Big Trouble in Little China
Directed by John Carpenter
Truck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry a girl with green eyes in order to return to the human realm.
Where to Watch Big Trouble in Little China
- Jacob O’NealMarch 21, 2025Before I knew who John Carpenter was I was a fan. I was 10 years old and my cousins were visiting from Colorado. Our parents decided to take us to the movies and they chose Big Trouble In Little China, a movie starring Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall. Directed by Carpenter with a script by Gary Goldman (Total Recall, Navy Seals), WD Richter (The Adventures Of Backaroo Banzai, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) and David Z Weinstein with his only produced script. The movie centers around Jack Burton, a blustering hero who consistently bumbles his way through the story. Jack and his Chinese friend, Wang (played by Denis Dun), go to the airport to pick up Wang’s girlfriend. She’s kidnapped by a Chinese gang called the Lords Of Death to be married off and sacrificed to Lo Pan, an ancient sorcerer (the great James Hong) who was cursed to be incorporeal for eternity unless he marries and kills a wife with green eyes. Enter Wang’s girlfriend. Jack and Wang enlist a group of rag tag Chinese friends to go against this evil and save the girl. This movie is cheesy and moves through all kinds of random story beats at break neck speed. Somehow it works. The jokes are character driven and not just stupid pratfalls and verbal insults like many modern films. Russell taps into that John Wayne bravado to make his high ego/low intelligence character such fun to watch that, if this movie had succeeded in 1986, we’d be begging for multiple sequels just to see Jack fighting random evils in the world while driving his 18 wheeler, the Pork Chop Express, across the country. Carpenter saw this script and somehow it suited his sensibilities enough to create something totally unique and perfectly 80’s. The action and wire stunts were done with the right sort of over the top amazingness that you’d expect from the wire-fu movies of the 70’s. Cattrall was serviceable as the potential love interest for Russell. Their chemistry was good, but there wasn’t much for her to do. Dun and Hong were perfect in their respective roles, especially Hong as Lo Pan. He was such a fun villain that Hong played a character named Lo Pan more than once, including an episode of Chuck in the early 2000’s that took place in Chinatown. This movie may be cheesy and very goofy, but that is the charm of this film and why it stands the test of time. It’s a must watch for anyone who loves kung fu, Kurt Russell, John Carpenter or supernatural comedy. Actually, everyone should watch this movie.
- ZokkiieMarch 28, 2026It’s kind of all over the place, but in a fun, confident way. Things just keep happening and the movie barely slows down, so you don’t really stop to question it—you just go with it. The tone flips between serious and totally ridiculous, and somehow it mostly works. Not everything lands, but it’s got a ton of personality and doesn’t feel like anything else. It knows exactly what it is and just leans into it, which makes it way more fun than it should be.
- MR_BigTimeMarch 2, 2026Big Trouble in Little China is easily among the top 10 action comedies of the 80s. Rewatching it 50 years after release, I have to say it's still a giant of the genre, even by modern standards. Its special effects and plot's political correctness (or lack thereof) aside, it's plain old dumb fun that will never get old. On a separate note, I only recently learned that Mortal Kombat's Raiden and Shang Tsung were inspired by this film. I have to say the resemblance is uncanny. No horseshit.
Big Trouble in Little China Trivia
Big Trouble in Little China was released on July 2, 1986.
Big Trouble in Little China was directed by John Carpenter.
Big Trouble in Little China has a runtime of 1h 40m.
Big Trouble in Little China was produced by Larry Franco.
Truck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry a girl with green eyes in order to return to the human realm.
The key characters in Big Trouble in Little China are Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), Wang Chi (Dennis Dun).
Big Trouble in Little China is rated PG-13.
Big Trouble in Little China is an Action, Adventure, Fantasy film.
Big Trouble in Little China has an audience rating of 8.2 out of 10.
Big Trouble in Little China had a budget of $25M.
Big Trouble in Little China has made $11.1M at the box office.