WATCH THE UNRATED VERSION - YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID - I'M NOT KIDDING I'm so sorry for those of you who did not see it in the theater, for one thing because movies are cooler that way, and for another because even the super-special unrated two disc version is edited to make the film shorter. Which is sort of okay, because at certain points the movie can drag on and on and become throughly uninteresting, in between very cool gun and kung fu scenes. That's the problem with this movie: between the VERY cool action parts there is endless "what's going on in this forest who are you who am i" fluff. we get the point, now splatter a zombie or kung fu a gangster. It's uninteresting when the audience knows the basic plot but the characters don't; besides the movie is obviously about the super cool shooting kung fu massacre scenes, of which there are too few. Also they really skimped on the samurai flashback scenes; those could, no, should have been awesome, but the fights lasted ten seconds. I should stress that there isn't enough action only because what action there is is SO COOL THE WHOLE MOVIE SHOULD BE ONE LONG FIGHT. To sum up this movie: watch it for the pretty good amount of gore, the usually excellent kung fu/gun/swordplay, the over the top "cool" acting, and the sometimes hilarious jokes. And watch the unrated version or you're a fool. The rated R version is piteously wimpy, I could not stand it. I highly recommend this imperfect but effin cool movie to anyone interested in gore, guns, samurais, gangsters, zombies, kung fu, and a few good laughs.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Big Trouble in Little China
(1986)
"Classic" is not strong enough, how about "Holy"
6 September 2003
I EMPHATICALLY recommend Big Trouble in Little China, but I must say that if you didn't grow up with this movie, I can see being very entertained but not in awe of it. I and many others like me repeatedly viewed this film throughout childhood and still love it just as much now as then. Nowadays, a new viewer who is past puberty will regard it with a more skeptical eye, comparing it to things it shouldn't be compared to. Some newcomers might get it right away, but I don't think they get the same thrill out of it as they might have as a child in the eighties. That's why this film needs to be shared with children (especially boys), who hopefully won't be too jaded by flashy nineties schlock to be impressed, which I think is exactly the problem for adults who are new to the movie. Perhaps it can't be taught, the reverence I mean, but the movie isn't any less fun and awesome for new viewers, just less magical. I would rate it with stars or something but that's like trying to grade your own religion. I love you, Mr. Burton.
Tell Your Friends