Big Trouble in Little China (Blu-ray) (1986) |
|
Big Trouble in Little China (Blu-ray) (1986) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action Comedy |
Audio Commentary Isolated Musical Score Deleted Scenes Alternate Ending Featurette-Vintage Featurette Music Video Featurette-Richard Edlund Interview Trailer Trailer Trailer-Spanish Trailer |
|
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 1986 | ||
| Running Time | 99:47 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | John Carpenter |
|
Studio
Distributor |
20th CENTURY FOX Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Kurt Russell Kim Cattrall Dennis Dun James Hong Victor Wong |
| Case | Amaray Variant | ||
| RPI | $44.95 | Music | John Carpenter |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0  Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 Russian dts 5.1 Thai Dolby Digital 2.0 Isolated Music Score DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
||
| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired Portuguese Chinese Korean French Titling Russian Spanish Chinese Thai Russian |
Smoking | Yes, frequently |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Big Trouble In Little China is a difficult film to adequately describe to those who have not seen it. Essentially a parody of buddy films and Kung Fu flicks, among other things, the film was unjustifiably criticised as being racist when originally released. Sure, the portrayals of many of San Francisco's Chinese community are less than flattering, but they are also quite enjoyable in a laugh-with-them rather than laugh-at-them style. Another, more valid, criticism of the film is that the characters are rather shallow and the film focuses more on special effects or fight sequences. However, this does not affect the entertainment value of the film as seriously as Roger Ebert would have us believe.
Big Trouble In Little China begins with a day in the office of a lawyer who is soliciting a deposition regarding an incident in Chinatown from one Egg Shen (Victor Wong). As Egg states for the record, his day job is as a bus driver who takes tourists around the streets of the Chinatown district.
But Egg is also quite the expert in Chinese mysticism, as he none-too-subtly demonstrates to the lawyer. The lawyer, for his part, wants to know the present whereabouts of a truck driver named Jack Burton (Kurt Russell). From there, we go back in time an unspecified amount as Burton arrives in San Francisco. Burton wastes no time in announcing himself as a man who loves the sound of his own voice and does not mind sharing it with all and sundry, even if they do.
Burton's first stop is at a depot where he finds Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), a young Chinese migrant who is at the time engaged in one of those impromptu games of chance that the workers keep themselves occupied with. Burton and Wang Chi happen to be well-acquainted, and a bet the latter makes ends up going terribly wrong. Owing Burton what would still be a large amount of money now, Wang Chi solicits Burton's help with going to the airport to meet with the woman he has been working himself into the ground to bring over from China, Miao Yin (Suzee Pai).
Unfortunately, a Chinese street gang arrives at a similar time to our heroes, in order to intercept Miao Yin. Kidnapping her in a quick display of mild violence that is difficult to believe being tolerated at an airport even in 1986, these gangsters take Miao Yin to a whorehouse in town where the plan is to sell her off to wealthy customers. Even more unfortunately, however, a trio of supernatural beings referred to in an earlier scene as the Three Storms arrive. The Three Storms consist of Thunder (Carter Wong), Rain (Peter Kwong), and Lightning (James Pax). In spite of being given the least amount of character development in the piece, these three are easily the most interesting characters.
In a grand display of their supernatural powers, the Three Storms abduct Miao Yin and take her to the warehouse fortress of one David Lo Pan (James Hong). Lo Pan's basic deal is that he was cursed many thousands of years ago by the first Emperor of China, and is basically an insubstantial wraith who still manages to make physical contact with things. The curse can only be ended if Lo Pan marries a woman with green eyes, and then sacrifices her to a Chinese god. The kicker is that Miao Yin happens to be one of the rare Chinese women who has green eyes.
Big Trouble In Little China was not an overwhelming commercial success when first released in 1986. In fact, the audio commentary features Kurt Russell stating that friends of his were unaware that he had a film playing in theatres at the time. But the intervening twenty-three years have been very good to the film. As the integration between aspects of Chinese and Western cultures has increased, the humour of the film has in some ways become funnier. Part of this has to do with the fact that the Chinese characters, even the evil ones, are depicted in a much more flattering manner than the all-American central character, who comes across as a complete moron throughout. As a piece of entertainment, Big Trouble In Little China comes highly recommended.
Big Trouble In Little China also comes highly recommended as a demonstration disc for when one needs to impress upon people why the cost of an upgrade to high definition justifies itself.
Like all John Carpenter films save for Dark Star, Big Trouble In Little China was shot in Panavision and was intended to be seen in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which is approximately 25% wider than the 16:9 standard. The transfer presents the film with this aspect ratio within a 1920 by 1080 progressive window. Unlike certain distributors I will not glorify by naming, Fox have (correctly) assumed that John Carpenter fans want to see his films in the shape that he intended.
Where do I begin when talking about sharpness? I have seen this film in every home medium save for Laserdisc. At 90:57, there is a wide shot as Lightning gets his comeuppance. As this happens, random bolts of lightning burst out of him, and one forms into a Chinese character in the upper middle of the screen. This Blu-ray Disc marks the first time in the history of home video that this character is actually readable. Or that a person totally unfamiliar with the film would have even the slightest clue that it happens to be there. To call this disc an upgrade over the DVD in terms of resolution is utterly redundant. Shadow detail is a little limited, even relative to the age of the film. There is no low-level noise. Grain is a minor issue, with a faint sprinkle evident in backgrounds, but this was also quite a minor issue in relation to the age of the film.
The film has a colour scheme that mostly emphasises the age and less than ideal state of repair of most of the locations. The transfer renders this colour scheme without a hitch. Skin tones are natural and consistent. No bleeding or misregistration was evident.
Compression artefacts were not noted in the transfer. The transfer uses the AVCHD codec and generally hovers around 25 megabits per second, with the occasional spike to as high as 35 megabits per second. Film-to-video artefacts were not noted in the transfer, either. Film artefacts consisted of the occasional small mark or small scratch on the picture, but these were within more than acceptable limits relative to the age of the film.
Subtitles are offered in English for the Hearing Impaired. The subtitles themselves are accurate to the spoken dialogue, but their timings and positions on the screen are not the best.
The packaging claims that this disc is dual-layered. Given the relatively short length of the film, this would go some way to explain the amazing clarity of the image.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
John Carpenter films also tend to be blessed with great sound elements, especially where the music is concerned. Hearing it in a 5.1 channel remix is already improvement enough, but 5.1 channels with lossless compression? Well, excuse me whilst I go and mop up the puddle of drool I left.
A whopping number of soundtracks are offered on this disc - nine of them, in fact. The first, and default, soundtrack is the original English dialogue in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, bitrate presently unknown. Second is the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 2.0 with (nearly inaudible) surround encoding. Third and fourth are (very low-fi) Dolby Digital 5.1 dubs in Spanish and Portuguese. Fifth is a French dub in Dolby Digital 5.1 that has somewhat better fidelity. Sixth is a DTS 5.1 Russian dub. Seventh is a Dolby Digital 2.0 Thai dub. Eighth is something I would like to see more of on John Carpenter films - an isolated score in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, which I listened to in its entirety. The ninth, and last, soundtrack is an audio commentary in Dolby Digital 2.0, which I also listened to in its entirety.
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, depending on your ability to process Chinese accents. Carpenter and his actors appear to have aimed for the correct mix of authenticity and intelligibility, and found it. I never thought I would actually say that about this particular film, because previous standard-definition versions have always been a great deal more difficult to understand. It would appear that a substantial remix has been carried out in order to take advantage of the increased fidelity offered by lossless compression. It was well worth the effort. No obvious problems with audio sync were noted.
Music is always a key element of John Carpenter films, and Big Trouble In Little China is not an exception. That said, this is probably the least of Carpenter's self-composed scores. That does not mean it is not any good, it simply means that it is not quite as amazing as some other Carpenter scores I could name. Much of the score attempts to fuse Chinese or generally Asian musical conventions with Western ones. It is somewhat successful, although more so as a parody of the scores in conventional Kung Fu films than anything else. When taken in context of the rest of the film, the sound effects in particular, the score music tends to lose out.
The surround channels are used during the action sequences to redirect gunfire and the general noise of battle through the sound field. They also separate the score music from the rest of the soundtrack. During quiet dialogue sequences, the sound field collapses into stereo, even near mono, but this is unsurprising considering the age and relatively low budget of the film. With those factors in mind, I somehow doubt that this film is ever going to have as amazing a remix as has been offered on other films of similar age, but what we do get on this disc certainly justifies the investment in a BD player and a receiver with lossless audio capabilities.
The subwoofer also had an on-off presence in the film, going utterly berserk during action sequences such as the climactic wedding battle, but collapsing into silence during quiet dialogue sequences. When it was called upon, it supported the bass-heavy effects well without calling undue attention to itself.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
As one would rightly expect with a film that is so old and had such an ordinary showing at the box office, what extras we do get here are small in number and limited in quality. Their interest factor if you happen to be a fan of the film and its director, on the other hand, is literally priceless.
This isolated score is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, and is well worth listening to. After having listened to the score without having the dialogue or sound effects to get in the way, in fact, I have started to warm to it considerably. Perhaps the reason this score music needs to be heard in isolation before its artistry can be fully appreciated is because it is one of Carpenter's most subtle pieces.
The first thing one sees when selecting this extra is a message stating that whilst film elements were used to transfer these deleted scenes when possible, some were only available as transfers from the Betamax casettes used during editing. In menu order, these deleted scenes are:
Each scene begins with a brief text introduction explaining the editorial decisions behind cutting the scene and where they would have otherwise fit into the film, among other things. Some, such as the Airport/Chinatown sequence, are merely scenes that were shortened in the final cut. The reasons they were cut are pretty obvious when they are played back. Their quality varies from average to downright poor, but they are worth a look if one has any interest in the art of editing (like I do). Probably the biggest reason these sequences were cut or trimmed has to do with the frenetic pace that Carpenter wanted in the final film. Each scene is presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio. They are (obviously) presented in standard definition, but this is one rare video extra where that does not seem to matter quite so much.
This three minute and five second deleted scene was restored from the original workprint and contains a couple of extensions to the ending seen in the original film. Presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio. The quality of the sources varies considerably, and it is all in standard definition, but this is also worth a look from a curiosity point of view.
This seven minute and twenty-eight second featurette is so old that it is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. You guessed it, it was intended to be shown on free to air television. If you ever had any doubts that this film suffers horribly from Panning And Scanning, this featurette will utterly destroy them. In spite of the (sometimes severe) quality problems, this featurette is worth a look to see how John Carpenter looked in 1986. Standard definition, and an electronic press kit, but surprisingly entertaining.
For three minutes and twenty-eight seconds, we get the Coup De Villes performing the theme song heard over the end credits. Presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, this is easily one of the goofiest music videos I have seen to date. It brings to mind a tip one professional gave me after seeing one of the rant-and-rave videos I have been making for my own amusement: some people just perform a great deal better behind the camera.
This thirteen minute and twenty-five second interview with visual effects artist Richard Edlund, who is responsible for the visual effects seen in the film, also satisfies a lot of curiosities in spite of being standard definition. Presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with (mildly hissy) Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
Referred to in the menu as Trailer A, this two minute and forty-seven second trailer is presented in an approximate 2.00:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. It appears to be based on a standard definition transfer of film elements. Granted, it is in far better shape than many trailers of similar age, but it is still less than optimal. Like many trailers of the time, it gives away the best moments of the film without their supporting context.
Referred to in the menu as Trailer B, this trailer lasts fifty-five seconds and is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. If I had never seen the film before, this trailer would be doing a much better job of convincing me to see it.
This trailer is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. The trailer has Spanish subtitles, and the salesman's spiel has been dubbed in Spanish. From the sound of said salesman, this trailer appears to have been prepared for a campaign to sell the film in Mexico.
When this option is selected, one is presented with a collection of TV spots for the film, with a Play All option at the top. The total running time when the Play All option is selected is four minutes, forty-three seconds. Each is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Their visual quality varies, with darker scenes being enough of a mess of darkness to make one appreciate the ability of modern video transfer equipment to resolve shadow detail.
Presented as a featurette of strung-together stills, this seventeen minute and thirty-three second collection features stills of various aspect ratios window boxed into the middle of the frame. Some of the stills are quite amusing, others not so. There is absolutely no audio with this gallery, so it can get a little difficult to get through in one sitting.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video transfer is very good, providing an excellent demonstration of the format's superiority over its predecessor.
The audio transfer is rather front-biased, but very good.
The extras are limited, but of great quality.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ700A. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR606 |
| Speakers | Yamaha NS-45 Front Speakers, Yamaha NS-90 Rear Speakers, Wharfedale Xarus 1000 Rear Speakers, Yamaha NSC-120 Centre Speaker, Wharfedale Diamond SW150 Subwoofer |