Big Trouble in Little China

Hey, Do You Remember...?

Christopher Schrader

Tv & Film, Comedy

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2016

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The HDYR gang kicks off 2016 with a look back at John Carpenter's cult favorite Big Trouble in Little China. Carlos and Donna had never seen this one, so Chris was excited to hear how they'd react to the strange and wonderful world they were unknowingly stepping into. Although the film is largely beloved, one aspect that seems to remain pretty divisive is the decision to make the Jack Burton character completely unaware that he's not the central figure in this story. We have a fairly spirited discussion about the pros and cons of that choice and ultimately decide that the problem isn't really with Jack at all.

Other topics include: the project's origins as a western set in the 1880s, the rushed production and excessive studio meddling that may have compromised a couple of key elements, the original choices for the roles of Jack and Wang, expendable supporting characters that could have been merged or cut completely, the amazing fight choreography and how beautifully Carpenter staged those sequences, the one detail of Lo Pan's plan that he overlooked, the upcoming remake, and much much more!

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About The Show

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, do you remember Big Trouble in Little China?
0:07.0	Hello and welcome to Hey Do You Remember, a show where we reminisce about a movie or TV series we grew up with, then take off the rose-tinted glasses to see how it holds up.
0:31.6	I'm Chris.
0:32.3	I'm Donna.
0:33.1	And I'm Carlos.
0:34.1	And today we're revisiting Big Trouble in Little China.
0:53.3	Music I'm Carlos. And today we're revisiting Big Trouble in Little China. Devil Maycare truck driver Jack Burton finds himself caught in the middle of a centuries-old battle
0:57.9	after a group of bandits kidnapped the fiancé of his friend Wang Qi. The duo scours Chinatown
1:03.7	for information on her whereabouts and their search eventually puts them in the crosshairs of a
1:07.7	mysterious and powerful sorcerer who controls a secret underworld deep beneath
1:11.7	the city's streets. Big trouble in Little China is notable for being one of several collaborations
1:16.6	between director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell, but before they were involved, this was a
1:21.5	different film entirely. Although much of the backstory about Lopan's curse, warring factions, and
1:26.8	Chinese mysticism were in place,
1:28.7	it was originally a Western that took place in the 1880s.
1:32.5	The studio brought in a new writer to modernize it, but he did more than update the setting.
1:36.8	It was essentially a page one rewrite, and it was this draft that was rushed into production
1:41.3	and convinced Carpenter to come on board.
1:43.9	Excessive meddling from the suits at 20th century Fox tested the notoriously cantanker's director at every turn,
1:50.0	and unfortunately, there was no vindication when the film was released in the summer of 1986.
1:55.1	It crashed and burned at the box office and coupled with the tepid critical response,
1:59.5	Carpenter decided he was done working for the
	...

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