Talk:Big Trouble in Little China

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Added Wang Chi's fiance's name and did some minor rewording.

Great. Given this movie's cult following, it's high time the article was improved. I added a bit more as well. -DynSkeet (talk) 15:39, August 4, 2005 (UTC)

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[edit] Trivia

The machine gun used in the movie was a modified Carl Gustaf M/45, not a modified Intratec TEC-DC9, but the TEC-DC9 is also made using parts from the M/45. It may be OR, but I've met the designer and he told me so. He actualy made a living making custom guns. But the TEC-DC9 was developed during the same period, so it's not suprising they have a simmilar look. The TEC-DC9 was a yet unnamed (as far as I know) prototype by 1989. // Liftarn


Can you provide anything else to back this statement up? It sure looks like a Tec-9 to me. Also, the Tec-9 page shows it as being in production in 1985, and the ATF knowing of it's existence in 1982. Is that wrong? --JOK3R 16:50, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

On a cursory examination of pictures of the various weapons, the length of the weapon used seems more in line with that of the Gustaf than that of the TEC-9.

I don't know, unless they pushed the magazine feed much closer to the handle or theres a variant that I'm not finding pics of, it bares very little resemblance to a Gustaf and a strong one to a TEC-9. Infact, some of the links on the TEC-9 article seem to have pics that look exactly like the gun in the movie. Also, he uses the gun semi, and a TEC-9 is a semi. In addition, I'm not sure a guy you met is a sitable resource. Anyways, I'm gonna change it for now and correct the machine gun part, neither type are machine guns. Highlandlord 02:51, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

He's not citable per Wikipedia standards so I guess it will have to go. // Liftarn

It seems that almost immediatly after I made the change someone else cut away everything but that a TEC-9 is seen in a poster for it, is that even worth having at all? Highlandlord 03:30, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

That was me. If it's a TEC-9, then it's not remodeled or specially made for the film. It's just a bog standard TEC-9. :-) The trivia section isn't really supposed to exist at all in film articles, according to WP guidelines, so the interesting stuff should be integrated into the text and the useless bits should be deleted. Geoff B 06:16, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
Notice the front of the gun. The protection around the barrel. That's directly from the m/45. But then the TEC-9 is a redesigned m/45 so it's difficult to tell just by looking at them. Also check Interdynamic MP-9. // Liftarn

The perforated jacket around the barrel is typical of TEC-9s pre-1994. Not to mention that the style of perferations are totally different to those on the M/45. The initial KG-9 model was changed to KG-99 in the mid 1980s (when BTILC was made) and designated the TEC-9. If you go to tyhe TEC-9 page here on WP, the pic is of an AB-10 model, which lacks the perforated jacket around the muzzle. There would be no reason on Earth to use a modified M/45, as the TEC-9 was already in production. Geoff B 20:54, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Several of the links from the TEC-9 article show pics more similar to the one used in the movie. Once again, now that all it says is "The gun used by Jack Burton and shown on the movie poster is a Intratec TEC-DC9." is that noteworthy enough to be in the trivia for the movie? Highlandlord 20:48, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

For this article to get GA status the Trivia section needs to be integrated into the rest of the article or eliminated. I've placed it here for safe keeping until this happens. J.D. 01:06, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The final storm Lightning dies when Egg Shen drops a stone Buddha sculpture on him. Upon Lightning's death, bolts of electricity surge through the air. On close examination, the last few lightning bolts form Chinese characters. These characters read "carpenter" – presumably a reference to John Carpenter, the director of the film.[1]
  • Egg Shen's bus tour agency is named Egg Foo Young Tours, presumably a reference to the well-known Chinese dish.
  • The gun used by Jack Burton and shown on the movie poster is a Intratec TEC-DC9.
  • The weapons Lightning uses in the street fight are called emi piercers.
  • Kim Cattrall was surprised when she got to the set for the prison scene one morning, as no one told her she would be hogtied for the entire scene. She endured it like a professional, occasionally having her gag removed so she could drink water. When asked by John Carpenter whether or not she was uncomfortable, she simply replied 'I've been in tighter situations than this!'
  • Both green-eyed characters are actually wearing contact lenses.
  • VIZ Media made a reference to this film's title when they released the first Ranma ½ film, Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China.
  • Kurt Russell's Chinatown T-shirt was declared one of the funniest--and most appropriate--movie T-shirts of all time.[4]
  • Professor Frank from Brad Neely's Professor Brothers' "Substitute" cartoon mentions he is needed at the Wing Kong exchange immediately.
  • In the film "Death Proof", part of the double feature "Grindhouse", Kurt Russell's tank top from the movie can be seen hanging up on the wall by the jukebox where the girls are sitting.

[edit] Origins of the Story

The wiki article suggests that this was originally a cowboy movie. However the IMDB suggests that this was originally the sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, known as Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime Syndicate. Which is correct?

According to the film's commentary, with Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, the script went through a few incarnations.

JC: "It was originally a Western, with a cowboy riding into town...he does the same basic thing, he gets involved, they steal his horse or something so he has to go into this underworld...it was modernised by W. D. Richter (sp?) and his rationale was Rosemary's Baby worked because it was the modern day, so why wouldn't this?"

KR: "Had he done Buckaroo Banzai?"

JC: "He had done that."

So it was definitely a Western originally, but it may have been adapted by Richter to be a BB sequel before being changed again. Geoff B 06:34, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Several articles that appeared in Starlog magazine around the time the film came out also back up the origins of the screenplay as being a Western. Count Ringworm 13:12, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

I added some more specific links in the Screenplay section of the article. I don't think my changes are controversial though. DirectRevelation 04:45, 4 November 2007 (UTC)DirectRevelation

[edit] World of Warcraft trivia paragraph

I've re-written the WoW paragraph so that the movie references are followed by the game references - since that is the chronological sequence. [Sorry that I forgot I wasn't signed in at the time.] I have also hyphenated "Six-Demon" and "Upside-Down" on what I concede are solely my personal stylistic preferences. If anyone can cite a published screenplay or studio-based movie website to the contrary, that's great. But the mentions in WoW, being derivative works, would not be authoritative. Ribonucleic 19:39, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Egg Shen's designation as a magic practitioner

The article currently describes him as a "magician". Aside from the term's unfortunate rabbit-from-the-hat associations, is there any textual basis for this designation - as opposed to "wizard" or "sorcerer"? Although Lo Pan sneers at Egg's "peasant magic", I don't believe this establishes anything. And FWIW - admittedly next-to-nothing - the top Google match for "Egg Shen" describes him as a "sorcerer" and "alchemist". [1] Ribonucleic 00:44, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Lo Pan calls him a 'little bastard sorcerer', not that it makes any difference whether he's called a magician, wizard, sorcerer or conjurer in the WP article. He's a man that does magic. Whatever the Chinese language term(s) for that are, I doubt any of them translate neatly into those English language terms. They all have rather unfortunate associations. Geoff B 02:13, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

  • Now that I check, The American Heritage Dictionary doesn't seem to make any distinction between "sorcerer", "wizard", and "magician" either. Although I would have sworn that "wizard" had some kind of higher status than the others deriving from the ostensible course of studies involved. And the film - even apart from Lo Pan's perjorative comments - does seem to suggest that what he and Egg do aren't exactly the same thing. Combining 1) Lo Pan's "bastard sorcerer" remark, 2) the "sorcerer" identification in the top Google match, and 3) my personal judgment that it's the most Chinese sounding of the three choices, I'm changing the description of Egg from "magician" to "sorcerer". Since you've stated it doesn't make a difference, I trust you won't have any objections. Ribonucleic 04:15, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

By all means, do so. I'm sure there are technical distinctions between the terms, but I don't think it really matters here. Geoff B 05:04, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Merge with Jack Burton article

Since "old Jack" doesn't appear in any other works that I'm aware of, I don't see how he justifies his own article - especially when it's only a stub [and not a particulary well-written one IMHO]. So I've heeded the encouragement to Be Bold and brought in what I thought was the best that article had to offer. This required an extensive rewrite of the Plot summary - which still needs the Lo Pan plot explained a lot better than I can do at the moment without watching the movie again. Ribonucleic 05:17, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bluff vs. Buff

from The American Heritage Dictionary:

bluff (adj) - Rough and blunt but not unkind in manner

buff (adj) - (slang) Having good muscle tone; physically fit and trim

While Jack meets both descriptions, I thought the first was more germane. Also: although I can't locate one, I assume there's a rule of article style that rules out slang. So I'm changing this back. Ribonucleic 14:19, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Slightly more appropriate, yes.  :-) Geoff B 15:06, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Italicization instead of quotation marks on The Pork Chop Express

If I may be indulged this typographical nitpickery, I believe that vehicles with proper names are italicized rather than put in quotation marks. For example: The General Lee. Ribonucleic 16:28, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chinese names and titles

Hehe, it would be nice to see the Chinese names of people in this movie added to the article. Actors, sure, but the characters especially. Is the name of Lo Pan "indeed" spelled 羅盤 as one article suggests??? In the movie, I catch a brief glipse of graffiti which says, "樓something舘". I can't make out the middle character on my small screen, but it's not 下. (So his name is Lou, not Luo...?) Anyway, any further clarifications of the names in the movie would be funtimes. ^.^ WuShufei 23:05, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 19:05, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Other media

This info kinda falls under the Trivia section and is either not cited or, in the case of the video games, is cited but really can't have its own section as there isn't much info so I'm putting it here until it can be expanded. --J.D. (talk) 20:06, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

  • Jim Butcher, author of the Codex Alera novels, has confirmed he based the name of the elemental entities in his books (Furies) from dialog in this movie.
  • In the first bar from the movie Death Proof, Jack's shirt is seen hanging on the wall several times behind the table the girls are sitting at.
  • James Hong, the eccentric Lo Pan, has gone on to be a very popular Asian stock actor, appearing in Seinfeld and many other television programs. He also played "Lo Pan", a wheel-chair-ridden eccentric, rich "godfather of Chinatown" in "Chuck Vs. the Sizzling Shimp"", an episode of the sci-fi geek series Chuck.

[edit] In popular culture

This section is unsourced and reeks of trivia so I've moved it here until it can be cited and integrated back into the article.--J.D. (talk) 20:23, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

The Six Demon Bag also appears in the MMORPG World of Warcraft as an obtainable Rare item. It is also the name of Philadelphia band Man Man's 2006 album.

The character of Lightning from the film was the inspiration for Raiden in Mortal Kombat, and Lo Pan was the inspiration for Shang Tsung, both according to developer Dan Forden.