Face from the past come back to haunt you!
April 20, 2010 9:05 PM Subscribe

Big Trouble in Little China: the history, the cult, the complete soundtrack, the RPG, the video game, the comic book, the geopolitical metaphor.
posted by Joe Beese (101 comments total) 68 users marked this as a favorite

What does that mean? Huh? "China is here." I don't even know what the hell that means.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:11 PM on April 20, 2010 [8 favorites]

The only thing as good is Buckaroo Banzai.
posted by humannaire at 9:12 PM on April 20, 2010 [19 favorites]

...the geopolitical metaphor.

Whatcha mean? Oil?
posted by Iridic at 9:13 PM on April 20, 2010 [3 favorites]

That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever seen David Sirota write, and man, he has written some doozies.
posted by mightygodking at 9:15 PM on April 20, 2010 [4 favorites]

The large number of pages with conspicuously ancient web design.
posted by griphus at 9:18 PM on April 20, 2010

"yesssir, the check is in the mail"

Words to live by.
posted by djrock3k at 9:19 PM on April 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

And every time he says this line, we're supposed to laugh and cheer with him, because this is how we roll.

No, we're supposed to laugh and jeer at him, because he's a blusterer who's massively out of his depth.
posted by Iridic at 9:24 PM on April 20, 2010

This movie has influenced me far more than I ever care to admit.
posted by chambers at 9:24 PM on April 20, 2010

A person could get a reasonable taste of my adolescence with a 2nd edition Player's Handbook, and copies of Big Trouble in Little China, Star Wars and Star Trek VI.
posted by khaibit at 9:26 PM on April 20, 2010 [11 favorites]

So, in that sense, the movie was actually a prescient warning -- one that's more relevant today than when it first came out.

I'm going to say this about every shitty 1980s American action movie that ever comes up in conversation.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:29 PM on April 20, 2010 [4 favorites]

BIG TROUBLE in little china... is this the only music video to ever feature a flatbed editing system?
posted by nathancaswell at 9:34 PM on April 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

the extended edition
posted by metaplectic at 9:40 PM on April 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

Geopolitical metaphor has better things to do than get found in Big Trouble in Little China.
posted by nonliteral at 9:51 PM on April 20, 2010 [9 favorites]

"You will come out no more!"

"What? Hunh? What'll come out no more!?"

That's Burton right there: he's game, but he's also completely out of his depth and has no idea of what is going on. He thinks he's the hero, but he might as well be sliding on a banana peel through most of the danger. Lo Pan was more insightful than you would guess: "You were not put on this Earth to 'get it,' Mister Burton!"

Indeed.
posted by adipocere at 9:52 PM on April 20, 2010 [6 favorites]

It's fitting that this should keep coming back to haunt Kim Cattrall, since she's currently starring in Big Trouble In Little Dubai.
posted by hermitosis at 10:01 PM on April 20, 2010

I used to love this stupid, stupid movie. But it's so ridiculously racist that it's tough for me to enjoy it now without wincing hard. I mean, even the 'un-racist' moments are racist. OOH, CHINESE MAGIC! Fucking hell. Chinese people don't have green eyes? Come the fuck in.
posted by koeselitz at 10:03 PM on April 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

Every time I see a reference to "Big Trouble in Little China" I always confuse it with High Road to China. I liked that movie.
posted by awfurby at 10:06 PM on April 20, 2010

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather.
posted by total warfare frown at 10:21 PM on April 20, 2010 [4 favorites]

"Safety, Jack!"
posted by blueberry at 10:26 PM on April 20, 2010

I've seen the movie at least 100 times, and I never knew so much went in to making it. I liked it because it was well made cheese. I didn't really care for the essay, it makes the movie seem great in an adult way. This is a movie for 8-12 year olds. I'm still a big fan.
posted by Flex1970 at 10:34 PM on April 20, 2010

"Egg! How'd you get up there?!" "Wasn't easy!"

--that exchange will always, without fail, brighten my mood and make me laugh. Just thinking about it right now makes me giggle to myself.
posted by The Mysterious Mr. F at 10:40 PM on April 20, 2010 [6 favorites]

I used to love this stupid, stupid movie. But it's so ridiculously racist that it's tough for me to enjoy it now without wincing hard. I mean, even the 'un-racist' moments are racist. OOH, CHINESE MAGIC! Fucking hell. Chinese people don't have green eyes? Come the fuck in.-- koeselitz

The movie doesn't say that Chinese people don't have green eyes. It says that it is rare. I would guess that this is correct.

I looked around for what a typical person in China thinks of this movie (if they've even heard of it). The best I could find is a Google cache of a Chinese American blogging about all things Chinese, who makes the argument that the movie isn't racist.
posted by eye of newt at 10:42 PM on April 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Black Blood of the Earth!"

"Oh, you mean oil."

"No! I mean Black Blood of the Earth!"

God, I love that movie. The word "worst" has no business anywhere near it or Army of Darkness.
posted by brundlefly at 11:01 PM on April 20, 2010 [11 favorites]

From the huffpo link

the crazy-eyed demon about to get his final revenge on Burton

Ahem. The crazy-eyed demon was in no way about to get his final revenge. Was he going to attack Burton? Most assuredly. Wacky hijinks would ensue. Burton, however, would naturally come through unscathed.

Because he's Jack Burton.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:05 PM on April 20, 2010

The movie that brought you Raiden!

I first saw this in high school, and at that point, I had already started hated seeing helpless Asians begging to be rescued by white guys. Yet Big Trouble in Little China was so enthusiastic about its own elaborate world that I couldn't help getting sucked into it and learning that wasn't the case in this movie.

Sure, it's stupid in many ways, but it has the same kind of sense of adventure that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics had. That's pretty rare. I think I watched it every time I happened across it on TV on a Sunday afternoon.

Some Sunday afternoon, I'm going to have to have a The Last Dragon/Big Trouble in Little China doubleheader.
posted by ignignokt at 11:22 PM on April 20, 2010 [3 favorites]

Have you ever shared something with someone, something that you knew a lot of people would scoff at, but you've got a connection with this person so you think it'll be okay? Yeah, you're making me relive the crushing disappointment I felt when I realized my wife didn't like this movie.

Also, my maternal grandfather's name is Jack Burton. That's kind of awesome.
posted by empyrean at 11:36 PM on April 20, 2010 [12 favorites]

This movie looks amazingly awesome on Blu-Ray. It was like seeing it again for the first time.
posted by bpm140 at 11:45 PM on April 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

This movie gave me the most useful phrase in my lexicon: This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.

Can be used in ANY situation.
posted by strangememes at 11:58 PM on April 20, 2010 [8 favorites]

This is a movie for 8-12 year olds. I'm still a big fan.

While I'm sure 8–12 year olds would dig the action, I think most of the humor would be lost on them. The bulk of that humor is getting how over-the-top the dialogue is which would go over their heads. So I guess it's a film for all ages.
posted by bfootdav at 12:13 AM on April 21, 2010

I haven't seen the movie, but barring some bizarre context, saying Chinese people don't have green eyes is as racist as saying Chinese people don't have (naturally) blond hair.
posted by kmz at 12:20 AM on April 21, 2010

There are places in most Chinatowns that really do seem like magical portals; duck into a nondescript alley and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a bustling market right out of Shanghai, or enter a small broken-down rust-covered windowless door and discover that it's the main entrance to an impossibly large shop crammed with opulent wares and exotic merchandise. It's like walking into Dr. Who's TARDIS or stumbling on to Brigadoon.

Anyway, BTILC tapped into that world-within-a-world feeling.
posted by RavinDave at 12:22 AM on April 21, 2010 [4 favorites]

One of the best adventure movies to watch on a Saturday afternoon ever.

And the DVD commentary with Russell and John Carpenter is pretty nifty, too. While they play up the Mutual Admiration Society quite a bit, they do provide some cool insight and touch a bit on the original period Western concept.
posted by Spatch at 12:23 AM on April 21, 2010

Jack Burton's smeared lipstick felt like the most brilliant thing I'd ever seen at age 12 and still cracks me up every time.
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:08 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

saying Chinese people don't have green eyes is as racist as saying Chinese people don't have (naturally) blond hair.

Only true if you believe that green eyed blondes are in some way superior to dark eyed brunettes. Who's the racist now?

I thought I was the only person who loved this movie. Thank you metafilter for melting my special snowflake into a muddy pothole.
posted by dirty lies at 1:21 AM on April 21, 2010

'Hmm... it's a nice knife. Goodbye Mr Burton.'

For me, Big Trouble In Little China is both awesomely stupid and stupidly awesome. I remember seeing it as a kid and the eyes just popping out of my head with sheer dumb delight.
posted by RokkitNite at 1:30 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

I remember thinking that Lightning was pretty much the most badass movie villain ever. Just watched a couple of clips, and yep - still badass.
posted by 1adam12 at 1:48 AM on April 21, 2010

This, along with The Thing and Escape From New York, form the Axis of Awesomeness when it comes to DVD commentary. I'd listen to Carpenter and Russell read the phone book together.
posted by Roman Graves at 3:13 AM on April 21, 2010

Last Dragon definitely takes the edge in musical numbers. The forced viewing of Arkadian's Dirty Books is shades of Clockwork Orange aversion therapy set to Devo.
posted by kid ichorous at 4:04 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

This movie, I loved it.
posted by Atreides at 4:30 AM on April 21, 2010

Chinese people don't have green eyes? Come the fuck in.

Where is this hidden fortress of green-eyed, blond-haired Chinese people?

And how does one come the fuck in? I suppose I can understand come the fuck on, or the slightly-cruder fuck the come in, but come the fuck in? That sense no makes.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:40 AM on April 21, 2010 [5 favorites]

I've read a similar analysis in the past, saying that Jack Burton in Big Trouble... represented America against the world. As the film progresses, Jack proves to be far less effective as a hero than he thinks of himself, winning battles out of sheer luck rather than skill. His partner, Wang, turns out to be the real hero of the film, while Jack ends up being the bumbling sidekick (like in the final battle, where Jack spends most of the time unconscious from being knocked out by falling rocks he shot loose with his own gun). Jack might be the star of the show, but that attention turns out to be misplaced.

Above all, Big Trouble... is a pure cheesefest of a movie. But as an allegory for America's real position in the world in the last twenty years, the film works better than some folks might want to admit.
posted by spoobnooble at 4:48 AM on April 21, 2010 [7 favorites]

I adore this movie. I have seen it dozens of times and have bought it on every home video medium from VHS to Blu Ray (and I sekritly call my purse my six demon bag). It is so good-natured and sweet and packed with little jokes and one-liners and things that are just plain funny because they're funny. I agree about the awesomeness of Russell/Carpenter commentaries (I swear you can hear them sparking one up on more than one occasion), although the signal to noise ratio is pretty silly, the noise is amusing in its own right.

Also, the fact that Jack Burton isn't just a clueless boob, even though the movie leads you to believe he is. He is smarter and braver and more noble than you think he'd be. And Kim Cattrall's performance is a gem ("don't panic, it's me, Gracie Law!").

"I never drive faster than I can see".
posted by biscotti at 4:53 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

Chinese people don't have green eyes?

JACK BURTON: I'm supposed to buy this shit? 2000 years, he can't find one broad to fit the bill? Come on, Dave, you must be doing something seriously wrong!
LO PAN: There have been others, to be sure. There are always others. But you know, Mr. Burton, the difficulties between men and women. How seldom it works out? Yet we all keep trying, like fools.
posted by Drastic at 4:56 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

I love this movie. It is one of maybe a half dozen movies that I consider perfection -- a perfect blend of the real and the surreal, with masterful filmmaking and actors who are having an astronomical amount of fun making the movie. There's cheese, there's throw-away gags, there's outrageous action and absurd risk-taking, there's music and sound effects and ... well, it's like the inside of my head most days. That's why I like it. Because it's how I see the world: a normal guy in an absurd situation.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:19 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, and this on Blu-Ray? That might just tip me over the edge into getting that PS3.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:20 AM on April 21, 2010

strangememes: "This movie gave me the most useful phrase in my lexicon: This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.

Can be used in ANY situation."

Also extremely useful: No pathetic excuses!

I got a very positive attitude about this thread.
posted by Joe Beese at 5:41 AM on April 21, 2010

This movie, by the way, makes up one of the most impressive series of directorial awesome-ness in the history of modern cinema, and cements John Carpenter's place in the annals of Human Greatness.

I mean, just look at this fucking list!

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Halloween (1978)
The Fog (1980)
Escape from New York (1981)
The Thing (1982)
Christine (1983)
Starman (1984)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
They Live (1988)

Not to mention that he wrote the stories and the soundtracks for almost all of them!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:41 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

(Not to mention *great* SpcFX before it really took off with CGI rendering farms and whatnot, etc.)
posted by RavinDave at 5:48 AM on April 21, 2010

Hold on there, Civil_Disobedient, I would be remiss if I did not insist that you place "Prince of Darkness" (also co-starring Dennis Dun, from Big Trouble) on that list as well. I won't go into it too much here, but that movie... It's pretty amazing. If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it in a long time, definitely check it out. A delightfully absurd premise that give way to some truly surreal and sublime moments.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 6:02 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Are you crazy, is that your problem?
posted by JanetLand at 6:03 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, and for at least the last 10 years, maybe more, whatever computer I own, when it shuts down, it says, "Hello? HELLo? Aw-haw-hawww, Christ!"
posted by JanetLand at 6:06 AM on April 21, 2010

That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever seen David Sirota write, and man, he has written some doozies.

Son-of-a-bitch must pay!

I always wanted to see sequels, in which Jack Burton would crash into other ancient mythologies.
posted by lucien_reeve at 6:09 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh and, since I'm quoting stuff:

I suppose I can understand come the fuck on, or the slightly-cruder fuck the come in, but come the fuck in? That sense no makes.

Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off... ?
posted by lucien_reeve at 6:11 AM on April 21, 2010

I was a video store clerk for many years and this was the second* most crowd-pleasing movie to play on the big screens in the store.

We put every genre sticker in the store on that Amray. Sci Fi? Check. Action? Check. Comedy? Romance? Epic? Martial Arts? Big Trouble in Little China has it all.

*number one most crowd pleasing to show on the big wall was Three O'clock High. Invariably a crowd would gather as more and more people got sucked in, and have to watch through to the end.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:13 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

In fairness, he only ever wrote one soundtrack, consisting of him hammering on three notes on a Casio keyboard.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:14 AM on April 21, 2010

I would be remiss if I did not insist that you place "Prince of Darkness" [...] on that list as well.

You're right. I also left out Dark Star, his (official) directorial debut. The man was the king of movie quotables.

For those interested, the DVD version has a great commentary track with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:14 AM on April 21, 2010

By the way, the fact that Burdon calls Lo Pan "Dave" is just hilarious to me. So much of this films becomes more and more entertaining on repeat viewings.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:15 AM on April 21, 2010

I had always heard that parts of the Buckaroo Banzai sequel were incorporated into Big Trouble (speaking of movies that are part of the Axis of Awesome).
posted by immlass at 6:15 AM on April 21, 2010

In fairness, he only ever wrote one soundtrack, consisting of him hammering on three notes on a Casio keyboard.

Not true! They Live features him playing three chords on a guitar.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:16 AM on April 21, 2010

The only thing as good is Buckaroo Banzai.

You may already know this, but is likely that everything you like about this film is the result of its mostly uncredited script doctor, who revised the original script from soup to nuts, updating it from a Wild West setting to modern San Francisco. That script doctor? W. D. Richter, director of Buckaroo Banzai.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:19 AM on April 21, 2010 [6 favorites]

I can't believe I survived the drinking game for this movie. My friend had written a good one (the ones easily found online aren't so hot), and we even expanded it. Half the room didn't make it past the battle at the wedding.
posted by Theta States at 6:24 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

My girlfriends gone for two days this week. I could do a lot of things but I'm going to definitely have a back-to-back viewing of Big Trouble in Little China and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
posted by substrate at 6:28 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

In fairness, he only ever wrote one soundtrack, consisting of him hammering on three notes on a Casio keyboard.

By that same token, you could say that The Ramones only wrote one song, consisting of them hammering away at three chords on the guitar, yet, a great many of them still have an anthemic resonance that is seldom duplicated.

The music from Halloween stands among a handful of other scores (Psycho, Jaws, etc) as being the benchmark by which creepy music is judged.

And while I can't rightly comment on Escape From New York's place in the pop culture canon, it has certainly had profound influences on me musically.
posted by orville sash at 6:30 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

David Sirota is a complete jackass. Not as talented as he thinks he is. He was hipster before hipster was hipster. The jackass ur-hipster.

Oh, and from wikipedia, I learn he was a Northwestern journalism grad. That explains everything.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:49 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

They totally ripped off the plot of Big Trouble In Little China for the first Pirates of the Carribbean movie, too.

Two heroes, one named Jack who just wants his vehicle back, and one who is in it for his true love. Evil guy has been made undead by a curse and wishes the curse lifted, even though it will make him fleshy and mortal. Evil Guy steals Jack's vehicle and Hero 2's girlfriend, intending to sacrifice her to lift the curse. Two heroes form a team-up, in which one is sorta out of his depth and the other shows surprising capability, and wacky hijinks ensue, culminating in a battle in which the bad guy must be allowed to become mortal before he can be killed, and the two heroes parting as friends but going their separate ways.
posted by The otter lady at 6:59 AM on April 21, 2010 [27 favorites]

A final shot (or I'll be here all day):

The scene at the beginnig of the battle, where Jack stereotypically fires into the air only to be knocked out by a disloged chunk of ceiling (and miss the entire fight) is the Best Action Movie Gag Evar.
posted by djrock3k at 7:10 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Jack missing most of the fight (first with the falling rock, then getting stuck under the warrior) makes me feel better every time I'm playing D&D and my character gets Held/Entangled/Paralyzed/Unconcious. Further sweetened by the climactic knife throw, where he fumbles... and then makes a natural 20 on his Snatch Missile/Counterattack.

...."Snatch Missiles? What are those?
posted by The otter lady at 7:17 AM on April 21, 2010 [4 favorites]

Metafilter: Come the fuck in.
posted by kid ichorous at 7:24 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

The only thing as good is Buckaroo Banzai.

Add "Repo Man" to that list, and you have the Holy Trinity.
posted by JoanArkham at 7:34 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

W. D. Richter, director of Buckaroo Banzai.

I don't think Richter can get much credit for the story of Buckaroo. Earl Mac Rauch wrote it, based on his own book.
posted by dobbs at 7:39 AM on April 21, 2010

saying Chinese people don't have green eyes is as racist as saying Chinese people don't have (naturally) blond hair.

Only true if you believe that green eyed blondes are in some way superior to dark eyed brunettes. Who's the racist now?

Um, my point was that neither statement was racist in the least because they're both true. I guess I should have clarified.
posted by kmz at 7:44 AM on April 21, 2010

I haven't seen the movie, but barring some bizarre context, saying Chinese people don't have green eyes is as racist as saying Chinese people don't have (naturally) blond hair.

And if you had seen the movie, you'd know the movie doesn't say that. It says green-eyed chinese women are rare.

And we know what Jack Burton always says.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:52 AM on April 21, 2010

I sekritly call my purse my six demon bag

I think I love you.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:02 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

God, I love this movie so. "Which Lo Pan? Little old basket case on wheels or the ten foot tall roadblock? "
posted by KingEdRa at 8:15 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

This, along with The Thing and Escape From New York, form the Axis of Awesomeness when it comes to DVD commentary. I'd listen to Carpenter and Russell read the phone book together.

Absolutely. Carpenter is the master of the DVD commentary.

"This movie gave me the most useful phrase in my lexicon: This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang.
Can be used in ANY situation."

Also extremely useful: No pathetic excuses!

Don't forget: "This really pisses me off to no end!" I use that all the time.
posted by brundlefly at 8:41 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

Jack Burton: [pointing to Chinese writing on elevator] What does that say?
Wang Chi: [speaks Chinese] 'Hell of Boiling Oil'.
Jack Burton: You're kidding.
Wang Chi: Yeah, I am. It says 'Keep Out'.

Man, I love the everloving hell out of this movie. Just watched the movie on blu-ray last week, it's brilliant... I just got a PS3 in the house recently, but I actually bought the blu-ray a couple months ago JUST BECAUSE IT EXISTED.
posted by FatherDagon at 8:49 AM on April 21, 2010 [5 favorites]

Huh. When I was in grad skool, I actually wrote a piece on BTILC and Tsui Hark's Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain on that Wing Kong Exchange site. Funny to see it sorta-kinda linked here.

It's not a terrible essay, but I'd like to think I can do better work now!

Needless to say, I just adore BTILC. Glad to see I'm not the only one.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:55 AM on April 21, 2010

Chinese have a lot of hells. There's also The Hell of the Upside-Down Sinners, The Hell Where People are Skinned Alive, The Hell of the Oily Dragon, and The Hell of Being Cut to Pieces.

All I know is, this Lo Pan character comes out of thin air in the middle of a goddamn alley while his buddies are flying around on wires cutting everybody to shreds, and he just stands there waiting for me to drive my truck straight through him with light coming out of his mouth!
posted by kirkaracha at 9:04 AM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

Easily my favorite movie of all time.

My bit to contribute here (spoiler)-

You know the bit where Egg Shen drops that big statue on Lightning's head and kills him? If you look closely at the electro-pyrotechnics that accompany Lightning's death, you'll see a chinese character briefly traced out in the lightning.

Apparently, it's the character for "Carpenter."
posted by Uncle Ira at 9:30 AM on April 21, 2010 [5 favorites]

Aw. The soundtrack link makes me sad. I ordered it through the excellent La La Land Records, and it's probably the only CDs I've bought in years -- I want to support them. Now, fantastic fucking soundtrack. It's never off my mp3 player. So it looks great on blu-ray, sure. But were there any new extras? Because that's what it would take for me to make that particular jump. (of course I could probably "acquire" those extras, hmm...)

Also, can we agree that despite the greatness of Buckaroo Banzai, it is most fortunate that things didn't go as planned?

Also also, I'm sad that there wasn't a Victor Wong memorial thread on MeFi.

Triple also: I have to re-watch (for probably the hundredth time) to see if Egg really says "Goat butts against the edge". I don't think he's dropping his h's, but I'm thinking it should have been (or maybe was) "hedge". You don't become entangled with an edge.

I had always heard that parts of the Buckaroo Banzai sequel were incorporated into Big Trouble (speaking of movies that are part of the Axis of Awesome).

See the Wing Kong Exchange FAQ, section s.2.21.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:38 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Uh, supposed to be a paragraph break between talk of the soundtrack and blu-ray.

I assume that's obvious, but I must be so monumentally naive.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:41 AM on April 21, 2010

I always wondered about that Chinese character in the lightning.

And I hope I can excavate my dvd of the movie when I get home tonight, because I need to re-watch it again.
posted by mogget at 10:58 AM on April 21, 2010

Do the Chinese in fact have a lot of hells? It's something I've always wondered about.
posted by vibrotronica at 11:52 AM on April 21, 2010

They seem to have ten which I suppose is a lot for those of us used to just the one.
posted by JoanArkham at 12:01 PM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also also, I'm sad that there wasn't a Victor Wong memorial thread on MeFi.

Given his date of death, I imagine he was overshadowed by events.
posted by electroboy at 2:29 PM on April 21, 2010

Given his date of death, I imagine he was overshadowed by events.

I'm not sure where I first learned this, but the details are unusually sad:

Upset at the tragedy of 9-11, and concerned about the fate of his two sons who lived in New York City at the time, Victor, who had already survived multiple strokes, deprived himself of needed sleep while riveted to the TV set for nearly two days. He passed away the late evening of September 12, 2001, of heart failure.
posted by kid ichorous at 3:07 PM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Actually that's a tremendous downer that deserves a sort of counterweight:

Among his many journeys in life, he was, at varying stages, a teenage Christian evangelist, a Protestant minister-in-training, a Zen Buddhist, a visual artist, a poet, a Beat Generation luminary, a pioneering photographer and broadcast journalist, a comedian, and a Hollywood actor.

Also, dude was in Tremors. Grab-oids.
posted by kid ichorous at 3:15 PM on April 21, 2010 [4 favorites]

Quoted this movie every time I've jumped out of a plane.
Dropped my kid off at the pool a bit back.
Just as the door is closing I hear: "If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the President."
Almost hit a tree on the way home.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:22 PM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]

Yup. Thought of him at the time, but I was not a MeFite way back when.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:29 PM on April 21, 2010

Jack proves to be far less effective as a hero than he thinks of himself, winning battles out of sheer luck rather than skill

Except for the part at the end where he catches a fucking knife thrown at his face (with his bare hands!) and throws it right back in the other guys face.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 6:55 PM on April 21, 2010

It's all in the reflexes.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:56 PM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

I just happened to look down and noticed that I was wearing my Pork-Chop Express t-shirt today (thanks wingkong.net)! This, of course, was after I mashed that favorite button as hard as I could.
I still remember the summer of '88, right before going into the 5th grade. It was one of the rare times my parents had HBO. I saw BTILC was coming on and sprinted to get the tape into the VCR. That tape has followed me around ever since, even though it's been worn to unplayability for ages.
My best friend and I will still occasionally throw the Chang-Sing handsign to each other if we think nobody's watching, and in typing that, I just realized we've been doing it for around 22 years now. Jeez.
posted by The GoBotSodomizer at 2:57 AM on April 22, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh mama, those are new. I don't wear a lot of black these days but I want that Dragon of the Black Pool shirt.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:59 AM on April 22, 2010

Slightly more affordable than Thunder's straw hat for $3,500.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:10 AM on April 22, 2010

Aw shit, is this gonna get ugly, koeselitz? I hope not cause I thought what we were, racial differences notwithstanding, was all friends here, all MeFites.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:02 PM on April 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

I made the mistake of buying this movie from the bargain bin after having it recommended to me. I just found it to be boring TBQH.
posted by Ryogen at 10:18 PM on April 22, 2010

I just noticed Victor Wong died in Locke, California.

Locke is two hours east of San Francisco into the Delta, kind of in nowhere land (no offense intended). It's nearly a ghost town and is full of delapidated old-west looking shops that still have Chinese writing on the windows.

The rest of that photographer's flickr set gives you an idea of what it looks like.

It was established in an era and area where anti-Chinese racism was extreme so they started their own town. I was told growing up that the "accidental fire" that got them to move there may have been accidental, but certainly they were told that moving back to their old neighborhood was not an option available to them.

It has a website which claims 70 people live there, 10 of whom are of Asian descent. That seems generous to me. Every time I've visited, it's been that much closer to disappearing into ruin.

I really wonder what the backstory is about how he ended up there.
posted by small_ruminant at 3:53 PM on April 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

Wow, fascinating photos of Locke! A living ghost town! I'm going to go check the place out.

According to this, Victor Wong lived in Locke from when he was 3 to when he was 6. Maybe he had fond memories of the place so he retired there.

His father was an advisor to Chiang Kai-Shek!
posted by eye of newt at 11:31 AM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Big Trouble In Little China Drinking Game

Drink every time:
* Jack Burton expresses the fact that he is confused, doesn't know, doesn't understand, or doesn't know what the hell is going on;
* Jack Burton prepares for a fight in any way, and then doesn't actually fight anyone;
* Egg Shen, Lo Pan, Wang Chi or Uncle Chu say something enigmatic;
* The plot is gratuitously developed through terribly written, unrealistic dialogue;
* Whenever anyone says, "green eyes";
* Whenever anyone mentions the name of a Chinese Hell;
* Whenever a Chinese guy speaks with a southern American or Brooklyn accent;
* Drink three times when each Storm dies;
* All players must toast and chug a full beer when Egg yells "CHEERS!"

(written by K'an)
posted by Theta States at 10:32 AM on April 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

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Face from the past come back to haunt you!
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