Big Trouble in Little China

[Too Much Fun]

I don't understand why so many people like "The Thing" and "Escape from New York", but hate "Escape From L.A.". I think it's better than both of them. "The Thing" and "Escape from New York" are boring except for the hilariously crazy special effects and make-up.

"Escape From L.A." is just way more entertaining overall. Filled with fantastic character actors in small, but memorably funny roles (i.e. Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier) and a consistently fun story with a really cool and surprising ending. And since it was made in the 90s, it has even more elaborate action set pieces than the other two.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The films Carpenter made in the 70s and 80s were far superior to his work from the 90s onwards (In the Mouth of Madness being his one decent post-80s film - the others are mediocre).

His earlier films are much sharper all around. His work on The Thing in particular is very effective at creating and sustaining an atmosphere of paranoid tension, punctuated by bursts of macabre humor and eye-popping craziness. I don't find any part of it boring.

 

[Too Much Fun]

The films Carpenter made in the 70s and 80s were far superior to his work from the 90s onwards

I can agree on that point, even though I like "Escape from L.A.". I don't think anything he's made (or that he will make) could ever top "Halloween" (my favourite movie of his, and favourite horror movie overall), "They Live" is awesome, and I think "Starman" is a wonderful love story and science fiction piece that is very underrated. I just think "The Thing" is way overrated. It really doesn't do anything for me, other than those wild monster effects that were so delightfully sick and over-the-top that they had me laughing my ass off, and "Escape from New York" was not bad, just forgettable.

I watched "The Thing" with two friends because its iconic status and cult following on the Internet lead me to believe it would be great, but we were all disappointed by it. We all felt it was sort of a poor man's "Alien" or "Terminator". If we hadn't seen those movies, it might have seemed fresh and exciting, but compared to them it just doesn't seem that original or thrilling, again...aside from how brilliantly deranged, imaginative, and fun the creature effects were.

To steer this a little back on topic, which of the movies mentioned between us would you say "Big Trouble in Little China" is most similar to? For me, Carpenter is very hit and miss and I wonder which side I'd put that movie on if I saw it.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I don't see much similarity between The Thing and The Terminator (and The Thing came out two years before The Terminator). There's some similarity to Alien, but significant differences, too. The Thing is about paranoia that those around you might not be who they seem and that you can't really trust anybody, and how that paranoia turns people against each other. I think the characterization and acting in the film are top notch, but to each his own.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Well if you look below the surface and think really hard about what the themes and issues of the movie are, I understand how you could come up with that interpretation. For my friends and I, in the moment of watching it, it didn't seem to be much more than your standard 'heroes pursued by some dangerous, often unseen, perceived-to-be-unstoppable threat' formula movie. It's good for that kind of movie, but we agreed not as good as "Terminator" or "Alien".

 

[RichMerk]

A more recent movie that has the same kind of kung-fu wackiness and always kinda reminded me of 'Big Trouble' is 'Shaolin Soccer'. Love that one too.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Fair enough. Mileages vary after all. As for Big Trouble in Little China, I definitely put it into the positive side of the ledger in terms of Carpenter's work, although it's more of a cool action comedy that causes me to chuckle rather than being a laugh riot. The first time I saw it I was expecting it to be funnier, but it's more of a mellow film really.

 

[Daneel]

I think "Starman" is a wonderful love story and science fiction piece that is very underrated.

This I agree with. I think it's a beautiful love story and a nice sci-fi film to boot. Jeff Bridges totally earned that Best Actor nomination, and Karen Allen was great too.

I just think "The Thing" is way overrated.

And here's where you lost me. I think The Thing one of the best sci-fi/horror films ever, right up there with Alien (and I personally don't see too many similarities between the two of them). Sure, the effects in The Thing are a large part of why it's so memorable, but I find the creepy atmosphere of terror, paranoia, and suspicion to be extremely effective as well. In my opinion, it's an excellent film -- probably Carpenter's best.

I miss 80s John Carpenter.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've never seen this, but I did see "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension", which I heard this was originally supposed to be a sequel to.

No, I don't think so. The only connection was that W.D. Richter (who directed the Banzai flick) was hired to write the adaptation of BTILC, which was originally a western. Richter adapted it into the form we saw. Other than that, the two films have no connection at all.

 

[flandry84]

Correct me if I'm wrong(I didn't google it).The truck,or Jack's CB 'handle' was The pork chop express.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Correct me if I'm wrong(I didn't google it).The truck,or Jack's CB 'handle' was The pork chop express.

His rig is called the Pork Chop Express.

 

[Zachary Smith]

I love the fact that I'm vindicated on this: that "Big Trouble" is now well-regarded, even if as a "cult" movie.

I worked at a movie theater in the 1980's and this played where I was working when it came out. I was ALWAYS slipping into the back of the auditorium to watch pieces of it. I thought is was a brilliant movie then and it's one of my favorites to this day. I never could understand why it didn't do better at the box office. Sure, it was goofy but, like "Ghostbusters" WASN'T goofy? And that had lines around the block. Michael JACKSON came to see "Ghostbusters" where I was working.

"Big Trouble" remains one of my top fave films.

MY favorite line: "Son of a BITCH must PAY," said, of course, in that curious John Wayne drawl . . .

 

[Nerys Myk]

Russell was channeling John Wayne in BTILC just as he was channeling Clint Eastwood in Escape from New York.

 

[sojourner]

I've never seen this, but I did see "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension", which I heard this was originally supposed to be a sequel to.

No, I don't think so. The only connection was that W.D. Richter (who directed the Banzai flick) was hired to write the adaptation of BTILC, which was originally a western. Richter adapted it into the form we saw. Other than that, the two films have no connection at all.

Actually, YES, it was. See here:
http://www.wingkong.net/files/faq.html#2.21

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The info that Big Trouble in Little China was originally planned as a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai comes from a posting on IMDB that was later debunked. It has since been removed from IMDB. You can read about it here on the Buckaroo Banzai FAQ

 

[the_wildcard]

Haha great movie. "I need a girl with green eyes!"

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

A more recent movie that has the same kind of kung-fu wackiness and always kinda reminded me of 'Big Trouble' is 'Shaolin Soccer'. Love that one too.

Dude, how can you mention those two without saying anything about Kung Fu Hustle? The movie is pure win, along with those two.

 

[Forbin]

The line that made my roomful of freinds crack up was when Jack and Wang were examining a paper screen they needed to go thru.

Jack: Paper?
Wang: Paper.
Jack: Fuck it. (smashes thru)

 

[sojourner]

The info that Big Trouble in Little China was originally planned as a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai comes from a posting on IMDB that was later debunked. It has since been removed from IMDB. You can read about it here on the Buckaroo Banzai FAQ

Hmmm, I think your source trumps mine. I love teh interwebs!