Big Trouble in Little China

Play trailer

Big Trouble in Little China

PG-13

Released May 30, 1986

1h 39m

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Kurt Russell plays hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict within, and underneath, San Francisco's Chinatown. An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord has kidnapped a beautiful green-eyed woman, who is the fiancee to Jack's best friend. Jack must help his friend rescue the girl before the evil Lo Pan uses her to break the ancient curse that keeps him a fleshless and immortal spirit.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Brimming with energy and packed with humor, Big Trouble in Little China distills kung fu B-movies as affectionately as it subverts them.

Read Critics Reviews

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

A rollicking, colourful comic strip of a movie with bells on.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 29, 2021

Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Carpenter and his lively cast seem to be having such a good time that the easiest thing to do is relax and enjoy the ride. In a way, this is the movie "Escape from New York" was trying to be but never quite managed to pull off.

Jun 29, 2021

Full Review

Kathleen Carroll

New York Daily News

Watching Kurt Russell display not only a set of bulging biceps, but also... easy-going self-confidence is admittedly fun at times, even if the movie is as impenetrable as chop suey.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 29, 2021

Full Review

John Ferguson

Radio Times

Horror maestro John Carpenter is clearly in awe of Hong Kong movies, but this brave attempt to fuse martial arts action with a westernised adventure story sadly doesn't quite gel.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 13, 2024

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

On many occasions I have the feeling that its recycling of genres with a B-series formula is hackneyed and terribly boring when Kurt Russell fights in a simple way in the bizarre alleys of Chinatown. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/10

Dec 21, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

...it is certainly great fun—as deliberately absurd a contraption...

Aug 19, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

This movie moves fast. Even dialogue is spit out fast like a 1940's movie. It wastes no time and just gets crazier and crazier as it goes along. The performance are hammy and absolutely perfect. Their is humor in the movie but it's played straight. The martial art fight scenes second to none. I love this movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/30/25

Full Review

Christian S

Filled with intentional 80s camp and fun this is a super entertaining movie to watch now more than ever. I recommend Blu-ray which is good at recapturing the special effects. Kurt Russell rocks! AWESOME!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/12/25

Full Review

Leo P

Have been watching this movie since my childhood, it is what I have based my entire personality off of

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/25/25

Full Review

Jacob B

A fun homage to martial arts films and '80s fantasy films, Big Trouble in Little China is a hilarious and exciting action comedy with quotable dialogue, memorable characters and clever writing that has you rooting for the main protagonist whilst acknowledging that he's a bit of a jerk. Sure, he has a heart of gold but his main reason to get involved in the main conflict has mainly to do with him just wanting his truck back. Quite possibly John Carpenter's most lighthearted film, and arguably one of his best and most underrated one.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/10/25

Full Review

Chris J

If this was meant to be a parody of karate movies it succeeded. I don't think it was meant to be. Really bad acting and the special effects are a joke.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/08/25

Full Review

David R

Funny because of its silliness, engaging because of the action. I finally saw this on Amazon prime after years of hearing about it from my friend Ryan. This is the type of movie you watch with friends and a few beers for the chuckles

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

John Carpenter

Director

Kurt Russell

Jack Burton

Kim Cattrall

Gracie Law

Dennis Dun

Wang Chi

James Hong

David Lo Pan

Victor Wong

Egg Shen

Kull the Conqueror

25%

24%

Kull the Conqueror

Watchlist

Cocoon

82%

60%

Cocoon

Watchlist

Dungeons & Dragons

9%

20%

Dungeons & Dragons

Watchlist

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

16%

44%

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Watchlist

Spider-Man

90%

67%

Spider-Man

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Spider-Man

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Kurt Russell plays hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict within, and underneath, San Francisco's Chinatown. An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord has kidnapped a beautiful green-eyed woman, who is the fiancee to Jack's best friend. Jack must help his friend rescue the girl before the evil Lo Pan uses her to break the ancient curse that keeps him a fleshless and immortal spirit.

Director: John Carpenter
Producer: Larry J. Franco
Screenwriter: Gary Goldman, David Weinstein, W.D. Richter
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: TAFT Entertainment, SLM Production Group, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 1986, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.0M
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Mono, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 70mm, Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now