I'm just one east asian person, but I can say with confidence that this movie slaps. It's totally weird + fun fantasy, chock full of awesome asian talent (also eternal hair daddy Kurt Russell). Anyone who comes away offended is looking for a reason to be offended.
apparently there was some backlash from chinese people when this movie came out. as a white kid from the 80s this movie just made me think the chinese and their lore were freaking bad-ass, even if the lore is totally made up
As with Blazing Saddles, I doubt this movie could be made today, and that's a shame. It's a fun, completely over the top adventure. A great popcorn flick. I rewatch it every few years and still enjoy the heck out of it.
@@keithnphx63 I agree on Big Trouble in Little China, unfortunately I couldnt disagree more on Blazing Saddles, I tried watching it once and stopped half way through, recently I forced myself to watch it and I couldnt laugh less at a comedy. I think the racial stuff is mesmerizing, the things they could pull off in the 70s, what was ok to make fun of and such, but in terms of comedy, I cant remember a single funny joke
@@sargentocapitao9668 It inspired so many other things, don't like Kung Fu Hustle, Airplane! or Naked Gun?? Tropic Thunder, Kung Pow:Enter the Fist or Top Secret? Maybe just watch a plant slowly die.. I dunno.
@@richardrobbin2225 yes I like those movies a lot, and I can respect that blazing saddles apparently paved the road, but watching a plant slowly dying is probably funnier. For instance I enjoy monty python and although some jokes are dated (how could they not be?) there's still plenty of good jokes to laughs at.
My favorite thing about the movie is that it flips the stereotypes of the time. Wang is the hero. He's the one who knows how to fight, who's personally invested, and who's on his home turf. Jack Burton is the wacky foreign sidekick. In a twist of the usual ethnic stereotypes, and how they were used in movies of the time, Jack is a representation of American men, painted in broad, exaggerated caricature. In addition, it is way ahead of it's time with such excellent dry wit in an absurd setting, it has a lot of depth under the surface. Plus, it's just screamingly funny.
This film is poking fun at the 80’s American hero films like Arnie and Stallone films. You have the main character thinking he’s the hero but it’s all the supporting characters that do all the work.
@@JackXombi because Jack Burton never thought of himself as the hero. The audience is supposed to think he's the main hero, when in reality he was just a guy helping out his friend and trying to get his truck back, which in the end makes him a hero anyway.
I agree and I remember seeing this in the 80s. All those 80's action hero movies. Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, James Bond movies. All the low budget knock offs. This film was the antithesis of all of that. Just a really fun movie and one of my favorites.
As a British born Chinese person this a personal favourite film! It’s obvious to me that Carpenter has a lot of respect for his Chinese actors. Kurt Russell is even playing the sidekick to the Asian hero Wang. But at the same time, this is a completely glorious mashup of genres, so not meant to be taken seriously as genuine Chinese mythology.
Love that you've got the central joke of the movie in your title. When I watched this as an early teen I just accepted Jack as the lead and watching it as an adult it was like an awakening, "Ohmigod, Wang's the hero and Jack is an idiot sidekick." It's a pretty cool concept for the 80s... I have to believe it was intentional since it's so pervasive throughout the movie.
I think the fact that Jack is the unknowing idiot sidekick was what made this movie work so well for me. 90 minutes of hilarity later and I’m happy in that I just had a good time watching the movie
Big Trouble in Little China rarely gets the credit it deserves, but this is one of the funniest movies ever made. Every line and gesture from Kurt Russell is a bona-fide classic.
I never fully realized how much of he is trying to play up a John Wayne type character in this. Like the character wants to be a modern day John Wayne but is just some trucker. He nails it.
Kurt Russell had a ton of charisma. It's really hard to pull off someone so cocky yet remain a loveable character. It's no wonder why he was cast as Chris Pratt's father in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'...that was perfect casting.
The line in Guardians with him saying he's Starlord and his antagonist saying "who?" is like Burton asking "you know what Jack Burton would say?" and the storm asking "Who?"
This played on HBO nearly everyday during the summer of 87. I spent alot of time watching HBO in the hospital common room in the military hospital my Dad was in at the time, so I saw this or Dragnet (the tom hanks movie) everyday and they hold a special place in my heart.
I love how everybody breathlessly and enthusiastically dumps exposition. It should not work, it's absolutely the kiss of death in storytelling, but it absolutely fits this world and story. I think Jack Burton's utter bewilderment and inability to keep pace is why the exposition dumps work.
I went to a convention where a lot of the actors from the movie showed up....Lo Pan and two of the three storm villains. They gave a lot of praise to John Carpenter cause he really took the Chinese culture and myths/legends they have had in their history for a long time and made sure that the studio/Hollywood honored that and respected it. The actors said that Hollywood wasn't interested in hearing about the culture, but John Carpenter is a rebel and always makes sure he gets to make the movie he wants....ITS ALL IN THE REFLEXES . Lol
I love this movie. It's a Western theme in an 'Eastern' setting, where so many Western movies are remakes of samurai and kung fu movies. Kinda comes full circle in a way. Dennis Dunn (Wang) and Victor Wong (Egg) are both in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness.
John Carpenter's movies show both an appreciation for certain filmmaking styles while also poking fun at them. Here a lot of moments are cartoonish (like the mid-air sword fight near the end) but because the characters are so engaging and the pacing is perfect, you're willing to laugh at how absurd what you're seeing is while still staying immersed in the story. I grew up loving Kung Fu movies (while also understanding that they're often kind of dumb), and I've always loved this movie's incorporation of those elements.
Coming from the guy who made The Thing and Halloween before that, this Dark Fantasy/Comedy action packed flick was something totaly new and amazing. Carpenter is one of the best directors the 80 and 90's ever had. With Kurt russel he did Escape from New York 1997, wich is also a blast. a Vampire movie just called John Carpenter's Vampires. And so many others(including the Halloween movies) Whats also fascinating is that at the time of release in 86, the movie Bombed, movie goers and critiques din't get the mix of genres between Horror and Comedy, and the fact that Jack is everything BUT the classic Hollywood hero. But like with the Thing( cause yes even the Thing was not well received at the time, cause people thougth it was too scary and pessimistic, cause a few weeks earlier E.T came out, so people wrongly thougth that it would be the same kinda extra terrestrial...) The movie acquired and audience AFTER its theatrical release, with its release in VHS and later on Dvd's
In 2014 a series of graphic novels/comics released that continued the story. They explain why Jack didn't kiss Gracie goodbye. Years ago he was in love with a woman who ended up dying of cancer. As she took her last breath he kissed her goodbye, and he vowed that would be the last woman he ever kissed goodbye.
exactly this is the movie seen through the eyes of a player passing through, who isn't part of the main focus of the movie group and just happens to be there when it goes down.
I've met James Hong (Lo Pan), he's my friends godfather. Awesome guy that literally was in every 70s & 80s hit tv show or movie and until to now from Dukes of Hazard, Dallas, Blade Runner & Kung Fu to modern shows like Big Bang theory & Kung Fu Panda. He's finally about to get his star on the walk of fame.
He also appears to have gotten every Asian extra and character actor that was working in the 80s, it a who's who of 80s action movies. The bald guy with pistols, the long hair guy from Die Hard, etc.
The funny thing about this movie is.... Kurt Russell was the comic relief, not the main character. But because he was an up-and-coming popular actor, they made everyone think the movie was about him thanks to advertising.
Growing up this was one of my favorite movies when I saw it. I didn't realize it at the time but one of the reasons why I loved it so much was because it was one of the only examples of representation I had growing up.
Growing up watching this as an asian kid in the 90s was fantastic. It's all a little hokey, but honestly Jack is the butt of all the jokes, not asian people or culture. Even when Jack does say some ignorant shit about Chinese folklore/people, he is pretty swiftly put in his place. Love the scene where "backup" shows up at Egg's place. "Do they even speak English?" - Jack "Egg, who the hell is this guy anyway?" - Chinese dude (with no accent whatsoever) Awesome of Carpenter to bring on an actual Chinese stunt team too.
John was frequently worried about crossing the line while making the movie, even though it is semi based on Chinese mythology. Thankfully he had a lot of people right there, and when asked they were more then pleased to see what he was up to, so he kept at it. Originally when the film came out they some how under advertised it, which in part lead to it bombing at the box office, but when it came out on video it very quickly sold, and continues to sell decent numbers.
"Y'all got a stripper pole to hell?!?" 😂🤣😂🤣 I'm done. You a fool Alanda. Not even a fire pole, a stripper pole to hell. I'm gonna spend the next ten years trying to surpass that crack.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Classic fantasy adventure, pure and simple. Reminded me of a D&D campaign. Legend was another like that, love that movie.
Carpenter was actually worried about whether this movie would be considered offensive as they were filming, so he asked a bunch of the Asian actors on set if they had any problem with the film. They were all like "Nah, man, we get the vibe of this."
Its amazing cuz it was the 80s!!!! One of my faves and weird to see someone new react to it. Its cool that it creates the same reactions. Its so much fun. A lot of 80s movies dealt with the idea of adventure. That was the decade. And innovation. I mean, the internet was created in the 80s, among others. The music video. Countless things. I miss that type of carefree attitude....
Victor Wong who plays Egg Shen, also played Walter, the store owner in Tremors. James Hong, the actor playing Lo Pan has had a long career and he's still active, voicing characters at 92! He even had a supporting role in the adult film China Girl back in 1974. Kurt Russell is a seriously underrated actor. It's hard to believe that it's the same person playing the leads in Escape From New York, Captain Ron and Soldier. They're all completely different characters, but he's completely believable in all of them.
Fun fact: there's a village in China called Liqian where some are born with European features like green eyes and blond hair. This is likely because in 36BC a Roman legion was "lost" in China and some of them might have put down roots. Though it's also possible there were simply trysts as merchants traveled the silk road (kind of like how truckers can have "hoes in different area codes" lol)
"You're getting smacked in the gut with clown noses?" I'm telling you right now, you watch it and I'll sit down and enjoy it with you. You're a hoot, Alanda!
The interesting thing about this movie, though another commenter might have said it, Kurt Russell aka Jack Burton is the side kick in the movie. We watch this show through the eyes of the side kick in a kung fu movie. Second, it was shown at the beginning of the movie, where Jack caught the bottle when it was whacked by the knife. It showed that he had good reflexes. So when he threw the knife and missed and Lo Pan threw it at him, Jack grabbed it out of the air and threw it back at Lo Pan. Basically, they underestimated Jack Burton's reflexes and in the end...the side kick kills the big bad.
I love that this movie makes almost no sense and just flies by in a blur but it doesn't matter because it makes no sense to Jack Burton either and he just reacts to pretty much everything by saying "what the?" or letting Wang handle it.
What a great surprise. 4am & nothing to watch & this pops up. Thank you! 🙂 Edit: Glad you enjoyed it. This is definitely a movie that is improved by repeat viewings.
Yeah it was one of the things that inspired MK with some things like the look of Raiden but both MK and BTLC took the concept of Raijin God of Thunder from Japanese mythology and of course MK has alot of its own originality and epic story. Like Scorpion, Sub-Zero and various other characters being original concepts to MK. But yeah this movie is fun, random and cheesy at times but fun none the less lol 😆
@@avgnfandon2Enter the Dragon, BTiLC and The Karate Kid series had a hand in all the fighting games......those three epecially MK. KK2 Chozen had the Scorpion drip
@@goat1408 Hanzo is a bit different than Chozen as he has honor, Chozen id say later on took it from Scorpion in regards to honor everything else is entirely different however.
Alanda, you also need to finish watching the ending credits and -- listen to the music playing as the credits roll. That original song is being sung by John Carpenter in his band, called the Coup de Villes. They are playing the song, "Big Trouble in Little China." You can watch the band playing that music video on RUclips by querying: "John Carpenter's Coup de Villes Music Video." I think its pretty catchy. Got a good beat.
The DVD commentary on this film is awesome. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell just talking and joking around for the whole runtime. And hearing Kurt Russell laughing and having fun is so fun and charismatic.
God bless you girl... Last night just out of curiosity i wanted to see if anybody had done a reaction to one of my all time favorite 80S flicks. Hands down i had a kickass time watching your video Alanda...
This is one of my dad's favorite movies, so I've seen it dozens of times. It will always hold a special place in my heart. So glad to see people reacting to it and enjoying it. And from what I see on your channel you pick good movies to react to! Fantastic work!
The movie was originally going to be set in the old west. Where Jack would then have to get his horse back instead of a truck. It would still have had all the magic in it. John Carpenter did all the music in the movie as well. Kurt Russell was in The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York and Escape from LA and all those movies are Carpenter movies. So John really loved getting Kurt to be in his movies. This is my favorite Carpenter movie. I just love this movie and glad you enjoyed it and had a great time.
Jack Burton, and Wang Chi = The Green Hornet and Kato basically. But for some reason I don't see Jack Burton as a sidekick, he's just a guy who got in way over his head helping out a friend in trouble. In my eyes that's what I call a hero.
What a delightful reaction, it's one of my favourite films, I was around 8 when it came out, so couldn't see it in the cinema. A few years later it landed on vhs and I've watched it every couple of years since. DVD/Download now Sad I know. It's the perfect mix of comedy , action and genuinely disturbing bits, Have a new sub and a love letter from Wales. x
"Now you got hepatitis in ya eyeball." Thank you kindly, you made me cackle so hard that I cleared the vicinity of all cats. Smacked in the gut with clown noses. Prince Phillip. Shooting LEDs out of his mouth. Sesame Street character creature from the deep. Your commentary is just so funny, I love it. And yeah, this movie's just a whole lot of damn fun. As for movie recommendations, The Raid: Redemption is a great action movie, and I also recommend Attack The Block, that one's quite fun too.
i never saw it that way but yeah jack is the sidekick, just he is the big name so he has so many scenes and lines. its like reading a batman comic focused on robin
I can't believe you watched this! I've been waiting for someone to do it and you're one of my favorite reactors... thank you! Haven't even watched this reaction yet.... too excited!
@@AlandaParker Too soon or not, you did put it in the final cut. And while that one joke may not resonate with me, I'm much more bothered by the volume that some jokes can generate from people who should realize that it popped out as a joke. HOWEVER, I had SO MUCH fun watching you watch this. As a reaction video fan, this was a great one, thanks!
The domino-like game is actually Pai Gow, a staple of casinos in China. You make two sets of hands with the tiles, a high hand and a low hand; if you win both hands you win. Jack had a set of two pairs one of the highest hands in the game so he cleaned every out if he was the bank.
"You Gettin' Smacked in the Gut With Clown Noses" would've been a good alternate title for your latest fantastic video, Alanda, but I'm thrilled that you got the conceit of this movie on your very first viewing. Fox financed this movie on the expectation that they were getting Indiana Jones and made Carpenter shoot that prologue where Egg Shen states how courageous Jack Burton is. Among your many great reactions or one-liners, congratulations on being the first person to ever watch this movie and exclaim, "Young Kate Burton!"
😂 🙌🏾 🙌🏾 🙌🏾!!! That scene definitely seems like an afterthought in light of the rest of the film! If there's one thing I know, It's every actor I've ever seen in something before 🤣
Such a fun film, and I also absolutely love Legend. I would be interested in seeing a reaction to Risky Business as well as films like Dark City (director's cut) and The Crow.
Love the title of this reaction! So many people missed that Jack is the doofus, clueless white guy sidekick in a kung fu movie. Just because it's told from his point of view doesn't make him the hero. That's Weng!
The "crazy coke nail" was a style at one time in Chinese society. It showed that one did not need to work with their own hands for a living - IE , they were of the upper class.
I love this movie. I remember reading that some people criticised the movie back then for playing on stereotypes and Chinese exoticism. However, watching it today Im amazed at how incredibly and sneakily subversive it was with how Wang was portrayed as the swashbuckling hero who gets the girl and Burton as the semi-component sidekick which normally most American audiences would get the other way around. I highly recommend an amazing Hong Kong movie called Zu Warriors of the Magic of the Magic Mountain (1983) which John Carpenter cites as one of his major inspiration for this. Check out Carpenter’s Starman that he made after The Thing which is an alien romance that takes a 180 degree turn from his previous effort.
That was definitely my first question when asking about cultural appropriateness: the perception of exoticism and/or fetishization. But I do think the subversion of the typical hero/side kick roles had me screaming and shows a reverence for the culture that was used to build the world of the story 😂. and Thanks for the recs! I'll def check these out!
Know what sucks? At one point, a Fox exec came up to Carpenter and said, "how does it feel knowing this is gonna be a huge hit?" Because it honestly looked like it was gonna do well-and it didn't. Even Carpenter and Russell admitted in the commentary, if this had come out in the 90s, with all the HK directors and stars doing US movies, it would have done better once the martial arts craze kicked in again, despite the 80's being heavy in that too. I dunno, I still love this movie.
This is the first Hollywood movie that got Hong Kong Cinema. Watching this, and Golden Child, is a chalk and cheese experience. This is still my favourite action-comedy of all time from Hollywood.
What they drank was magic potion, which made them stronger, faster, more alert... Lo Pan was a undead phantom-like Lich Wizard The Three Storms were "Rain", "Thunder", and "Lightning", Lo Pan; they were inspirations for characters in the videogame Mortal Kombat just as the movie "Enter the Dragon" was a major inspiration to the creators of the Mortal Kombat videogames
I have loved this movies since I was a kid, and your reaction had me legit snort-laugh before the opening credits! And something that your video got me to realize after countless viewings, when Jack is driving his truck and talking on the CB, my guy was doing the THE FIRST PODCAST! Hell, 'Porkchop Express' is even a perfect name! I will say, you have me cracking up hard! Please keep doing what you do, and best believe you got my sub!!-)
@@AlandaParker Both had completely different endings. The theatrical cut was the "happy" ending (enforced by the studio) and the director's cut had the "tragic" ending (envisioned by the creators).
I'm just one east asian person, but I can say with confidence that this movie slaps. It's totally weird + fun fantasy, chock full of awesome asian talent (also eternal hair daddy Kurt Russell). Anyone who comes away offended is looking for a reason to be offended.
apparently there was some backlash from chinese people when this movie came out. as a white kid from the 80s this movie just made me think the chinese and their lore were freaking bad-ass, even if the lore is totally made up
As with Blazing Saddles, I doubt this movie could be made today, and that's a shame. It's a fun, completely over the top adventure. A great popcorn flick. I rewatch it every few years and still enjoy the heck out of it.
@@keithnphx63 I agree on Big Trouble in Little China, unfortunately I couldnt disagree more on Blazing Saddles, I tried watching it once and stopped half way through, recently I forced myself to watch it and I couldnt laugh less at a comedy. I think the racial stuff is mesmerizing, the things they could pull off in the 70s, what was ok to make fun of and such, but in terms of comedy, I cant remember a single funny joke
@@sargentocapitao9668
It inspired so many other things, don't like Kung Fu Hustle, Airplane! or Naked Gun?? Tropic Thunder, Kung Pow:Enter the Fist or Top Secret? Maybe just watch a plant slowly die..
I dunno.
@@richardrobbin2225 yes I like those movies a lot, and I can respect that blazing saddles apparently paved the road, but watching a plant slowly dying is probably funnier. For instance I enjoy monty python and although some jokes are dated (how could they not be?) there's still plenty of good jokes to laughs at.
My favorite thing about the movie is that it flips the stereotypes of the time. Wang is the hero. He's the one who knows how to fight, who's personally invested, and who's on his home turf. Jack Burton is the wacky foreign sidekick. In a twist of the usual ethnic stereotypes, and how they were used in movies of the time, Jack is a representation of American men, painted in broad, exaggerated caricature.
In addition, it is way ahead of it's time with such excellent dry wit in an absurd setting, it has a lot of depth under the surface.
Plus, it's just screamingly funny.
This film is poking fun at the 80’s American hero films like Arnie and Stallone films. You have the main character thinking he’s the hero but it’s all the supporting characters that do all the work.
I don't see it that way. I think it's a friend helping out a friend. And Jack took out David Lo Pan.
@@KingKull1971 Why not both?
@@JackXombi because Jack Burton never thought of himself as the hero. The audience is supposed to think he's the main hero, when in reality he was just a guy helping out his friend and trying to get his truck back, which in the end makes him a hero anyway.
I agree and I remember seeing this in the 80s.
All those 80's action hero movies. Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, James Bond movies. All the low budget knock offs.
This film was the antithesis of all of that.
Just a really fun movie and one of my favorites.
John Carpenter? Yes.
Kurt Russell? Yes.
Chinese folklore and random magic with a distinctly 80s flavour? YEEEEESS!
Absolutely!
Besides, it's all in the reflexes.
Lighting in the bottle.
As a British born Chinese person this a personal favourite film! It’s obvious to me that Carpenter has a lot of respect for his Chinese actors. Kurt Russell is even playing the sidekick to the Asian hero Wang. But at the same time, this is a completely glorious mashup of genres, so not meant to be taken seriously as genuine Chinese mythology.
“Now ya got hepatitis in ya eyeball.” I👏🏾am👏🏾screamin👏🏾!!! 😩😫🤣🤣😭😭😭
Love that you've got the central joke of the movie in your title. When I watched this as an early teen I just accepted Jack as the lead and watching it as an adult it was like an awakening, "Ohmigod, Wang's the hero and Jack is an idiot sidekick." It's a pretty cool concept for the 80s... I have to believe it was intentional since it's so pervasive throughout the movie.
Actually John Carpenter confirmed that Jack thinks he's the lead but he's actually the sidekick.
Yeah, it was totally intentional. The very first scene, with Egg Shen's little magic trick, was a studio exec addition to make Jack look more heroic.
I would argue that it is a buddy cop movie, and they are both the lead.
@@jamiegagnon6390 You leave Jack Burton alone, he showed great courage
I think the fact that Jack is the unknowing idiot sidekick was what made this movie work so well for me. 90 minutes of hilarity later and I’m happy in that I just had a good time watching the movie
Big Trouble in Little China rarely gets the credit it deserves, but this is one of the funniest movies ever made. Every line and gesture from Kurt Russell is a bona-fide classic.
It’s one of the most quotable movies ever. Every word out of Jack’s mouth is pure gold.
I never fully realized how much of he is trying to play up a John Wayne type character in this. Like the character wants to be a modern day John Wayne but is just some trucker. He nails it.
Kurt Russell had a ton of charisma. It's really hard to pull off someone so cocky yet remain a loveable character.
It's no wonder why he was cast as Chris Pratt's father in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'...that was perfect casting.
The line in Guardians with him saying he's Starlord and his antagonist saying "who?" is like Burton asking "you know what Jack Burton would say?" and the storm asking "Who?"
You gotta love how he's so perfectly convincing in so many _very_ different roles.
" she just got grabbed by a damn Sesame Street character" hahahahaha
I call him Chinese Chewbacca
This played on HBO nearly everyday during the summer of 87. I spent alot of time watching HBO in the hospital common room in the military hospital my Dad was in at the time, so I saw this or Dragnet (the tom hanks movie) everyday and they hold a special place in my heart.
Pagan love drugs
Adding pep to your step?
Thank you to your father for his service.
I love how everybody breathlessly and enthusiastically dumps exposition. It should not work, it's absolutely the kiss of death in storytelling, but it absolutely fits this world and story. I think Jack Burton's utter bewilderment and inability to keep pace is why the exposition dumps work.
"The airport in the 80's was a free-for-all" oh my god I lost it when you said that! XD
And jsut like the art of convenience in everyother action movie, airport security is nowehre to be found, lol!
You've never seen "Airport"?
"You think the con is in the bottle and not the blade?"
Dunno why, but I love this quote.
"The terminator is arriving, " "getting hit in the gut with clown noses," " are we on the titanic? " hahahhahahahahaha
Alanda Parker quote of the day "exposition Jane!" love spending my Saturdays with Alanda. With a cup of tea aand biscuits
Yeah, that one slayed me.
I do love that gushing torrent of totally self-aware exposition she spews in that scene; that and Kurt Russel's hilarious John Wayne impression.
I like how Carpenter knew it was just a little torrent of exposition and stuck it in there anyway with Gracie just nodding like "yeah, yeah."
I went to a convention where a lot of the actors from the movie showed up....Lo Pan and two of the three storm villains. They gave a lot of praise to John Carpenter cause he really took the Chinese culture and myths/legends they have had in their history for a long time and made sure that the studio/Hollywood honored that and respected it. The actors said that Hollywood wasn't interested in hearing about the culture, but John Carpenter is a rebel and always makes sure he gets to make the movie he wants....ITS ALL IN THE REFLEXES . Lol
I love this movie. It's a Western theme in an 'Eastern' setting, where so many Western movies are remakes of samurai and kung fu movies. Kinda comes full circle in a way.
Dennis Dunn (Wang) and Victor Wong (Egg) are both in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness.
She would love Prince of Darkness.
Just don't watch it at 2 in the morning like I did. Also I was 14
Jack Burton - The Sidekick in his own movie.
This was originally written as a Western.
John Carpenter's movies show both an appreciation for certain filmmaking styles while also poking fun at them.
Here a lot of moments are cartoonish (like the mid-air sword fight near the end) but because the characters are so engaging and the pacing is perfect, you're willing to laugh at how absurd what you're seeing is while still staying immersed in the story.
I grew up loving Kung Fu movies (while also understanding that they're often kind of dumb), and I've always loved this movie's incorporation of those elements.
Coming from the guy who made The Thing and Halloween before that, this Dark Fantasy/Comedy action packed flick was something totaly new and amazing.
Carpenter is one of the best directors the 80 and 90's ever had.
With Kurt russel he did Escape from New York 1997, wich is also a blast.
a Vampire movie just called John Carpenter's Vampires.
And so many others(including the Halloween movies)
Whats also fascinating is that at the time of release in 86, the movie Bombed, movie goers and critiques din't get the mix of genres between Horror and Comedy, and the fact that Jack is everything BUT the classic Hollywood hero.
But like with the Thing( cause yes even the Thing was not well received at the time, cause people thougth it was too scary and pessimistic, cause a few weeks earlier E.T came out, so people wrongly thougth that it would be the same kinda extra terrestrial...) The movie acquired and audience AFTER its theatrical release, with its release in VHS and later on Dvd's
if you liked this you would love "the golden Child" starring eddie murphy. Pure 80s
Easily one of my all time favs as a kid.
Loved the reaction. That cutlery line was hilarious.
In 2014 a series of graphic novels/comics released that continued the story. They explain why Jack didn't kiss Gracie goodbye. Years ago he was in love with a woman who ended up dying of cancer. As she took her last breath he kissed her goodbye, and he vowed that would be the last woman he ever kissed goodbye.
The secret to this film; Jack Burton THINKS he's the hero of the movie, but he's not. 😲
A knife catch and throw back for a head shot. Seemed to be pretty heroic to me.
@@absolutezero6423 well yes but he’s the sidekick to the hero in Wang, we just follow Jack more intimately
exactly this is the movie seen through the eyes of a player passing through, who isn't part of the main focus of the movie group and just happens to be there when it goes down.
6:46 "Oh my God, they all got CUTLERY!!" I never laughed so hard for a bit, subbed just for that, you go girl
7:10 "Oh...With his knife?" You put your finger on the exact mood of this film, right there: Jack is woefully unprepared for any of this.
You leave Jack Burton alone! We are in his debt! He showed great courage.
@TheRagingwerepanda 🤣🤣🤣
His buffoonery was a good distraction while Wang did his hero stuff, that's the purpose of a sidekick
@@TheRagingwerepanda Jack Burton... the man who think's he's John Wayne but is really Mr. Bean...
I've met James Hong (Lo Pan), he's my friends godfather. Awesome guy that literally was in every 70s & 80s hit tv show or movie and until to now from Dukes of Hazard, Dallas, Blade Runner & Kung Fu to modern shows like Big Bang theory & Kung Fu Panda. He's finally about to get his star on the walk of fame.
"get yourself some muddy brown contacts, these fools are after you" lmao
It's so much fun to watch you react. You're so animated and funny!!! This is one of my favorite movies.
Thank you so much!! 😄💕
I was not prepared for the Prince Phillip line. lol, it was so recent seeing an alert on my phone & then that "shoutout".
I think you'll also love John Carpenter's "They Live" and Berry Gordy's "The Last Dragon"
Such a cult classic and one of my favorite movies! Love your reaction!
Great reaction, and so many funny things you said! "Alley water? Whatever, now you got hepatitis in your eyeball." LOL
Thanks! 😄
"Please Mr sorcerer, we didn't mean no harm!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣oh man!! Love it!!
Casting a leading man as the comic relief sidekick was a stroke of genius.
Something that is Amazing, is that in a LOT of his movies, Carpenter's composed the musical scores of it, and they are brilliant.
I believe John probably didn't want to make this unless he got every single martial artist who was available
He also appears to have gotten every Asian extra and character actor that was working in the 80s, it a who's who of 80s action movies. The bald guy with pistols, the long hair guy from Die Hard, etc.
Time to watch Escape From New York! Another Carpenter/Russell production of pure 80's awesomeness.
The funny thing about this movie is.... Kurt Russell was the comic relief, not the main character. But because he was an up-and-coming popular actor, they made everyone think the movie was about him thanks to advertising.
So funny how Jack is completely consumed with matters of freight hauling while witnessing Armageddon-level events
Growing up this was one of my favorite movies when I saw it. I didn't realize it at the time but one of the reasons why I loved it so much was because it was one of the only examples of representation I had growing up.
Growing up watching this as an asian kid in the 90s was fantastic. It's all a little hokey, but honestly Jack is the butt of all the jokes, not asian people or culture. Even when Jack does say some ignorant shit about Chinese folklore/people, he is pretty swiftly put in his place. Love the scene where "backup" shows up at Egg's place.
"Do they even speak English?" - Jack
"Egg, who the hell is this guy anyway?" - Chinese dude (with no accent whatsoever)
Awesome of Carpenter to bring on an actual Chinese stunt team too.
It's all in the reflexes!
Jack Burton...A legend in his own mind!
John was frequently worried about crossing the line while making the movie, even though it is semi based on Chinese mythology. Thankfully he had a lot of people right there, and when asked they were more then pleased to see what he was up to, so he kept at it. Originally when the film came out they some how under advertised it, which in part lead to it bombing at the box office, but when it came out on video it very quickly sold, and continues to sell decent numbers.
OMG!! This is one of my fav movies!!! Can’t wait to watch you react here we go!!
"Y'all got a stripper pole to hell?!?" 😂🤣😂🤣
I'm done. You a fool Alanda. Not even a fire pole, a stripper pole to hell. I'm gonna spend the next ten years trying to surpass that crack.
You got me. Just from this and The Last Dragon, I'm subscribing.
"Skeleton Quarry" is now added to my vocabulary....thank you.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Classic fantasy adventure, pure and simple. Reminded me of a D&D campaign. Legend was another like that, love that movie.
Carpenter was actually worried about whether this movie would be considered offensive as they were filming, so he asked a bunch of the Asian actors on set if they had any problem with the film. They were all like "Nah, man, we get the vibe of this."
Plus, not like they hadn't been making movies with shit like this in HK for the last few decades.
Its amazing cuz it was the 80s!!!!
One of my faves and weird to see someone new react to it. Its cool that it creates the same reactions. Its so much fun.
A lot of 80s movies dealt with the idea of adventure. That was the decade. And innovation. I mean, the internet was created in the 80s, among others. The music video. Countless things. I miss that type of carefree attitude....
They don't make em like this anymore. Good stuff.
They do still make them like that, just not as well. Most are low budget straight to video silliness.
Victor Wong who plays Egg Shen, also played Walter, the store owner in Tremors. James Hong, the actor playing Lo Pan has had a long career and he's still active, voicing characters at 92! He even had a supporting role in the adult film China Girl back in 1974.
Kurt Russell is a seriously underrated actor. It's hard to believe that it's the same person playing the leads in Escape From New York, Captain Ron and Soldier. They're all completely different characters, but he's completely believable in all of them.
"Y'all got a stripper pole to hell?" I fucking lost it.
Fun fact: there's a village in China called Liqian where some are born with European features like green eyes and blond hair. This is likely because in 36BC a Roman legion was "lost" in China and some of them might have put down roots. Though it's also possible there were simply trysts as merchants traveled the silk road (kind of like how truckers can have "hoes in different area codes" lol)
Another classic I grew up with. So awesome. John Carpenters classic
This was already one of my top three favorite movies. The commentary though was absolute gold.
I almost died laughing when she said dam she got snatched by a fucking sesame Street character lol
So many of my childhood favorite movies you’ve reacted to! You might enjoy “léon: the professional” or “hackers”. Subbed!
"You're getting smacked in the gut with clown noses?"
I'm telling you right now, you watch it and I'll sit down and enjoy it with you. You're a hoot, Alanda!
😂 Thanks!!!
The interesting thing about this movie, though another commenter might have said it, Kurt Russell aka Jack Burton is the side kick in the movie. We watch this show through the eyes of the side kick in a kung fu movie.
Second, it was shown at the beginning of the movie, where Jack caught the bottle when it was whacked by the knife. It showed that he had good reflexes. So when he threw the knife and missed and Lo Pan threw it at him, Jack grabbed it out of the air and threw it back at Lo Pan. Basically, they underestimated Jack Burton's reflexes and in the end...the side kick kills the big bad.
I love that this movie makes almost no sense and just flies by in a blur but it doesn't matter because it makes no sense to Jack Burton either and he just reacts to pretty much everything by saying "what the?" or letting Wang handle it.
What a great surprise. 4am & nothing to watch & this pops up. Thank you! 🙂
Edit: Glad you enjoyed it.
This is definitely a movie that is improved by repeat viewings.
I love this flick!!!...Mortal Kombat inspired a lot from this movie ... John Carpenter was the Quentin Tarantino of the 80's ....
Yup....these the times that influenced that great generation of fighting games.
Yeah it was one of the things that inspired MK with some things like the look of Raiden but both MK and BTLC took the concept of Raijin God of Thunder from Japanese mythology and of course MK has alot of its own originality and epic story. Like Scorpion, Sub-Zero and various other characters being original concepts to MK. But yeah this movie is fun, random and cheesy at times but fun none the less lol 😆
This movie and Enter the Dragon helped give us MK and we need to give them their just due🤝
@@avgnfandon2Enter the Dragon, BTiLC and The Karate Kid series had a hand in all the fighting games......those three epecially MK. KK2 Chozen had the Scorpion drip
@@goat1408 Hanzo is a bit different than Chozen as he has honor, Chozen id say later on took it from Scorpion in regards to honor everything else is entirely different however.
Good popcorn movie enjoyed your reaction Alanda.........”We may be trapped “!
Alanda, you also need to finish watching the ending credits and -- listen to the music playing as the credits roll. That original song is being sung by John Carpenter in his band, called the Coup de Villes. They are playing the song, "Big Trouble in Little China." You can watch the band playing that music video on RUclips by querying: "John Carpenter's Coup de Villes Music Video." I think its pretty catchy. Got a good beat.
The DVD commentary on this film is awesome. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell just talking and joking around for the whole runtime. And hearing Kurt Russell laughing and having fun is so fun and charismatic.
I got the steel book special edition blu-ray. and yes the commentary is very good.
God bless you girl... Last night just out of curiosity i wanted to see if anybody had done a reaction to one of my all time favorite 80S flicks.
Hands down i had a kickass time watching your video Alanda...
This is one of my dad's favorite movies, so I've seen it dozens of times. It will always hold a special place in my heart. So glad to see people reacting to it and enjoying it. And from what I see on your channel you pick good movies to react to! Fantastic work!
The movie was originally going to be set in the old west. Where Jack would then have to get his horse back instead of a truck. It would still have had all the magic in it. John Carpenter did all the music in the movie as well. Kurt Russell was in The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York and Escape from LA and all those movies are Carpenter movies. So John really loved getting Kurt to be in his movies. This is my favorite Carpenter movie. I just love this movie and glad you enjoyed it and had a great time.
Jack Burton, and Wang Chi = The Green Hornet and Kato basically.
But for some reason I don't see Jack Burton as a sidekick, he's just a guy who got in way over his head helping out a friend in trouble. In my eyes that's what I call a hero.
"Get yourself some brown contacts." Ok, I nearly choked on my dinner.
What a delightful reaction, it's one of my favourite films, I was around 8 when it came out, so couldn't see it in the cinema.
A few years later it landed on vhs and I've watched it every couple of years since. DVD/Download now Sad I know.
It's the perfect mix of comedy , action and genuinely disturbing bits,
Have a new sub and a love letter from Wales. x
"What if you Hydroplane!" THANK YOU!
"Now you got hepatitis in ya eyeball." Thank you kindly, you made me cackle so hard that I cleared the vicinity of all cats.
Smacked in the gut with clown noses. Prince Phillip. Shooting LEDs out of his mouth. Sesame Street character creature from the deep. Your commentary is just so funny, I love it. And yeah, this movie's just a whole lot of damn fun. As for movie recommendations, The Raid: Redemption is a great action movie, and I also recommend Attack The Block, that one's quite fun too.
This is the most fun romp Carpenter ever made, a masterpiece! :)
i never saw it that way but yeah jack is the sidekick, just he is the big name so he has so many scenes and lines. its like reading a batman comic focused on robin
I can't believe you watched this! I've been waiting for someone to do it and you're one of my favorite reactors... thank you! Haven't even watched this reaction yet.... too excited!
Thanks YOU! 😊
Guuurl!!! “Prince Phillip” I’m deceased! 😂😂
Me, too. I had to pause the video, I was laughing so hard!
So good xD
He's deceased, too.
it just popped out 😂 and then when I was editing I was like 'damn... is it too soon?' 🤷🏽♀️☠️
@@AlandaParker Too soon or not, you did put it in the final cut. And while that one joke may not resonate with me, I'm much more bothered by the volume that some jokes can generate from people who should realize that it popped out as a joke. HOWEVER, I had SO MUCH fun watching you watch this. As a reaction video fan, this was a great one, thanks!
I remember watching this while growing up in the 90s. I used to love it and watched it many times. The evil dude with the nails always freaked me out
The domino-like game is actually Pai Gow, a staple of casinos in China. You make two sets of hands with the tiles, a high hand and a low hand; if you win both hands you win. Jack had a set of two pairs one of the highest hands in the game so he cleaned every out if he was the bank.
"You Gettin' Smacked in the Gut With Clown Noses" would've been a good alternate title for your latest fantastic video, Alanda, but I'm thrilled that you got the conceit of this movie on your very first viewing. Fox financed this movie on the expectation that they were getting Indiana Jones and made Carpenter shoot that prologue where Egg Shen states how courageous Jack Burton is. Among your many great reactions or one-liners, congratulations on being the first person to ever watch this movie and exclaim, "Young Kate Burton!"
😂 🙌🏾 🙌🏾 🙌🏾!!!
That scene definitely seems like an afterthought in light of the rest of the film!
If there's one thing I know, It's every actor I've ever seen in something before 🤣
Such a fun film, and I also absolutely love Legend. I would be interested in seeing a reaction to Risky Business as well as films like Dark City (director's cut) and The Crow.
LMFAOOOOOOOOOO UR REACTION WHEN U FIRST SAW THE TROLL BEAST & @ THE ENDING BEHIND THE TRUCK😭
This is another one of those movies that's just plain fun to watch.
Love the title of this reaction! So many people missed that Jack is the doofus, clueless white guy sidekick in a kung fu movie. Just because it's told from his point of view doesn't make him the hero. That's Weng!
Ther thing is that Jack Burton thinks He's the hero, but he is not.
And thats just awesome.
The "crazy coke nail" was a style at one time in Chinese society. It showed that one did not need to work with their own hands for a living - IE , they were of the upper class.
Kurt Russel. My fave actor ever
I love this movie. I remember reading that some people criticised the movie back then for playing on stereotypes and Chinese exoticism. However, watching it today Im amazed at how incredibly and sneakily subversive it was with how Wang was portrayed as the swashbuckling hero who gets the girl and Burton as the semi-component sidekick which normally most American audiences would get the other way around. I highly recommend an amazing Hong Kong movie called Zu Warriors of the Magic of the Magic Mountain (1983) which John Carpenter cites as one of his major inspiration for this. Check out Carpenter’s Starman that he made after The Thing which is an alien romance that takes a 180 degree turn from his previous effort.
That was definitely my first question when asking about cultural appropriateness: the perception of exoticism and/or fetishization. But I do think the subversion of the typical hero/side kick roles had me screaming and shows a reverence for the culture that was used to build the world of the story 😂. and Thanks for the recs! I'll def check these out!
Know what sucks? At one point, a Fox exec came up to Carpenter and said, "how does it feel knowing this is gonna be a huge hit?" Because it honestly looked like it was gonna do well-and it didn't. Even Carpenter and Russell admitted in the commentary, if this had come out in the 90s, with all the HK directors and stars doing US movies, it would have done better once the martial arts craze kicked in again, despite the 80's being heavy in that too. I dunno, I still love this movie.
John Carpenter created that genre. "We really shook the pillars of Heaven, didn't we Wang?? You sure did.
This is the first Hollywood movie that got Hong Kong Cinema. Watching this, and Golden Child, is a chalk and cheese experience. This is still my favourite action-comedy of all time from Hollywood.
What they drank was magic potion, which made them stronger, faster, more alert...
Lo Pan was a undead phantom-like Lich Wizard
The Three Storms were "Rain", "Thunder", and "Lightning", Lo Pan; they were inspirations for characters in the videogame Mortal Kombat just as the movie "Enter the Dragon" was a major inspiration to the creators of the Mortal Kombat videogames
I have loved this movies since I was a kid, and your reaction had me legit snort-laugh before the opening credits!
And something that your video got me to realize after countless viewings, when Jack is driving his truck and talking on the CB, my guy was doing the THE FIRST PODCAST!
Hell, 'Porkchop Express' is even a perfect name!
I will say, you have me cracking up hard! Please keep doing what you do, and best believe you got my sub!!-)
"Prince Phillip?" Omg, I'm dead.
This is one of my favorite movies. We used to watch this all the time as kids, and it still holds up.
If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend Little Shop of Horrors The Director's Cut (1986).
The ending is dark and sad.. and absolutely awesome lol
Steve Martin as a sadistic singing dentist is a must. And i hate musicals.
I've seen Little Shop but don't know if it was the director's cut? 🤔
@@AlandaParker Both had completely different endings. The theatrical cut was the "happy" ending (enforced by the studio) and the director's cut had the "tragic" ending (envisioned by the creators).
The line "if we're not back by dawn, call the President" is a reference to his first movie with John Carpenter (Escape from New York).