Soundtrack Review: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

February 18, 2009

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020209 0937 soundtrackr11 Soundtrack Review: Big Trouble in Little China (1986) This is a review of the motion picture score Big Trouble in Little China by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth.

“Load up the Pork Chop Express with a gem that is likely to entertain for generations”

John Carpenter’s classic movie Big Trouble in Little China starring Kurt Russell has had a profound effect on many people, including myself. You know the line ‘Thy don’t make movies like that anymore’? Well it’s true, they don’t and many would argue that it’s a good thing. There might be something there, but this awesome movie is one of the best and funniest action movie of it’s generation. The soundtrack by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth became an amazing gem, beloved by fans of the movie. This is a review of the complete edition recently released by La-La Land Records.

Track List

CD1

Prologue (***)
Pork Chop Express (Main Title) (*****)
Abduction At Airport (****)
The Alley (Procession) (***)
The Alley (War) (****)
The Storms (***)
Tenement / White Tiger (***)
Here Come The Storms (****)
Wing Kong Exchange (***)
Lo Pan’s Domain / Looking For A Girl (***)
Friends Of Yours? / Escape From Basis (***)
Escape From Wing Kong (****)
Hide (****)

CD2

Call The Police (***)
Dragon Eyes (***)
Into The Spirit Path (****)
The Great Arcade (***)
The Final Escape (Lo Pan’s Demise / Getaway) (****)
Goodbye Jack (***)
Big Trouble In Little China (End Credits) (*****)
Stingers Montage (****)
Big Trouble In Little China (Original Version) (****)

Massive!

Yes this massive mammoth of a release contains 2 cd’s with about 1 hour 35 minutes of music. The original release by Enigma Records had a measly 9 tracks with about 45 minutes play time. So fans of the movie and 1980 film scores has a real treat here. For those of you who knows John Carpenter and Alan Howarth’s music, you’ll know we are not taking about a massive orchestral score here, but an action movie synth score and as such, keep that in mind while reading this review.

The original 9 cues are here of course in one form or another (usually extended versions), but it’s the new stuff we really want to hear (if you own the original soundtrack of course). There are also two versions of the classic song from the movie ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ by Coup De Villes which has to be said is a real treat for the fans! There is the original version we all know and love (with one of the most corkiest music videos ever it has to be said), and then there’s the new end titles version which is slightly longer than the original version, but to be honest, there’s not much difference. Still a very welcome addition. Another great addition is the ‘Stingers Montage’ which is a kind of special effects demo of sorts with some added ambient synths. For 80s fans such as myself it is a real fun track.

Moog Heaven

The rest of the film score is instrumental music by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth and that’s not a bad thing at all. For such a movie, it’s quite a big feat as a lot of action movies at the time went the vocal route. John Carpenter mostly steered clear of that, and that’s why there’s only one vocal song on this soundtrack (even in its complete version). What you will get is a great 80s score with all the amazing moog synthesizer sound you can take. It is mostly repeated synth effects and percussion and perhaps lacks the melodic part, but that’s not what Big Trouble in Little China is about anyway. An orchestral thematic score would never have worked here, and that’s why this score is as entertaining as it’s going to get.

Beyond Main Themes

Beyond the main theme and the songs, you are stranded on a crossroads. The cues in itself are not that great, but the nostalgia is simply too strong. I have rated the cues by themselves, something which I will kick myself for later. The score contains three types of music, ambient synth music, percussion synth music and a mix between the two. Examples of the ambient synth music are ‘Prologue‘ and ‘The Alley (Procession)‘. Examples of percussion synth music are ‘Abduction at Airport‘ and ‘The Alley (War)‘. Some life outside of the main themes do exist however. ‘Abduction at Airport’ feature some great synth suspense music and the extended version of ‘Here Come The Storms‘ is another good synth track. ‘Hide‘ is a wonderful cue which is like a poster boy for the 80s suspense movies and TV series like Miami Vice. There are others as well, but you can see from my ratings above which ones were the best of the crop.

Conclusion

I’ll admit that due to being a big fan of the movie, my opinions might sounds like a fan-boy, but that’s what it’s all about, opinions. This score will probably not be of great importance to people who for some reason didn’t like the movie or dislikes the 80s sound. However I say this to all the fans: Load up the Pork Chop Express with a gem that is likely to entertain for generations. So to the final question: Was it really necessary to release a 2CD complete edition of the Big Trouble in Little China soundtrack? Yes!

PS: This is a limited release of only 3000 copies so get it now before you have to buy it on EBay for $500 in a year’s time.

020209 0937 soundtrackr21 Soundtrack Review: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)