ⓘ Details

Movie TitleBig Trouble in Little China

Release DateJuly 1, 1986 wide release / July 4, 1986 listed by Box Office Mojo as earliest domestic release

TaglineThey told Jack Burton to go to hell...and that’s exactly where he’s going!

Runtime99 minutes / 1 hour 39 minutes

DirectorJohn Carpenter

Screenplay Written ByGary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein, with adaptation by W. D. Richter

Based OnOriginal screenplay by Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein

Is It a Remake?No. Big Trouble in Little China is an original fantasy action-comedy.

BudgetApproximately $25 million per The Numbers

Box OfficeApprox. $11.1 million domestic / Approx. $11.2 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Kurt RussellJack Burton

Kim CattrallGracie Law

Dennis DunWang Chi

James HongDavid Lo Pan

Victor WongEgg Shen

Kate BurtonMargo Litzenberger

Donald LiEddie Lee

Suzee PaiMiao Yin

Carter WongThunder

Peter KwongRain

James PaxLightning

Chao-Li ChiUncle Chu

Jeff ImadaNeedles

Rummel MorJoe Lucky

Craig NgOne Ear

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Saturn Award Nominee — Best Music, John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

⭐ Urban Action Showcase and Expo — Honoree / Legacy recognition listed by IMDb

⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ No Golden Globe nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ No BAFTA nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ The movie’s lasting achievement is its cult status, genre mashup energy, and the way it turned a box-office disappointment into a beloved rewatch favorite.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

Truck driver Jack Burton follows his friend Wang Chi into San Francisco’s Chinatown after Wang’s fiancée Miao Yin is kidnapped by a street gang. The rescue attempt pulls Jack, Wang, lawyer Gracie Law, and sorcerer Egg Shen into an ancient supernatural battle against cursed warlord David Lo Pan. With monsters, magic, martial arts, secret tunnels, and the Three Storms blocking the way, Jack keeps talking like the hero while mostly stumbling through a much bigger war he barely understands.

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❝ Key Quotes

“It’s all in the reflexes.” — Jack Burton

“Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky.” — Jack Burton

“Have you paid your dues, Jack?” — Wang Chi

“Yes sir, the check is in the mail.” — Jack Burton

“Indeed!” — David Lo Pan

“We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn’t we, Wang?” — Jack Burton

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💡 Trivia

Director

Big Trouble in Little China was directed by John Carpenter.
Carpenter also co-composed the score with Alan Howarth.
The film arrived after Carpenter and Kurt Russell had already collaborated on Elvis, Escape from New York, and The Thing.
Carpenter flips the usual action-hero formula by making Jack Burton think he is the lead hero while Wang Chi is often the more capable fighter and driver of the actual rescue mission.

Cast / Casting

Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton as a swaggering blowhard whose confidence is usually much larger than his understanding of the situation.
Dennis Dun plays Wang Chi, Jack’s friend and the more traditionally heroic character in the story.
Kim Cattrall plays Gracie Law, the lawyer who gets pulled into Lo Pan’s supernatural plot.
James Hong plays David Lo Pan, the ancient sorcerer trying to break his curse by marrying a green-eyed woman.
Victor Wong plays Egg Shen, the bus-driving magician who guides the heroes through the mystical side of Chinatown.

Soundtrack / Score

John Carpenter and Alan Howarth composed the film’s score.
The title song “Big Trouble in Little China” was written by John Carpenter and performed by The Coupe de Villes.
The score blends Carpenter’s synth style with pulpy adventure, martial-arts fantasy, and comic-book energy.
The music helps the film bounce between action comedy, supernatural horror, and kung fu adventure without ever slowing down for too long.

Location

The story is set in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Production used California locations, including San Francisco and Los Angeles-area filming.
The movie creates a hidden fantasy world beneath Chinatown, using alleys, warehouses, tunnels, temples, and underground chambers as a supernatural playground.
The grounded trucking and Chinatown exteriors contrast with Lo Pan’s increasingly wild underground realm.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Larry J. Franco and released by 20th Century Fox.
The original script reportedly began as a western before being reworked into a modern Chinatown fantasy action story.
W. D. Richter is credited with adapting the screenplay after the original work by Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein.
Box Office Mojo lists the domestic gross at approximately $11.1 million, making the film a theatrical disappointment against its reported budget.
The movie found its audience later through home video, cable television, and cult-movie word of mouth.

Nostalgia

Big Trouble in Little China has become a defining cult classic of 1980s genre cinema.
The film mixes trucker comedy, martial arts, monsters, sorcery, buddy action, and comic-book weirdness into something that still feels unique.
Jack Burton’s bravado, Lo Pan’s theatrical villainy, the Three Storms, and the monster-filled underground world all helped the film age into a fan favorite.
Its box-office failure-to-cult-classic journey is part of the movie’s legend.

Easter Eggs

Jack Burton constantly acts like the main hero, but the story often makes him a comic sidekick to Wang Chi’s actual rescue mission.
The Three Storms — Thunder, Rain, and Lightning — became some of the film’s most memorable fantasy-action creations.
The “It’s all in the reflexes” line works as both a punchline and Jack’s accidental survival philosophy.
The ending leaves Jack rolling down the highway unaware that trouble is still literally riding along with him.
The film’s mix of Chinatown mythology, pulp adventure, and Carpenter weirdness helped influence later action-fantasy and genre mashup storytelling.

Misc.

Big Trouble in Little China is rated PG-13.
Box Office Mojo lists the film’s running time at 1 hour 39 minutes and domestic gross at approximately $11.1 million.
The Numbers lists the production budget at $25 million and worldwide box office at approximately $11.2 million.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus describes the film as energetic, humorous, and affectionate toward kung fu B-movie traditions.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists Big Trouble in Little China as Episode 76, with Don rating it 4.25, Ken rating it 3.00, Jon rating it 3.25, and an overall rating of 3.50.

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