The Griffin or the Agate

Big Trouble In Little China? What's that? No doubt more than a few of you are scratching your heads out there, unfamiliar with the flick. It's a tough one to classify, that's for sure. It's just your average kung fu action adventure ghost story with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Kurt Russell's Jack Burton is the hopelessly inept would-be hero, drawn into a magical underworld while trying to help his friend Wang recover his kidnapped girlfriend. Russell's blustery blowhard stumbles from one mess to another while his companions, including Kim Cattrall as Gracie Law, try to help him make thing work out right. Is it a magnificent piece of cinematic brilliance? Hell, no, but director John Carpenter's quirky romp is a hoot well worth visiting at least once, which many viewers discovered as the film found cult status on video.
     The special edition DVD has all the special bells and whistles one would expect, including a widescreen presentation, Dolby surround sound, trailers and other promotional material. Carpenter and Russell sound like they're having a great time during their voice-over commentary. They have the tendency to digress into frank and honest discussions about filmmaking and kind of forget about the movie, but at least they're interesting. Other neat bonuses include comments that provide context for scenes in the deleted clips gallery and a feature that allows you to run the original storyboards on a split screen next to the final product. The overdone menu interface can get a bit tiresome, but that's a minor quibble.
     The flexibility that the DVD format allows is only advantageous if the creators use it to the maximum. Big Trouble In Little China is a prime example of how to do it correctly. A must for fans of the feckless Burton, and not the worst choice ever for a Saturday night popcorn movie.  §

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