John Carpenter bring back Jack!
Jack Burton is an innocent joe who gets mixed up in a situation where a green-eyed asian girl (which is rare) is kidnapped at an airport. Jack’s friend Wang was waiting for the girl, whom is his fiancee’, and needs Jack’s help to get her back. Burton, who is egotistical and brutish, gets into more than her bargained as the group who needs the girl deals in black Chinese magic. The purpose for the girl? A sacrifice so that their leader David Lo Pan can become human once again (he was cursed to roam the earth as a ghost).
This is pure 80s! And this is quite possibly the last ‘good’ film that John Carpenter did. It’s certainly goofy in nature as you’ll find most of the dialogue and action shamefully hokey, but there’s just something so good about it that you just keep watching. Most of the story comes alive through its characters, as they are nicely developed. From the first five minutes of the film you see that Jack (played by Kurt Russell) is a loner. He rides in his truck alone, he’s a truck driver and he doesn’t allow unpaid bets to go unsettled What’s funny about Burton is that even after establishing that he survives on his own, he carries a fake swagger of ‘badass’ with him that carries most of the comical scenes. What’s even better is that he does nothing to help the situation, but he does nothing to hurt it. If he were in a war he would be the guy carrying the flag; he helps to identify the side he’s fighting for and nothing more. His friend Wang (played by Dennis Dun) does most of the grunt work in fighting and getting hurt. Combined they make the perfect hero; apart they make the perfect action comedy team. Each character is simply hilarious. Now the best character in the film, which really makes you laugh and cringe, is the bad guy David Lo Pan (played by James Hong). Established as vicious and commanding, Lo Pan never strays from his quest to become human at any cost. His dialogue with Burton and crew is nothing short of hilarious (the best line being, “Are these your friends? Now this really pisses me off!”) and menacing; one of the finest villains to ever grace a screen in my opinion.
As for the story, it’s simple; good versus evil. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, as there is some minor Chinese history thrown into it, and it doesn’t have the best detail in the world. You never truly find out much about Lo Pan and why a green-eyed girl is necessary for him to become human again. The story simply tells you that and you go along with it. You also don’t get a clear explanation of the three demons that guard Lo Pan. Each one has their own ability, but it’s never clear why or how they serve Lo Pan. These are just small details of holes just sitting there in the story. Because the characters are strong and likable, you forgive the goofiness and simply say what Jack Burton’s favorite line is, “What the hell.” This story brings some great action, way ahead of its time for stateside martial arts, and it’s combined with fantastic dialogue; once together you end up enjoying this movie over and over again.
Seeing this movie on blu-ray really has brought back some memories. First, tank tops just simply aren’t cool unless Jack Burton wears them. Second, giant fake deerskin boots just simply aren’t cool unless they’re worn by Jack Burton. Seriously speaking, the film looked great in HD, but it did have some slight artifacts in the more wide-shot scenes. For example, the scene towards the end where the truck was speeding away from Lo Pan’s complex, you can see a tinge of graininess in the picture. It’s not major, but I’ve seen similar films that were older that had that cleaned up. Anyway, it’s still better than DVD and a good HD experience. As for audio, prepare your ears for lovely Carpenter driven music in Dolby 5.1. You will want to thrown on a neon lamp by the time you’re done with this soundtrack.
As for features, here’s what you’ll be looking at:
– Commentary from Carpenter and Russell
– Isolated Score Track
– Deleted Scenes
– Extended Ending
– Vintage Footage
– Music Video
– Trailers/TV Spots
– Gallery
I like what they did to this and I like what they put together as a whole. I think that the commentary is probably the strongest as the old boys remember their time on the movie. It’s interesting and insightful and I’m disappointed that James Hong could not be a part of it. Excellent stuff for an excellent blu-ray.