079 – TFFP: Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

In this episode of The Forgotten Flix Podcast, we’re fighting mythical Chinese ghost-demons with Kurt Russell in Big Trouble In Little China (1986)!

With special guest host Kevin Bachelder of Tuning Into Sci-Fi T.V. and The Saturday B-movie Reel podcasts!

Directed by: John Carpenter

Screenplay by: Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein, and W.D. Richter

Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattral, and Dennis Dun

Background Info (from Wikipedia): Big Trouble in Little China (also known as John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China) is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) rescue Wang’s green-eyed fiancee (Suzee Pai) from bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown. They go into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown, where they face an ancient sorcerer named Lo Pan (James Hong).

Although the film was originally envisioned as a Western set in the 1880s, screenwriter W. D. Richter was hired to rewrite the script extensively and modernize everything. The studio hired Carpenter to direct the film and rushed Big Trouble in Little China into production so that it would be released before a similarly themed Eddie Murphy film, The Golden Child, which was slated to come out around the same time.

The project fulfilled Carpenter’s long-standing desire to make a martial arts film. The movie was a commercial failure, grossing $11.1 million in North America and well below its estimated $25 million budget. It received critically mixed reviews that left Carpenter disillusioned withHollywood and influenced his decision to return to independent film-making. It has become a cult film due to its success on home video.

This week’s movie picks are:

Kevin’s Pick:  Galaxina (1980)

Jason’s Pick: Eight Masters (1977)

Joel’s Pick: Unlawful Entry (1992)

Next episode we’re talking about… The Cutting Edge (1992) with guest host and frequent ForgottenFlix.comcontributer Maggie Kruger!

Special thanks to:

• The fantastic show-notes art provided by artist Kevin Spencer. Check out his other groovy artwork at inkspatters.com, and like his Facebook page, The Art of Kevin Spencer.
• The hilarious spoiler alert featured in this episode provided by Jay V. Please check out his hilarious podcast at JayVMail.com!
• Be sure to subscribe to Forgotten Flix on iTunes and leave us a review! Click here to visit our iTunes page.

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