 1986) isn’t just a movie, it’s a neon-soaked, kung fu-infused fever dream disguised as an action comedy. Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, a loudmouthed trucker with zero self-awareness who stumbles into a centuries-old mystical war beneath the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown. He’s all bravado and backwards baseball caps, convinced he’s the hero even when he’s clearly out of his depth. And that’s the joke: he’s not in on it. Is it supposed to be funny? I guess so but it’s more “laugh with how insane this is” than straightforward comedy. The tone is wild, the logic is nonexistent, and the world-building is pure fantasy masquerading as urban legend. One minute you’re in a greasy spoon diner, the next you’re fighting sorcerers, flying skulls, and eight-foot-tall henchmen named Thunder. Kim Cattrall brings glamour and grit as love interest Gracie Law. It’s fun in bursts and John Carpenter’s direction gives it a pulpy, comic-book energy. But yeah, it’s weird. Not always coherent, often silly, and definitely not for everyone. It’s a cult classic for a reason: bold, bizarre, and bursting with style. Not a great film by traditional standards, but a damn entertaining one if you embrace the madness. Just don’t expect logic. Expect lightning demons. And maybe a little justice.
I keep coming back to the word "committed" when I think about this one. Whatever its wobbles in logic or coherence, nobody on screen seems even slightly embarrassed to be there, and that collective buy-in is what carries you through the more chaotic stretches. It reminds me a little of what I enjoy about Tombstone, another Russell film where the sheer energy of the performances does a lot of heavy lifting. Big Trouble in Little China is the kind of film that rewards you for meeting it on its own terms rather than the ones you brought in with you. Leave your expectations at the door, preferably next to a six-demon bag. You will not regret it.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1986 | Watched: 2025-10-10
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Big Trouble in Little China (1986) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
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Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
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Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from John Carpenter: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) · They Live (1988) · The Fog (1980) · Escape from New York (1981)
More with Kurt Russell: The Fox and the Hound (1981) · Bone Tomahawk (2015) · Tombstone (1993) · Escape from New York (1981)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
