Big Trouble in Little China

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Big Trouble in Little China
Image:Usposter.jpg Promotional poster
Directed by	John Carpenter
Produced by	Larry J. Franco
Written by	Adaptation: W. D. Richter Screenplay: Gary Goldman David Z. Weinstein
Starring	Kurt Russell Kim Cattrall Dennis Dun James Hong Victor Wong
Music by	John Carpenter Alan Howarth
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	Steve Mirkovich Mark Warner Edward A. Warschilka
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	Image:Flag of the United States.svg July 2, 1986
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000 (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Big Trouble in Little China (also known as John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China) is a 1986 comedy/action film, directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall, set in San Francisco's Chinatown. Although, originally envisioned as a Western set in the 1880s, screenwriter W. D. Richter (and director of cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) was hired to rewrite the script extensively and modernize everything.

Big Trouble was a commercial failure, grossing $11,100,000 in North America and well below its estimated $25,000,000 budget.^[1] It received critically mixed reviews which left Carpenter disillusioned with Hollywood and influencing his decision to become an independent filmmaker yet again. The film has since gone on to become a cult film due in large part to its success on home video.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Main cast 3 Production history 3.1 Screenplay 3.2 Casting 3.3 Pre-production 3.4 Principal photography 4 References to Chinese mysticism 5 Soundtrack 5.1 Track listing 6 Reaction 7 Other media 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Plot

The film "begins with the notion that the visible part of Chinatown is just the tip of the iceberg - that once you penetrate the facade of chop-suey parlors and laundries, there is a vast subterranean network of temples and dungeons, caverns and throne rooms and torture chambers. "^[2] When truck driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) and his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun)go to the airport to meet friends arriving on a flight from China, bandits from Chinatown kidnap Wang's green-eyed girlfriend (Suzee Pai).

To rescue her, Burton and Chi go into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown, where they face a number of "death-defying challenge[s]" and battle "magicians, sorcerers, karate masters and a 2,000-year-old man"^[3]– an ancient sorcerer named Lo Pan (James Hong). Centuries ago, Lo Pan was put under a curse, and the only way that he can permanently break the curse and regain his human form is by marrying a woman with green eyes (Miao Yin) and sacrificing her. Lo Pan is served by a ruthless street gang, the "Wing Kong", and by the "Three Storms" – three mystical henchmen named Thunder, Lightning and Rain. Jack and Wang are aided in their quest by lawyer Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), a tour bus-driving sorcerer named Egg Shen (Victor Wong), Wang's friend Eddie Lee (Donald Li), and a helpful street gang, the Chang Sing.

[edit] Main cast

Actor/Actress	Character
Kurt Russell	Jack Burton
Kim Cattrall	Gracie Law
Dennis Dun	Wang Chi
James Hong	David Lo Pan
Victor Wong	Egg Shen
Kate Burton	Margo
Donald Li	Eddie Lee
Carter Wong	Thunder
Peter Kwong	Rain
James Pax	Lightning
Suzee Pai	Miao Yin
Chao Li Chi	Uncle Chu
Noble Craig	Sewer monster

[edit] Production history

[edit] Screenplay

The first version of the screenplay was written by first-time screenwriters Gary Goldman and David Weinstein. They had written a Western originally set in the 1880s with Jack Burton being a cowboy who rides into town. Producer Paul Monash bought their script and had them do at least one rewrite, but still didn’t like the results. He remembers, “The problems came largely from the fact it was set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, which affected everything – style, dialogue, action.”^[4] Goldman and Weinstein left the project because they did not want to change the setting to a contemporary one as per Monash’s wishes and felt that they had done their best.

Along with his co-producer Keith Barish, Monash brought in screenwriter W. D. Richter, a veteran script doctor (and director of cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) to extensively rewrite the script as he felt that the Wild West and fantasy elements didn’t work together. The screenwriter modernized everything. Almost everything in the original script was discarded except for Lo Pan’s story.^[5] Richter realized that “what it needed wasn’t a rewrite but a complete overhaul. It was a dreadful screenplay. This happens often when scripts are bought and there’s no intention that the original writers will stay on.”^[4]

Richter used Rosemary's Baby as his template, presenting “the foreground story in a familiar context – rather than San Francisco at the turn-of-the-century, which distances the audience immediately – and just have one simple remove, the world underground, you have a much better chance of making direct contact with the audience.”^[4]

Carpenter made his own additions to Richter’s rewrites which included strengthening the Gracie Law role and linking her to Chinatown, removing a few action sequences due to budgetary restrictions and eliminating material deemed offensive to Chinese Americans. The characters in the film reminded Carpenter “of the characters in Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday. These are very 1930s, Howard Hawks people.”^[5] The rapid-fire delivery of dialogue, especially between Jack Burton and Gracie Law, is an example of what the director is referring to.

Carpenter was disappointed that Richter didn’t get a proper screenwriting credit on the movie because of a ruling by the Writers Guild of America, west that gave it to Goldman and Weinstein based on the WGA screenwriting credit system which protects original writers.

[edit] Casting

Barish and Monash first offered the project to Carpenter in July 1985. He had read the Goldman/Weinstein script and deemed it “outrageously unreadable though it had many interesting elements.”^[6]

To compete with rival production The Golden Child’s casting of box office draw Eddie Murphy, Carpenter wanted a big star of his own and both Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson were considered but were busy.^[6] The studio wanted to cast Kurt Russell because they felt that he was an up-and-coming star. Initially, Russell wasn’t that interested in the screenplay and the character of Jack Burton because he felt that there was “a number of different ways to approach Jack, but I didn’t know if there was a way that would be interesting enough for this movie.”^[7] After talking to Carpenter and reading the script a couple more times, he got a handle on the character and liked the notion of having “never played a hero who has so many faults. Jack is and isn’t the hero. He falls on his ass as much as he comes through. This guy is a real blowhard. He’s a lot of hot air, very self-assured, a screw-up.”^[7] Furthermore, the actor felt that "at heart he thinks he's Indiana Jones but the circumstances are always too much for him."^[8] Russell felt that the film would be a hard one to market. "This is a difficult picture to sell because it's hard to explain. It's a mixture of the real history of Chinatown in San Francisco blended with Chinese legend and lore. It's bizarre stuff. There are only a handful of non-Asian actors in the cast."^[8]

John Carpenter had seen Dennis Dun in Year of the Dragon and liked his work in that film. He met the actor twice before casting him in the role of Wang Chi only a few days before principal photography.^[9] The martial arts sequences weren’t hard for Dun who had “dabbled” in training as a kid and done Chinese opera as an adult.^[9] He was drawn to the portrayal of Asian characters in the movie as he said, “I’m seeing Chinese actors getting to do stuff that American movies usually don’t let them do. I’ve never seen this type of role for an Asian in an American film.”^[4]

The studio pressured Carpenter to cast a rock star in the role of Gracie Law, Jack Burton's love interest and constant source of aggravation. For Carpenter there was no question, he wanted Kim Cattrall. The studio wasn't keen on the idea because at the time Cattrall was primarily known for raunchy comedies like Porky's and Police Academy. She was drawn to the movie because of the way her character was portrayed. “I’m not screaming for help the whole time. I think the humor comes out of the situations and my relationship with Jack Burton. I’m the brains and he’s the brawn.”^[4]

[edit] Pre-production

Problems began to arise when Carpenter learned that the next Eddie Murphy vehicle, The Golden Child, featured a similar theme and was going to be released around the same time as Big Trouble in Little China. (As it happened, Carpenter was asked by Paramount Pictures to direct The Golden Child). He remarked in an interview, “How many adventure pictures dealing with Chinese mysticism have been released by the major studios in the past 20 years? For two of them to come along at the exact same time is more than mere coincidence.”^[6] To beat the rival production at being released in theaters, Big Trouble went into production in October 1985 so that it could open in July 1986, five months before The Golden Child’s Christmas release.

Production designer John Lloyd designed the elaborate underground sets and re-created Chinatown with three-story buildings, roads, streetlights, sewers and so on. This was necessary for the staging of complicated special effects and kung fu fight sequences that would have been very hard to do on location.^[4] This forced the filmmaker to shoot the film in 15 weeks with a $25 million budget.

[edit] Principal photography

For the film’s many fight scenes Carpenter “worked with my martial arts choreographer, James Lew, who literally planned out every move in advance. I used every cheap gag – trampolines, wires, reverse movements and upside down sets. It was much like photographing a dance.”^[6]

[edit] References to Chinese mysticism

Some of the Chinese mythology in the film is based on actual history. Lo Pan is a famous legend in Chinese history. He was a “shadow emperor”^[6] appointed by the first sovereign emperor Chan Che Wong. Lo Pan was put on the throne as an impersonator because Wong was afraid of being assassinated. However, Lo Pan tried to take over and was cursed by Wong to exist without flesh for 2,000 years until he could marry a girl with green eyes.^[6]

Egg Shen divines "difficulty at the beginning" which is a hexagram from the Book of Changes or I Ching. Lo Pan is the name of the compass used for geomancy or feng shui. It literally means everything bowl - the device that reveals the secrets of the universe.

[edit] Soundtrack

Big Trouble in Little China (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Image:Bigtroublecd.jpg
Soundtrack by John Carpenter Alan Howarth
Released	November 21, 1996
Recorded	1986
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	71:35
Label	Supercollector
Producer	John Carpenter
Professional reviews
All Music Guide Image:3 stars.svg link

Carpenter wanted to avoid the usual clichés as he found that “other scores for American movies about Chinese characters are basically rinky tink, chop suey music. I didn’t want that for Big Trouble.”^[6] Carpenter instead opted for his trademark synthesizer score mixed with rock ‘n’ roll music.

A soundtrack album, produced by Carpenter, was released in 1986 on Demon Records and featured nine tracks for a total of just over 43 minutes. It was re-released on CD in 1992. In 1996, an expanded and remastered edition was released by Supercollector. It included two versions of Carpenter and his band, the Coupe DeVilles' "Big Trouble in Little China" theme song, three tracks from Howarth's previously unreleased score for Backstabbed, and a track from Escape from New York, entitled, "Atlanta Bank Robbery."

[edit] Track listing

1. Coup de Villes - "Big Trouble in Little China" 3:13
2. "Pork Chop Express" 3:40
3. "The Alley" 2:00
4. "Here Come the Storms" 2:20
5. "Lo Pan's Domain" 4:30
6. "Escape from Wing Kong" 8:00
7. "Into the Spirit Path" 7:07
8. "The Great Arcade" 10:00
9. "The Final Escape" 4:47
10. Coup de Villes - "Big Trouble in Little China" -Reprise- (3:08)

Backstabbed

1. "Opening" (3:35)
2. "Alexandra" (5:57)
3. "Blue Planet Interlude/Final Stab" (5:41)

Escape from New York

1. "Atlanta Bank Robbery" (3:31)

Both soundtrack albums are currently out-of-print.

[edit] Reaction

Opening in 1,053 theaters on July 4, 1986, the film grossed $2,723,211 in its opening weekend and went on to gross $11,100,000 in North America, well below its estimated budget of $25 million, as of July 12, 2007.^[10]

Ron Base, in his review for the Toronto Star, praised Russell's performance. "He does a great John Wayne imitation. But he's not just mimicking these heroes, he is using them to give his own character a broad, satiric edge."^[11] Walter Goodman in the New York Times wrote, "In kidding the flavorsome proceedings even as he gets the juice out of them, the director, John Carpenter, is conspicuously with it."^[12] However, Paul Attanasio, in the Washington Post, criticized the screenwriters for being "much better at introducing a character than they are at developing one."^[13]

After the commercial and critical failure of the film, Carpenter became very disillusioned with Hollywood and became an independent filmmaker.^[14] He said in an interview, “The experience [of Big Trouble] was the reason I stopped making movies for the Hollywood studios. I won’t work for them again. I think Big Trouble is a wonderful film, and I’m very proud of it. But the reception it received, and the reasons for that reception, were too much for me to deal with. I’m too old for that sort of bullshit.” Since its initial release it has developed a cult following and is now well received by critics.^[15]

[edit] Other media

• An official video game based on the movie was released for the ZX Spectrum,^[16] Amstrad CPC^[17] and Commodore 64.^[18]

• Jim Butcher, author of the Codex Alera novels, has confirmed he based the name of the elemental entities in his books (Furies) from dialog in this movie.

• In the first bar from the movie Death Proof, Jack's shirt is seen hanging on the wall several times behind the table the girls are sitting at.

• James Hong, the eccentric Lo Pan, has gone on to be a very popular Asian stock actor, appearing in Seinfeild and many other television programs. He also played "Lo Pan", a wheel-chair-ridden eccentric, rich "godfather of Chinatown" in "Chuck Vs. the Sizzling Shimp"", an episode of the sci-fi geek series Chuck.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Big Trouble in Little China at the Internet Movie Database
• Big Trouble in Little China at John Carpenter's official website
• The Wing Kong Exchange
• The Wing Kong Exhange - Big Trouble on the Magic Mountain
• Erasing Clouds retrospective article

v • d • e Films directed by John Carpenter
Feature films	Dark Star • Assault on Precinct 13 • Halloween • The Fog • Escape from New York • The Thing • Christine • Starman • Big Trouble in Little China • Prince of Darkness • They Live • Memoirs of an Invisible Man • In the Mouth of Madness • Village of the Damned • Escape from L.A. • Vampires • Ghosts of Mars • Psychopath
Made for television	Someone's Watching Me • Elvis • Body Bags • John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns • John Carpenter's Pro-Life

de:Big Trouble in Little China

es:Golpe en la Pequeña China fr:Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin it:Grosso guaio a Chinatown ja:ゴーストハンターズ ru:Большой переполох в маленьком Китае (фильм)