Welcome back to How’d They Do That? In this series, we check out behind the scenes stills and video from the making of some of cinema’s greatest! To celebrate the start of Event Cinema’s “In the House” cult film program, we’d thought we check out some behind the scenes images from their opening night film – Big Trouble in Little China.
Directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, this action comedy hit screens in 1986 and did…. pretty disappointing numbers at the box office. The film received mixed critical reactions and only grossed $11 million at the box office of a $20 million budget, and thanks to Aliens (which opened by 16 days later), the film was forgotten. The reaction to the film caused Carpenter to become disillusioned with the Hollywood system and became an independent filmmaker.
“The experience [of Big Trouble] was the reason I stopped making movies for the Hollywood studios. I won’t work for them again. I think Big Trouble is a wonderful film, and I’m very proud of it. But the reception it received, and the reasons for that reception, were too much for me to deal with. I’m too old for that sort of bullshit.”
However, thanks to the magic of home video, the film received a real cult following and was finally appreciated for its wacky premise, over the top action and wonderful special effects. We are currently hitting the films 30th anniversary and it’s hard to believe that a film with such charm lost money.
With a minuscule effects budget of $2 Million, Big Trouble had a tonne of monsters and makeup effects. Special Effects Artist, Richard Edlund, heavily influenced by the ancient Chinese mythology, achieved an amazing mix of eastern and western styles in his exaggerated creatures. Check out the snippet of this Behind the Scenes video we dug up from Lo Pan’s dungeon
https://youtu.be/ssIuI7PYU90?t=5m5s
Check out the below behind the scene shots from the making of Big Trouble in Little China
Now you’ve had a peek behind the scenes, be sure to check out Big Trouble in Little China at Event Cinema’s George St on Friday 22nd July – get your tickets below!
