awesometimes in little china: an underappreciated classic

Growing up my family did not have cable, so I was subject to the whims of the big networks. One of these whims was Sunday Afternoon Movies on the local Fox affiliate. I can remember distinctly the introduction sequence for this program. It featured some pretty classy animations of a retro theater, car, and what appeared to be a valet waiting to park the car when it arrived. It was probably made in MS Paint. . . by a six-year old. Regardless of the artistic merits of the opening animation, this weekend ritual introduced me to countless “classic” flicks. One that sticks out amongst the others is the John Carpenter classic “Big Trouble in Little China.”

“Big Trouble” is the story of Jack Burton, played by the unflappable and glorious Kurt Russell and his adventure in Little China. It’s the classic boy meets girl, girl gets abducted by ancient Chinese evil force for sacred ritual, boy uses automatic weapons and reflexes to win the day. But the movie is so much more than that. It’s almost an homage to all of the B-Movies that came before. Carpenter took the B-Movie and made it legit, almost. Which is why this movie is so great, we never lose sight of the fact that this yarn is over the top. It never takes itself too seriously and its hero is the kinda guy, guys want to be.

The action moves a mile a minute and for the time, the effects are really incredible. At some points, the movie makes you year for the days when movies were made by people, not computers. There are a few scenes which really bring this home and if you’ve seen the movie, I’m sure you’ll know which one I’m specifying with this phrase: Human Blowfish. Hopefully that titillates some of you who haven’t seen it.

This movie has everything action, adventure, romance, comedy, a bit of horrorishness (fairly sure that I just created that word), and some classy performances. Ok, here is my best description based on things that are common knowledge, imagine this:
Indiana Jones is not an archaeologist, but a truck driver and stumbles into Chinatown in some city, searching not for an artifact, but for a lady and a very old Chinese man. Ok, that description pretty much was an epic fail. Regardless of my stupid description, you should definitely see this movie if you haven’t. The movie looks great, the effects are still effective, Kurt Russell cements himself as a dude by wearing a tank top for the entirety of the movie, and finally HUMAN BLOWFISH. Enjoy this underappreciated classic for it’s just a solid movie watching experience. And HUMAN BLOWFISH.