Shout Factory continues to bring fans the best in cult classics through their varying brands most notably Shout Select and Scream Factory. The latest getting the treatment is the 1986 John Carpenter martial arts fantasy flick Big Trouble in Little China starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, James Hong, and Dennis Dun. Now they are bringing an all-new Collector’s Edition of the film to Blu-ray.

 

Big Trouble In Little China follows truck driver Jack Burton who arrives in Chinatown, San Francisco, and goes to the airport with his Chinese friend Wang Chi to welcome his green-eyed fiancée Miao Yin who is arriving from China. However she is kidnapped on the arrival by a Chinese street gang and Jack and Wang chase the group. Soon they learn that the powerful evil sorcerer called David Lo Pan, who has been cursed more than two thousand years ago to exist without physical body, needs to marry a woman with green eyes to retrieve his physical body and Miao is the chosen one. Jack and Wang team-up with the lawyer Gracie Law, the bus driver and sorcerer apprentice Egg Shen and their friends and embark in a great adventure in the underground of Chinatown, where they face a world of magicians and magic, monsters and martial arts fighters.

 

I have loved this film since seeing it in the theaters during its initial release. It is silly, fun and awesome all at once, complete with some great martial arts action and impressive visuals. This is a movie that should have never worked, but thanks to the cast and Carpenter’s unique vision it knocks it out of the park. While there are so many things to gush over first and foremost it is Kurt Russell. He is a laughable yet excellent action hero here offering up everything you want in your hero without him being all that heroic. This is still one of my favorite performances of his of all time. The same goes for the always great James Hong who chews up the scenery every time he steps onto the screen.

 

The blend of martial arts and horror/fantasy makes this a unique film that