Big Trouble in Little China(1986)
20th Century Fox Jul 4, 1986
A truck driver is pulled into Chinatown conflict when a sorcerer kidnaps a friend's fiancée, forcing them into a hidden war of gangs, magic, and prophecy beneath San Francisco.
Release Details
Original Release | Jul 4, 1986 | Wide
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Box Office Results
2026-09-20T11:29:28.837Z
Results
$2,723,211
$11,100,000
$2,034
$11,123,897
Current Showtimes
orround
- Wed Sep 23
- Thu Sep 24
- Fri Sep 25
- Sat Sep 26
- Sun Sep 27
- Mon Sep 28
- Tue Sep 29
Technical Specifications
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English,Cantonese
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Truck driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) wins a high-stakes dice game against his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dunst) at a wholesale market in San Francisco, requiring Burton to accompany Wang to San Francisco International Airport to collect Wang's fiancée, Miao Yin (Suzee Pai), from China. At the terminal, a street gang known as the Lords of Death kidnaps Yin in a targeted abduction, prompting Burton and Wang to pursue the captors into the narrow alleyways of Chinatown. The chase stalls when Burton drives his Freightliner truck, the Pork-Chop Express, directly into the middle of a violent turf war between two rival tongs, the Chang Sing and the Wing Kong, who interrupt a funeral procession for an assassinated leader. The street warfare escalates when three elemental sorcerers known as the Storms, consisting of Thunder (Carter Wong), Rain (Peter Kwong), and Lightning (James Pax), descend into the alley and slaughter the remaining Chang Sing combatants using supernatural powers. The immortal sorcerer David Lo Pan (James Hong) appears immediately afterward, standing directly in the path of the oncoming Pork-Chop Express. Burton strikes Lo Pan with the truck, but the vehicle passes through the translucent entity without injuring him. Lo Pan projects beams of destructive light from his eyes, temporarily blinding Burton. Burton and Wang abandon the stranded vehicle, fleeing the scene on foot while the Lords of Death seize the truck and the Wing Kong forces capture Yin for Lo Pan.Wang takes Burton to his restaurant, The Dragon of the Black Pool, where they meet lawyer Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), journalist associate Eddie Lee (Donald Li), and restaurant owner Margo Litzenberger (Kate Burton) to orchestrate a rescue operation. They consult Egg Shen (Victor Wong), a Chinatown tour bus driver who is secretly a powerful sorcerer locked in a centuries-old conflict with Lo Pan. Shen explains that Lo Pan is a flesh-less, cursed entity who must marry a woman with green eyes to sacrifice her to the Emperor, a ritual that will break his curse and restore his physical, mortal form. Because Yin possesses green eyes, she satisfies the exact parameters of the ancient prophecy. The group formulates a plan to infiltrate a local brothel where they suspect Yin is being held. Inside the establishment, a disguised Burton begins to question one of the women, but the Storms crash through the structure and seize Yin once again.The rescue party regroups at the apartment of Law, determining that Yin has been moved to the Wing Kong Exchange, which serves as a front for the domain of Lo Pan. Burton and Wang infiltrate the facility by posing as telephone repair technicians, but they quickly become trapped in an elevator that fills with water. After escaping the lift, they navigate a subterranean area identified by Wang as the hell of the upside-down sinners. Security forces discover the intruders, leading to their capture by Rain, who physically assaults them before transferring them to wheelchairs. The captives are brought before Lo Pan, who appears in the physical manifestation of a crippled elderly man. Lo Pan monitors his security screens and observes Law, Lee, and Litzenberger entering the building, prompting him to dispatch Thunder to intercept them. Law is captured by a predatory monster during the intrusion, providing Lo Pan with a second green-eyed candidate for a dual wedding ceremony.Burton and Wang are returned to their cells in the wheelchairs, where Wang explains the full two-thousand-year-old legend of Lo Pan. The duo breaks free from their restraints, but they quickly resume their positions and replace their blindfolds when they hear Thunder return. Thunder suspends Lee by his jacket collar, prompting Burton to launch an ambush. Thunder repels the assault, shoving Burton back into his wheelchair and sending him down a ramp toward a deep well. Wang and Lee create a diversion, allowing Burton to rescue the remaining imprisoned women and retreat from the immediate sector.Wang and Burton consult with Shen, who gathers the Chang Sing forces to launch a counteroffensive through an underground network of caverns and corridors beneath Chinatown. Shen brews a potent magical potion to grant the rescue party heightened strength, speed, and spiritual protection before they enter the main offices and the ceremonial banquet hall. The team interrupts the wedding ritual just as Lo Pan begins his transition into a permanent, mortal flesh-and-blood body. A massive melee ensues between the Chang Sing and Wing Kong forces. Burton attempts to engage the enemy but fires his weapon into the ceiling, causing falling debris to strike his head and temporarily incapacitate him. Wang engages Rain in an intricate sword duel, ultimately killing the sorcerer, while Shen counters the magical assaults of Lightning.Lo Pan, now fully mortal and vulnerable, attempts to escape the banquet hall with the captive women. Burton recovers, retrieves his thrown combat knife from the floor, and throws it directly into the center of the forehead of Lo Pan, killing the sorcerer instantly. Thunder witnesses the death of his master and swells his body with rage until he explodes. Burton, Wang, Law, and Yin escape into the corridors, where Lightning causes the structural walls to collapse, cornering the group. Shen lowers a rope from an overhead opening to rescue the party. Lightning attempts to climb the rope in pursuit, but Shen drops a heavy statue down the shaft, crushing him. The survivors locate the compound warehouse, retrieve the Pork-Chop Express, and return to The Dragon of the Black Pool. With the threat eliminated, Shen departs for a vacation, noting that China remains in the heart. Burton bids farewell to the group and drives his truck out of San Francisco, completely unaware that a monstrous, furred creature from the underground temple remains hidden inside the storage compartment behind his cab.
Storyline
- Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) gets dragged into Chinatown after a routine favor for Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) spirals into a kidnapping. Miao Yin (Suzee Pai) is taken by forces tied to David Lo Pan (James Hong), an ancient sorcerer seeking a bride to break his curse. Burton and Wang descend into layered gang warfare between rival tongs and supernatural enforcers known as the Storms. Allies form quickly and unevenly, including Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) and Egg Shen (Victor Wong), who reveal the mythic structure beneath the criminal surface. Every rescue attempt collapses deeper into Lo Pan's controlled domain. — Quill & Camera When trucker Jack Burton agreed to take his friend Wang Chi to pick up his fiancee at the airport, he never expected to get involved in a supernatural battle between good and evil. Wang's fiancee has emerald-green eyes, which make her a perfect target for an immortal sorcerer named Lo Pan and his three invincible cronies. Jack must save Wang's fiancee from Lo Pan and his henchmen and win back his stolen truck. But how can he defeat an enemy who has no body? — Mr. X
