Big Trouble in Little China vs. The Thing

4 comments

9 comments

Now that's just not fair!

Ho in the hell are you supposed to make that choice. Big Trouble is one of the great all time B-Movies and The Thing is best remake of a horror movie ever done no contest, but which one do I like more head to head? If I had to choose to watch one right now and they are beginning at the same time and I have to choose which one to watch, I am always good a laugh and some old fashion silly fun.

The Thing is actually a great film, while Big Trouble is just funny and campy.

My weakness for sci-fi speaks for me. "The Thing" is just light-years better than it had any right to be. Probably Carpenter's masterpiece.

To much camp in Big Trouble in Little China.

Big Trouble in Little China is really entertaining, but it doesn't hold up against The Thing. The "You gotta be fucking kidding" scene is unbeatable.

Haha, there's a "you gotta be fucking kidding" scene in both movies. More or less. Gotta go with The Thing--BTiLC probably has a better concept than execution. I dunno, throughout the entire movie the characters are running around going "this is unbelievable! this is such a zany situation! what's going on?!" and I'm just not feelin' it. Plus the action is kinda uninspired. The Thing has aged like fine wine into accidental camp (the best kind).

Oh, well, guess I'm one of the few here: Big Trouble in Little China by a lot. And I think The Thing is great, so at the end of the day, there are no losers here. But let me put it this way: Big Trouble is funnier than The Thing is scary. The Thing IS scary, don't get me wrong, but some of its special effects are a little campy when you think about them. Great, but campy. Speaking of camp, I loved the level of camp in Big Trouble. That feeling of "what the hell is going on" combined with the incredibly fun performance by Kurt Russell, the over-the-top special effects, the amazing set designs, the fights, the music and the ridiculous nonsense story make this a highly enjoyable ride. Ride...they should make an attraction out of this. Pirates of the Caribbean-esque. I can see it working. COPYRIGHT MYSTICSPOON 2013.

I had more fun watching Big Trouble in Little China than I was horrified while watching The Thing

I'll go with Big Trouble right now, but I reserve the right to change down the road...

Good match-up between a couple of Kurt's popular 80's flicks. I'll go with BTiLC.

BTILC is an awesome movie, but The Thing is such an amazing film. The subtleties, the themes, effects, acting, characters, set desing, score and so on... Perfect cinema.

Big Trouble in Little China was one of the most entertaining movies I've seen. But, it can't beats the brilliance of the Thing. The best Carpenter-Russell collaboration.

Perhaps I'm in the wrong mood for it right now, and having read a few of the comments I get why people love Big Trouble in Little China, but I'm very hit-and-miss when it comes to self-indulgent campy B-movies; more often I don't get them than I do, and unfortunately Big Trouble is sitting in the "no" camp after the first viewing. I can see the appeal of it and I understand the desire for Carpenter and co. to just drop all pretences and go nuts with the nonsensical B-movie theme park ride story, excessively stereotypical Chinese caricaturing bordering on racist and wire-fu influenced action sequences, but it just didn't do it for me. The Thing on the other hand is still a tentpole of Sci-Fi/Horror. I wouldn't say it's "scary" per sei (if I wanted proper "scary" I'd go for something like Kill List), but it's incredibly tense, well written, acted and directed, with a creative disgustingness only topped by David Cronenberg's "The Fly", based on my viewing repertoire. Maybe Big Trouble will grow on repeat viewing and in the right company, but for now it's an easy win for The Thing.

Big trouble is fun but every time I see it with friends or otherwise, our interest wanes about half-way through. The Thing always grabs me from start to finish.