MY TWO THOUGHTS:
1) Too Much of the Same. I liked that this script has so much action.
But after awhile, it was the just the same scene, the same emotional dynamics.
Roger Ebert explains it much better:
...the first 30 minutes of the movie gave me lots of room for hope. It was fast-moving, it was visually spectacular, it was exotic and lighthearted and filled with a spirit of adventure. But then, gradually, the movie began to recycle itself. It began to feel as if I was seeing the same thing more than once. After one amazing subterranean chamber had been survived and conquered, everybody fell down a chute into another one. By the end of the movie, I was just plain weary.2) Use of a Kiss During an Action Sequence. This script does not really delve into the Jack-Gracie relationship, which is fine. It's not that kind of movie.
However, I liked the kiss in the scene below because it has multiple layers:
- It acknowledges there is a Jack-Gracie attraction.
- It releases the audience's tension, now that all the captives are freed.
- It symbolizes freedom and celebration.
ex. "INT. BATHING POOL - DAY
UNDERWATER...AN INLET... A PIPE 18 INCHES WIDE...PEOPLE SQUEEZING INTO IT...TALK ABOUT INSANITY...BUBBLES, PANIC, THRASHING BODIES...WE DON'T SEE JACK BURTON.
INT. PIPE - DAY
Up ahead the first Chinese girl surfaces! Still in the pipe but above its water level! The going's still nightmarish but there's air...AND THE PIPE'S GETTING WIDER, NOT MUCH, 36 INCHES. Gracie breaks the surface! Wang Chi next!
GRACIE LAW: Where's Margo?!
Wang Chi has no idea, and Gracie shoves him on by her, Margo appearing, Gracie shoving her on by...
MARGO LITZENBERGER: Where are we!
GRACIE LAW: Where's Eddie?!
Eddie! Gasping for air! Gracie helps him, shoves him forward...
GRACIE LAW: Where's Jack?!
"Jack?" Getting familiar, Gracie showing concern, huh? She's looking back at the water, no Jack...no Jack... THEN JACK ERUPTING IN HER FACE!
GRACIE LAW: Jack!
She grabs him, elated. So is Jack, to be breathing again and be hugged by Gracie Law when a second ago he thought it was curtains...so he kisses her!
GRACIE LAW: Hey!
JACK BURTON: Sorry, sorry, I'm just thrilled to be alive.
GRACIE: Yeah, right. Let's go.
Their wet bodies on top of each other, no way they can move at the same time.
JACK BURTON: Ladies first."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The purpose of the kiss was not one fold, and thus had more meaning.
(In other words: It meant something more than just romantic attraction.)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)(rev. shooting script, 9/17/85)
by David Weinstein and Gary Goldman
Revisions by W.D. Richter
Directed by John Carpenter
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