To this day I have no idea what the plot or point of this movie might be. But it doesn't matter because it features an out-of-nowhere climax that involves a stunningly fast knife throw. And it's got the Pork Chop Express.

Ohhh, you and I share a guilty pleasure, Mac. IMO, this one has gotten even better with age. Probably not one moviegoer in a thousand could get the joke when this movie came out. It was too esoteric. But movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" "Hero" and "Kill Bill" have familiarized mainstream American audiences with the conventions that this movie is parodying. I rewatched it recently, enjoyed it all over again, and relized that if it were released today, there would be a much better chance that people would get it.

I agree, DC. In fact, I'm throwing this one to the top of my Netflix list. Way back when I remember noting that the film's quick wit and overblown visuals were way beyond this film's B-movie facade. I bet a theatrical rerelease of "Big Trouble" would net some serious receipts.

In thinking about other movies to comment on for this inspired choice of fora, I realized that Kurt Russell almost deserves his own thread. Anxious to establish an adult, post-Disney image, he did a lot of work between 1981-1992, and a lot of it was in schlocky and/or campy material. All of the following movies he starred in deserve mention in a ‘guilty pleasures’ discussion: Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Overboard (1987), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Tango and Cash (1989), and Captain Ron (1992).

All of those movies are fun to watch, but also bad movies, guilty of stepping over the line from their intended genre into camp. One other thing they have in common, apart from a central performance by Kurt Russell, is that Russell plays the exact same character in each and every one of these movies. He went from being typecast in Disney movies to being typecast as the cynical, disaffected, down and out loner. Even in the best gig he snags in that period (e.g. Backdraft), that’s his character. Playing that one character accounts for about half his paychecks in that period.

I LOVE Big Trouble in Little China. It's so much fun!

And you're right about Russell playing one character in so many of his movies. I do like him in Stargate, though. He finally got rid of the flippant jackass in the role of Col. O'Neil. Too bad the series had to slip that characterization into the character a few years later (almost like the actor RDA was channeling the campiest of Kurt).

I love this flick so much. Jack Burton as the consummate macho asshole is so funny yet dead on! It's almost as if Burton is acting as a characature of himself.

But the best part of the entire film is the greatest bad ass next to Darth Vader, Lo Pan. Dude's ten feet tall! He shoots fire out of his eyes, how much more awesome is that?! And then there's the Storms..don't get me started on them.

Man, just don't make movies like that anymore.

I think Big Trouble in Little China is one of the best flicks ever made! I love this movie. Jack Burton is priceless, "We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we, Wang?"
Lo Pan!

I'd put this in my top 10 favorite movies along side another Kurt Russell movie: Tombstone.

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