The best thing about this movie is that Jack is the sidekick to the story. He comes into the story and is along for the ride, like we the audience.

Kim Cattrell absolutely understood the assignment! She knew exactly what this movie was and how to play Gracie Law perfectly.

As a pre-teen boy when released, this movie was AWESOME! Semi-truck driving, martial arts fighting, guns, action, comedy, fantasy, monsters, etc. Not to mention girls with green eyes. 😉 This VHS got wore out!

I love the set up of Jacks reflexes early on and the payoff when he catches the knife and throws it back.

It wasn't a "walkie" it was a CB. And the glory of the CB is that you aren't talking to one person, you are talking to everybody on that channel.

James Hong as Lo Pan KILLED IT in this movie! Such a great 80's classic! Thanks for this one!

It IS supposed to be a silly movie. And I love its silliness. Especially the line, "What?! Huh?! What'll come out no more?"

This is seriously one of my top movies ever. Yes, it’s SUPPOSED to be weird, non-sensical, and self-aware. The line that does it for me, when Egg Chen just happens to be in the exact right spot at the right time to save Jack: Jack: “Egg! How’d you get up there??” Egg: “Wasn’t easy!” The movie is extremely aware it’s an unrealistic contrivance, and makes a point to NOT explain it. F’in GENIUS :D

When I was a kid and first saw this movie, I absolutely loved it. Even years later, it's still a great, crazy, supremely fun movie.

As a kid I didn't realize this movie was meant to be super over the top. I think it's brilliant now. Such a funny, silly, amazing movie.

John Carpenter and Kurt Russell were both against the cold open, but I think it’s one of the best ones in cinema. The low lighting and low camera angles create an air of tension and once Egg whips out his magic, it immediate shows the viewer that they are in for some weird shit. It’s also interesting that she compared Jack to Han Solo considering that Kurt Russell auditioned for the role of Han.

Definitely pained me to hear you call John Carpenter “the Halloween guy.” One of the most prolific directors of all time, even if film school doesn’t respect “genre”

Its written like a comic book. All the dialog is expository. Sometimes excessively, that’s one of many things that makes this movie so fun. Edit: I saw this in theaters on it's original run. I saw a lot of movies in the 80s. But you had to be quick, usually it was 3 weeks and out. Like Highlander, Real Genius, Top Secret, Heathers, and a bunch more.

I was 15 when this came out, and I was one of those "VHS Babes" (along with EARLY cable-TV) who fell in love with this movie and couldn't get enough of it. Another classic that has the same campy self-aware vibe is "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension".

One of the greatest action films of all time! Right up there with Remo Williams the Adventure Begins (starring the late Fred Ward R.I.P.). Which is also very much worth a watch. I love this movie so much!

James Hong aka David Lo Pan has got to be my favorite character actor of all time. His first role in 1954 and is still performing at age 94.

My favorite way to describe this movie is it's perfect for when you're in the mood for every type of movie at once. It's a comedy, fantasy, horror, martial arts, sci-fi, adventure, romance. Can't miss.

This is one of my favorite movies! The brilliance of it is that it's totally spoofing the tropes of wild martial arts movies, *_even while it uses those same tropes itself_* ! It's *_so_* self-aware! Add to that Jack as the comic sidekick who thinks he's the hero, and it's just wild. I did see it in the theater during its original run, but since then, I don't even know how many times I've seen this flick! 😀

"And he gets hit in the head with a rock... classic" Jack taking himself out for most of the finale perfectly encapsulates the subtext - that Jack is Wang's comedy sidekick.

Whenever John Carpenter and Kurt Russell team up, it’s always gold

During the filmmaker commentary, Carpenter said this was the kind of movie where audiences either get it and love it, and are immediately on board, or they don't get it, and never will.

John Carpenter really hit this one out of the park! Some of the best, most memorable lines EVER! Another great John Carpenter movie is "They Live," starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David.

I have adored this movie since childhood, a lot of it went over my head in my youth but watching it now I can really appreciate the humor of it.

I remember watching this and thinking that, 'It's like he's(Russell) is the sidekick and doesn't know it'. Then when he first tried to use the gun, I shouted, 'He *is* the sidekick'. Loved the movie ever since I realized it,lol.

This, along with The Goonies, and Labyrinth were the holy trifecta of movies for me as a kid in the late 80s. There was tons of other stuff I loved but nothing came close to those as young ‘un.

They absolutely knew what they were doing, though I would say it is more camp than satire. Even back when it was released, it felt like a throwback with the very direct dialogue and simple characters. You were smart to have picked up on the Westerns vibe as the script was originally written as a Western. It's clearly inspired by the martial arts films of the 70's, especially the Wuxia sub-genre. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the ultimate example of Wuxia. Others have mentioned the inversion of the standard action hero, that makes it a little difficult to follow the first time watching. On rewatch you really grow to love Jack's false bravado and all around incompetency.

The fight Choreographer was James Lew, who later won an Emmy for his fight choreography. This was the first time he did choreography. What a way to start a career. I got a chance to work with him. Great guy. He'd be tickled by your comment.

If you ever get a chance to see this in a revival theater, go! There's nothing like seeing this with an audience!

Fun fact, Egg Shen’s base before going into the sewers was the Ghostbusters firehouse set dressed differently. They even kept the fire poll

Saw it at a friends house who had HBO at 8 or 9 years old. Still to this day I consider it one of the most brilliantly funny movies I've ever seen.

The thing I love most about Big trouble in little China is how Jack Burton is actually the sidekick character, but the film treats him like he's the hero.

My favorite gag is Jack walking in holding a telephone when posing as the telephone repairman… because reasons.

Aw yis, I love this movie! Jack is the sidekick is his own movie and both he and the audience are equally confused for most of the film.

Great reaction! As for The 'Miller Time' exchange: When she says 'downwind of me when it's Miller time', she is saying he smells of booze. Miller a beer brand. Also when he responds with 'You know what I say when it's Miller Time', it's in response to an ad about it's Miller Time, or when it's time to drink, it's Miller time.

"Why does this guy feel so fake?" Wang is the realest one in history. You'll also appreciate this movie much better when you realize Jack Burton is the sidekick that thinks he's the main the entire time😅 Russell shoulda won an oscar for this. Sadly, these types of films don't get recognized.

This movie has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. Always caught it on television whenever it was on. Only the beginning 15 minutes was shot on location in San Francisco, the rest was in studio sets. The moment Jack's truck goes into the alleyway where the standoff takes place is when the movie transitions from location to film set.

this movie has the 4 greatest Asian character actors in Hollywood. James Hong as the evil wizard, Victor Wong as the good wizard. Al Leong as the gang thug with the knives, and Gerald Okamura as the gang thug with the 2 pistols.

One of my fav lines: "How'd you get up there?" "It wasn't easy!"

One of my most-watched movies. I saw it as a teenager in the late 80s, and it was one of my iconic movies of the 80s, and like Better Off Dead, a true cult classic.

Carpenter wanted to try his hand at making a Chinese Kung Fu chopsockey. These movies are often silly with supernatural elements and lots of kung fu fighting. I think he succeeded spectacularly. This is my favorite Carpenter movie followed by Vampires. Speaking of which, it's almost October. You might want to consider seeing John Carpenter's Vampires this year. Just a suggestion.

Kurt Russell originally auditioned for Han Solo hence the vibes

The more I revisit beloved 80s movies such as this one, the more I realise just how obliviously we got on board with 80s movie tropes. Like "OK, movie. I'm with you. Got it!" and not ponder it any further.

Loved your reaction, Shanelle. Yes! This is 80s. We loved to adventure, climb trees, explore construction sites, play in creeks and get crayfish, etc. This is era of D&D when we explored spooky caverns and fought monsters, we also had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :). This movie was meant to be a good story with humorous. But what this also showed was that Jack and Wang were good friends and good friends help each other. Yes, Jack was bumbling, but he was genuine and wanted to help his friend. :) I love this movie! This movie is a cult classic. I would put it up there with Ghostbusters.

You'll find that you will be able to watch this treat repeatedly for many years and never tire of it. That is the mark of a true gem. Been watching it for 25 years and it will still deliver what my brain needs. Entertain me oh movie making sorcerer.

I can't express how much this movie impacted me as a little kid in the 80s. This was my Wizard of Oz. It got to the point that it was incorrectly informing my worldview, my uncle had to tell me that Chinese people are not born knowing martial arts.

Classic movie! Not sure what trivia you've done as I've just started watching but the movie bombed due to experimental marketing. The advert for it was in newspapers initially with no trailer released at all, and it was a cartoony pic of Kurt Russell in costume, with the tagline "Who is Jack Burton, and where is he going?" And not only did nobody give a sh*t, nobody even realised it was Kurt nor even a movie. Eventually TV showings got it a cult following though. If you notice though, Jack Burton technically does absolutely nothing throughout the movie. Fight scenes he's either knocked out or incapacitated, and if he does fight, he gets his butt kicked. He literally just along for the ride while everyone else does all the work xD Edit: OH! The Three Storms... Lightning was totally the inspiration for Raiden in Mortal Kombat, and Lo Pan was the inspiration for Shang Tsung.

I couldn't click on this video fast enough when it popped up in my notifications. This was one of my family's absolute FAVORITES growing up in the 80's and well into the 90's. I can't remember if we watched it in the theater or not but we watched it at home on VHS ALL THE FREAKING TIME. I think you nailed all the vibes - supremely weird and campy, making fun of itself, tons of great action, silly, but some good creepy parts and jumps. Can't wait until my kids are old enough to watch this!

This makes more sense when you realize Jack is the clueless sidekick and the movie is from his perspective

Fun fact: Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles once cited Kurt Russell's character as an influence for him towards the creation of Casey Jones, who would become a fan favorite and staple character of the property. So crazy sometimes on how works in pop culture end up feeding off of each other.

Shanelle: "What the heck man. What's going on?" Me: Those were everyone's thoughts when they first see this. Just sit there and enjoy the ride.

The directors commentary for this is absolute gold. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell just gabbing about making movies over the course of 30 years.

Big Trouble in Little China is so wonderfully unpredictable. It's a theme park ride, like you said. With twists and turns and ups and downs and carnival food and clowns.

Love watching your reactions. A movie that is kinda like this one if you haven’t watched it yet is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. That’s a cult classic that’s really weird and a bit off.

I still have this VHS, and yes, that's how I found out about it. It has become my top 5- movies of the 1980s (along with the Predator and the Aliens. My parents LOVED the juxtaposition of the Western psychology and point of view vs Chinese mysticism.

Love this film, just big dumb fun. The monster at the end is actually perfectly friendly, once that gets sorted out he & Jack basically become trucker versions of Han & Chewie.

You wanted weird, you picked the right movie. Love this movie.

30:16 - Because we're viewing the story from Jack's perspective, and Jack believes he's the hero (so much so, he even tells "his" story over the radio), but he's really just stuck in the middle of the action.

This is one of my absolute favorite 80s movies. For another, a fun comedy adventure with Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper (of all pairings!), try "Vibes".

Lo Pan is the greatest movie villain of all time. Yes, this is a hill I am prepared to die on.

"It's all in the reflexes" became a pop culture thing long after the film. I still say it when it applies, even if nobody gets me when I do. :)

Random fact: The guy playing the expanding storm, Carter Wong, is still practicing martial arts and posting on TikTok to this day. Amazing.

3:44 - Everyone: it's a C.B. radio. You talk and everyone listens.

Not Shanelle asking halfway through “Is this a comedy?” 😂

"Is he a conspiracy theorist?" No, he's just kind of an idiot. 😂

I think part of the reason the dialogue is so charmingly clunky is that it in fact was originally conceived as a western!

I was totally a vhs kid. I rented this because I was a huge horror nut back then, and it was John Carpenter. I expected a horror, and what I got was one of the wildest, over the top, action-adventure comedies ever made. I love it. Me and friends still quote this movie, 30+ years later.

Jack was rambling on the radio to other truck drivers and radio operator jockies. Early version of a podcast. Keeping each other awake.

One of my favourite movies!!! Thank you for watching/reacting to it!! Oh yes, I own it on DVD and re-watch it every once and a while.

Lo Pan is James Wong, and from "Seinfeld, party of four!", to Doug Heffernan's landlord, to his most recent Oscar, he is a legendary actor.

Truckers used CB radio channels to communicate and some guys would use a channel to almost do a radio show which is what Jack seems to be doing.

This movie was more culturally relevant in 1986. Back in the 1970's, off of the success of Bruce Lee's legendary "Enter the Dragon," China began producing cheap martial arts flicks by the dozen that frequently had supernatural aspects based upon ancient Chinese legends in which warriors could train to do superhuman things like leap buildings, levitate, harness the wind, hypnotize enemies, shoot lightning bolts, control minds, or kill with a single punch -- George Lucas ripped off these legends for "The Force" in "Star Wars," and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" also had aspects of this twenty years later. These movies were usually period pieces with costumes from old Chinese dynasties, a period of time in which male warriors sported long hair in ponytails and wore the tunics and leggings that the warriors do in these movies, and fought hand to hand with a variety of exotic weapons. In the US, these movies usually played on local TV on Saturday afternoons, usually poorly dubbed into English which added to their charm, and were wildly popular; a number of forgotten 80's comedy movies and TV shows refer to them. When this movie came out in 1986, everyone understood that it was a satire of that genre of movies in a way that viewers today probably miss because those old 70's martial arts movies don't play on TV every weekend anymore.

One of my all time favorites. It gets better every time I watch it. Easter eggs everywhere. I saw it when it first came out.

My Mom's Chinese. She said there's no legit Chinese mythology about this movie, but she still loved it. :)

Im 43, and this movie was a staple of my childhood. I've watched it a hundred times, and it gets better and better every time.

That's how they talk in supernatural Sam and Dean be saying each other names so many times lol

Kurt Russel did his ode to John Wayne. Listen to his tone and inflection. This movie is just non-stop fun.

You have finally experienced a classic! So many quotable lines!: "Black blood of the Earth, you mean oil? " I mean Black Blood of the Earth!" " You will come out no more!" What will come out no more?!"

Yes, the movie is intentionally camp. Carpenter was also well aware of Hong Kong martial arts fantasy movies, something a lot of Americans weren't aware of in the mid-80's, and wanted to do an American version of it.

I will still die on this hill, but the way Lightning is portrayed here is the way Raiden in Mortal Kombat should have been in the movie. ;)

You got it! Every adjective you used was exactly right! it's a strange movie, but Carpenter knew exactly what he was doing. Carpenter drained as many martial arts performers as he could get from Asia for his fights. Like many Carpenter films, it found its audience after the theatrical run and later became a classic.

No hating on Wang. He is the hero of this story. Jack is the sidekick who thinks he's the hero, which is a cool plot device. Great film.

The orangutan Wild Man creature wasn't on the truck to be scary. Now that he's no longer Lo Pan's slave he just wanted some love and friendship. It's a shame we never got a sequel about his and Jack's continuing adventures.

If I am remembering correctly, John Carpenter told Kurt Russell that his character is a sidekick that thinks he is the hero of the story. Of course the real hero is Wang. This movie is one that every time you watch it you will appreciate it even more.

JACK BURTON ALWAYS SAYS..... THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL.

this movie was an 80's thing, ya had to be there. As a kid I absolutely loved it.

I went to a convention were the two/three storm soldiers said they really respected John Carpenter for honoring Chinese mythology and culture and fighting the studios executives who wanted the typical narrative about Chinese people. 🙌

James Hong, still doing voice work at 94! To this day, my friend only knows him as Lo Pan.

Im convinced that Egg is the Gandalf of this story. Immortal for the purpose of stopping Lo-Pan.

Shanelle when the gang members appear at airport: "Oh yeah, this is a weird one." Oh you aint see nothing yet babe

I will always believe in "Big Trouble In Little China". I got tickets to an ADVANCED screening, two weeks before it's release in theaters. 20th Century Fox gave me the info & talk about foreshadowing. Fox really didn't know what type of movie this was,plus the studio had two other bigger hits on deck for July & August, ALIENS &The Fly. The screening was held on a Tuesday at 8 pm, in a theater that was in a Massachusetts mall. We found the theater & there was a Fox rep to check us in. There was cool swag too - a huge stack of the theatrical one-sheet poster & a big box full of Jack Burton tank tops. All in attendance for the movie - 10 people. Yeah, ten. "Big Trouble" looked great & sounded awesome in Dolby Stereo. Nobody took any of the posters or tank tops..., except me! I asked the Fox rep what was going to happen to the freebies & she replied that usually they get thrown out & I could take what I wanted. I, like John Carpenter & Kurt Russell, thought this was going to be a monster hit, so I took half the stack of the posters & the Fox rep let me take the box full of the tank tops. She said, "You gotta put the posters in something. Put them in the box! You made my job a lot easier! Thanks!" It took me seven years to wear out the tank tops. Big Trouble In Little China was released in January of 1987 & that's where it started it's path to Cult status.

This was Carpenter's ode to American Action AND Kung Fu movies.

I am just barely old enough to have seen this in the theater. It is my alltime favourite movie.

Was in college when the movie came out. Didn't see it in the movies but had it on VHS and watched it with my roommate hundreds of times, knew every line of it - always quoted the drinking the potion scene whenever we we're drinking ourselves (LOL!!). Yes, this was director's John Carpenters homage to the Chinese 70's martial art films he grew up loving with a Western vibe (hence Kurt Russell's John Wayne as Jack Burton). It was so cheesy and corny you had to love it! Once at a comic con convention my roommate ran into the actor who played David Lo Pan (James Hong). Although he's been in many other films, my friend said upon meeting him "OMG! It's David Lo Pan!". LOL!! He got his autograph for him and one for me on a photo with James Hong & David Duchovny as he had stared in an episode of the X-Files. :)

I always thought about it as a modern pulp magazine, seen through the perspective of a sidekick, who thinks he's the hero...

This was a Chinese Kung-Fu movie with an American Cowboy hero dropped into the mix. They teased Jack's reflexes for the entire movie. His whole purpose in the story was to kill Lo-pan.

The three guys with the hats are the Three Storm, Lo Pan’s henchmen. Thunder, Rain, and Lightning

Missed it at the theater at 16, and never really even heard anything about it .. until cable. Saw it once and then became a life long fan of the movie. I could not count how many times we watched this on HBO, or Showtime, or whatever it was. Not long after, we got a VCR and it got recorded and watched constantly :)

Kurt Russel was channeling John Wayne through this whole movie with the accent. "it's all in the relexes".

This is my favorite Kurt Russell role. He is so full of it throughout the movie. Definitely first saw this on VHS at a sleepover.

4:40 - He's not being fake but is instead vocalizing immigrant passion and drive. For immigrants (especially from Asia), family is super important, to the point where immigrants work their fingers to the bone to scrape enough money to get spouses, significant others, and relatives legally processed to come over to the U.S.