Rewind: 'Big Trouble In Little China'

"When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye, and asks you if you paid your dues; you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail."

John Carpenter's 1986 CLASSIC 'Big Trouble In Little China' stands in the pantheon of one of my favorite movies. From its hilarious one-liners, colorful characters, and crappy special effects, this is a movie that begs to be quoted.

Our "hero" of the film, Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) is a truck driver that gets his truck stolen by Chinese gangsters after trying to help an old friend get his kidnapped fiance Miao Yin back. Jack reluctantly and hilariously goes through his quest, being as ill-prepared as possible. Aided by the help of his friend, Wang, tour bus driver/mystic/restaurant owner Egg Shen, and love interest Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), who is also later kidnapped, the crew is set to take on Lo Pan (James Hong), an ancient Chinese sorceror hell-bent on achieving immortality. Lo Pan needs to marry a "chinese girl with green eyes", which Miao Yin has.

After infiltrating Lo Pan's secret underground hideout, the group face "The Three Storms" in Thunder, Rain and Lightning, 3 supernatural beings. They eventually defeat them and square off against Lo Pan, where Jack succeeds in killing him by throwing a knife into his forehead. As the building is crumbling around them, the crew escapes back to Wang's restaurant, where you would think that Jack and Gracie will come together. But in true Jack Burton style, he leaves and inadvertently brings along a monster from Lo Pan's sanctuary.

There is much to be filled in from my brief synopsis, but I implore you to treat yourself to this film. It's outrageous, ridiculous and hilarious. John Carpenter's strange style shines in this movie, a cult classic for the ages.

"Just remember what old Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says "Give me your best shot. I can take it."