Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Title: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Wong, Victor Wong

Review:

You guys ever seen The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)? That’s the one in which Peter Weller discovers a way to go to other dimensions by traveling through solid matter? Well, anyways, at the ending of that film, a sequel entitled: Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League was promised. Unfortunately, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai didn’t make much money at the box office, so that sequel never came to be. But there’s this myth amongst hard core Buckaroo fans that says that Big Trouble in Little China is actually the unofficial sequel to The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. How did this rumor come about? Well, I didn’t know this until the other day when I reviewed The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and one of my readers pointed this fact out to me, but W.D. Richter, the guy who wrote The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai also wrote Big Trouble in Little China. That’s right my friends, these two nutty, misunderstood films come from the same brilliant mind. Kind of makes sense don’t it?

 For those not in the know, Big Trouble in Little China is a ghost story about Lo Pan, an ancient Chinese emperor who died centuries ago but is now looking for a way to become flesh again. Problem is he has to marry a girl with green eyes in order to do so. Enter Wang Chi and Jack Burton, two buddies who are on their way to the airport to pick up Wang’s girlfriend ‘Miao Yin’, a Chinese girl who’s coming from China to reunite with Wang, her fiancé. Unfortunately, before Wang and Miao Yin can reunite she is kidnapped by a group of thugs who work for Lo Pan, the ghost who wants to be a man. Apparently Miao Yin is the girl who can fit his bill. She does have green eyes after all! Will Wang and Jack have what it takes to infiltrate Lo Pan’s temple and rescue Miao Yin before she marries Lo Pan? Will Jack ever get his truck back?  

All he wants is his truck back

I started my review for Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai by comparing both of these films, and I didn’t even know they were related in this way! My brain somehow connected both of these films in the same review, which I think is really weird. So anyhow, in my review for Buckaroo I compared the two because both of these films are so offbeat and bizarre that the studios that produced them just didn’t know how to market them to the masses. These movies are what are known in the film industry as a “tough sell” something that Hollywood doesn’t like at all, they like their films to be easily marketable, with an easily identifiable target audience. Who do you sell a movie like Big Trouble in Little China to? If you ask me I would’ve just sold it as a modern day Kung Fu flick, which it essentially is, but apparently the marketing department at 20^th Century Fox didn’t know what the hell to do with this movie, so they invested very little into promoting it. Another film lost millions because studios couldn’t make heads or tails of the film. Strange how easily a studio can get cold feet with a production because they think it’s too weird and it won’t make any money. But time always proves all these silly producers wrong, and so Big Trouble in Little China has become a solid cult favorite. The people who love this movie, really love this movie. This proves once again that studio heads know jack, they’ll market the hell out of Transformers 2, a terrible film in my opinion, but won’t market Big Trouble in Little China, which was very obviously a good movie.

Truth is, Big Trouble in Little China is an easy movie to love. I’m a huge fan so excuse me if I gush about it for the next few paragraphs.  It has so many fun characters, they can’t seem to ever stop yapping, and the stuff they talk about is just hilarious. I mean, seriously, how many of you folks out there agree that Big Trouble in Little China is one of the most quotable films ever? I know right? In the dvd commentary for this film Carpenter and Russell call Jack Burton’s dialog ‘Burtonisms’ which are basically little golden nuggets of wisdom that the character of Jack Burton spews throughout the whole movie. I’m talking about thought provoking stuff like:  “It’s all in the reflexes” and “You’d have to be some kind of a fool to think we’re all alone in this universe!” Trust me, there’s more where those came from, and if I’m not back in ten minutes “call the president!”  So yeah folks, what we have here is one of those extremely quotable films. I haven’t been quoting this movie all my life for nothing!

Going back to the whole thing about Big Trouble in Little China being an unofficial sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, the real dirt on the story is this:  the film had originally been written as a western by two guys: Gary Goldman (this is one of the guys who wrote the script for Total Recall (1989)) and David Z. Weinstein.  Apparently this version of the film was going to prove to be too expensive! In that script they didn’t steal Jacks truck, they stole his horse! So anyhow, thing is the studio thought it was going to be a tough movie to produce so they brought in W. D. Richter to rewrite the thing, they wanted him to set the story in a contemporary setting, so that audiences could identify better with it; funny how they still managed to produce a film that didn’t connect with audiences! But anyways, W. D. Richter took the opportunity to inject elements into the Big Trouble in Little China script that were meant for the unproduced Buckaroo Banzai sequel! Knowing  this takes my enjoyment of the film to a whole different level! Now I’m always going to see Burton as the truck driving version of Buckaroo Banzai! 

Aside from all these Buckaroo Banzai connections, Big Trouble in Little China is an extremely entertaining movie on its own. What I personally enjoy about it is how crazy it gets. We’re talking about a Chinese ghost that wants to be flesh again so he can rule the universe from beyond the grave, or check into a psycho ward, whichever comes first! We’re talking about a movie where characters can have sword battles in mid air and ancient sorcerers have huge magic battles! This is a film in which we can see flying eye monsters that have telepathic abilities! A film with characters that can manipulate lightning and air! I mean, here’s a film with a ten foot tall ghost who shoots light out his eyes for crying out loud! This my friends, was John Carpenter’s version of a Shaw Bros. Fantasy/ Kung Fu movie and I loved every second of it. There’s no denying it’s an offbeat film, but that’s what I love about it. Even Russell himself was afraid of making it because he was afraid it’d be too weird. You see, Kurt Russell had done a series of box office bombs before Big Trouble in Little China (for example Carpenter’s own The Thing (1982)) and he didn’t want to make another one. Yet, he committed to the film anyways because Carpenter and Russell are not just co-workers, these guys are friends, they’ve been making films since Escape from New York (1981)! Russell and Carpenter understand each other, it’s something that’s quite obvious when you hear the dvd commentary for Big Trouble In Little China. According to both Russell and Carpenter’s commentary, the film was getting great results with tests audiences, so much so that they both thought it was going to be a hit! Unfortunately, thanks to 20^th Century Fox’s botched marketing techniques, no one knew about the film when it was released and so kaput, it died.

But a movie flopping in theaters does not equal a bad film, in rare occasions it’s quite the opposite, the film simply slipped by the public’s consciousness. It’s not our fault that the studio didn’t sell it to us properly, something that’s supposed to be their forte. So anyways, even though Big Trouble in Little China was a huge money looser for the studio, I The Film Connoisseur, guarantee you’ll have a good time with it. Think about this: in what other film are you going to see a underground Chinese temple with glowing neon nights? Or people who become Kung Fu Masters by drinking out of a seven demon bag? Nowhere but in Big Trouble in Little China that’s where! This is a film that openly embraces its fantasy roots and asks no questions about it. We have monsters, magic, and Kung Fu in this movie, what’s not to like? James Wong is great as Lo Pan; a brilliant performance in what in my opinion is the best role of his life. Russell, Cattrall, both of the Wongs and Dunn, they all make for a Motley Crue of crazy, funny, people who all act like they are high on coke, they reminded me of Buckaroo’s group of sidekicks, “ The Hong Kong Cavaliers”, aha! If you ask me, this is one of Carpenter’s best films; production values, visual effects and script wise, this movie is top notch every step of the way. At the very least it’s on my list of top five John Carpenter films.  It shouldn’t have bombed the way it did. But it’s all cool; we now have it on dvd and Blue Ray and it’s legions of fans grow every day. Oh and there’s a possible remake on the horizon! If it doesn’t work, just remember what Jack Burton always says at a time like this. Old Jack always says: “What the hell!”  

Rating:  5 out of 5  

Tank Girl (1995)

Title: Tank Girl (1995)

Director: Rachel Talalay

Cast: Lori Petty, Naomi Watts, Malcolm McDowell,  James Wong, Ice-T, Iggy Pop

Review:

It’s been a while since I last saw Tank Girl. I remember, the first time I saw it; I didn’t fall in love with it for some reason, I guess I was too young to really ‘get it’. But this film proves to me once again that sometimes the way you look at a film changes with time. As time goes by, you live through certain experiences and learn certain things that affect the way you see a film. As it is, Tank Girl is a very subversive film, it’s all about rebellion and going against the proverbial system; which of course is one of my favorite themes in film. If you want to read a bit more about subversive cinema, check out this article I wrote called Totalitarian Futures (BigBrother is Watching You!), on that one I mention a series of films that depict  abusive governments and the rebels that oppose them. And if you want to read about rebellious characters, then check this one out: Viva La Revolution III: 20 Fictional Characters that Beat theSystem; after seeing Tank Girl, I figure she should have been on that list! She’s an extremely rebellious character!

Tank Girl takes place in the year 2033, on a post apocalyptic version of earth that was destroyed by a meteor that wiped out almost all of humanity. 11 years have passed since this happened, and now a new form of government has arisen, one that controls all the water and all the power and even has it’s own army. This new government system is appropriately called “Water and Power” or WP for short. The leader of this organization is a dictator called Kesslee played by the one and only Malcolm McDowell. He wants to own all the water in the land so he can control everyone. He’s made siphoning water illegal. But the rebels don’t care about legal or illegal, they only care about surviving.  In Tank Girl’s own words “as long as they don’t find out, who cares? “ So of course, they steal as much water as they can. Problem comes when the powers that be find out the rebels have been stealing water. They blow up the rebels hide out, kill as many of them as they can and take Tank Girl as prisoner. Will she survive living under the oppressive power of the system?

Wow, so to me this is a hidden gem. Yeah it’s got a couple of flaws here and there, but damn it I love it anyways. What did I enjoy about Tank Girl? Lot’s of things, but first off there’s Lori Petty as Tank Girl who in my opinion was a fun character, she loves her liberty, she curses like a sailor and she does not care for rules and regulations. Living under rules and regulations is a complete bore for her; she prefers being the master of her own destiny. She’s kind of like Spiderman in the sense that she has a little joke or sarcastic remark every five minutes. ‘The man’ might be stepping on her face but she’s quick with a sly remark, just so she can piss them off.  Some might find her annoying? I thought she was fun to watch, kept me laughing all the way. For those of you not in the know, Tank Girl is based on a comic book created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin, the comic has been in publication in one form or another since 1988. I personally really dig the art work on those comics, Tank Girl a.k.a. ‘Rebecca Buck’ has a very distinctive look, one that I believe this film did a swell job of bringing to life. Lori Petty looks and acts the way Tank Girl should; so this is something that the film got absolutely right. Lori Petty is Tank Girl. Loved that scene where she first gets into her tank! The tank was pretty awesome looking as well by the way.

When MGM bought the rights to the property, Tank Girl’s journey to the silver screen began. Various directors were associated with the films adaptation, amongst them Steven Spielberg and James Cameron! Ultimately, it was female director Rachel Talalay who ended sitting in the directors’ chair. She’s the director responsible for Freddy’s Dead: The  Final Nightmare (1991) one of the most profitable films in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. I think she made a good film with Tank Girl, the look and the dynamism of the character works, the over all look of the film is interesting, and the message the film is trying to convey is commendable. I loved the rebellious elements of the film, Tank Girl has a lot of Orwell’s 1984 in it. There’s a scene where Tank Girl get’s caught by the government and tortured which reminded me a whole lot of Orwell’s famous novel. I guess what the filmmakers where trying to achieve with Tank Girl was a version of 1984 in which the good guys actually win. When you read Orwell’s 1984, it can be a grueling and overpowering experience. I mean, when you read that novel you feel as if ‘the system’ has taken it’s shit stained boot and shoved it real hard in your face. Real hard. In fact, as you read, you feel as if they've shoved the whole damn boot down your throat! It’s one of my favorite novels, it managed to squeeze a tear or two out of me, honestly, it’s that good! Well, Tank Girl is along the same lines as 1984, playing with the same themes, having the government really getting in the good guys faces, messing with their lives, trying to get them to ‘play the game’ so to speak, only in Tank Girl, the good guys aren’t that easy to squash. Tank Girl is a very resourceful and lively bug; she doesn’t take shit from anybody!

I enjoyed how the film is so very much like reading a comic book, I loved the fact that the film opens up with a credit sequence that showcases art work from the original comics. The art work from the comics is fantastic, very sketchy in nature, very detailed. The filmmakers also included animated sequences through out the whole film;  which by the way reminds me that this film was a bit of a chore to make; it had many production woes. One of them being that at the end of the day, the studio interfered immensely with the look and feel of the film, this being such a subversive film in nature, of course they wanted to tone down many of the more controversial attributes of the film. The mutant Kangaroo’s that appear in the film for example. One of the more ‘controversial’ things about the film is that the mutant kangaroo’s or ‘Ripper’s’ as they are called in the film are a horny bunch of individuals who are always hitting on Tank Girl and Jet Girl. Ultimately, Tank Girl ends up falling for one of the Ripper’s and you can catch a glimpse of that in the finished film, but originally they had filmed scenes with Tank Girl and the one of the Kangaroo’s making out in bed! Ultimately, the studio interfered and cut that stuff out. They also cut out more scenes, you kind of get the feeling when you watch Tank Girl that it wasn’t completely finished, the ending feels a bit rushed, leaving many questions unanswered. Hell, the last five minutes of the film were completely animated! So yeah, it feels like in the end, the film was incomplete, almost as if it was taken away from the filmmakers unfinished.

Personally, I dug the animated sequences in the film, but don’t ask Jamie Hewlett (one of Tank Girl’s creators) about them, to Hewlett making the film was a “horrible experience”. According to Hewlett, the many animated sequences in the film are there because the filmmakers supposedly forgot to film about ten major sequences! So they had to add these sequences through the use of animation so the film wouldn’t feel incomplete; but honestly? I loved those animated sequences; they go very well with the films pulpy comic book origins! Plus, the animated sequences were very well achieved, they have these awesome angles, I really dug them. And so what if they were placed their to fill in for unfilmed shots? They turned out pretty cool in my book.  The animation gives the film a unique feel that aligns perfectly with the kind of punk attitude that a film like Tank Girl has. Another thing I dug about Tank Girl was how many old school filmmaking techniques they employed to make it. Rachel Talalay used every trick in the book: matte paintings, make up effects and the use of excellent looking miniatures! It reminded me of why I love practical effects as opposed to computer generated ones.

  

And yet another positive thing I can say about Tank Girl is that Stan Winston created the Ripper’s! Reportedly he liked this project so much that he did the mutant kangaroos for half the price he normally charged! What else? Oh yeah, Ice-T plays one of the mutant Kangaroo’s! Also, Naomi Watt’s plays ‘Jet Girl’, a girl that plays the polar opposite of Tank Girl. Tank Girl is the wild one who doesn’t follow the rules while ‘Jet Girl’ works for the system. She plays by the rules; she thinks that the more you follow the rules, the less the system will mess with you. Thankfully, Rebecca helps her see things differently, she helps her find the ways of liberty or death! Of daring to live life on the edge! Tank Girl teachers Jet Girl to dare! It was interesting to see Naomi Watt’s in one of her earliest film roles. Malcolm McDowell as the villain was interesting just because he’s Malcolm McDowell, but his character uses this cool glove that has these blades that come out of it, cool gadget. He also has a holographic face? You’ll see what I mean. And another cool thing about the movie: James Wong is in it as a crazy inventor who works for Water and Power! He’s the guy who invents the glove thingy; any film with Lou Pan in it goes up a couple of notches for me in the cool-o-meter. Hell, even Iggy Pop cameos! 

Jet Girl in her Jet

The film even has this really awesome 90’s soundtrack! Ultimately, hearing this soundtrack filled with all that alternative music got me quite nostalgic for that era. Yeah, it reminded me of when I was a teenager, listening to all those cool bands that I still listen too by the way! The soundtrack is sprinkled with Bjork, Devo, Hole, Bush, Portishead, Joan Jett, Belly, Ice-T and Veruca Salt! I know I’m going to be hunting down this soundtrack as soon as I can; it’s one of the memorable ones. So as you can see, even though Tank Girl was a very troubled production, I still think that Rachel Talalay and crew got away with a fairly decent movie. Too bad it died a quick death at the box office. Too bad the studio didn’t back it up as much as it should have. You feel like the film is bursting with ideas and that they didn’t all make it to the screen. But hell, if even with all these troubles you managed to make a decent looking picture then you are too be commended Mrs. Talalay! Tank Girl in my opinion is a hidden gem of apocalyptic cinema worth revisiting. Highly recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5