Big Trouble in Little China (1986) 
Flash Gordon vs. Jack Burton
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About a week ago I had this sort of epiphany on the similarities between Big Trouble in Little China and Flash Gordon. It is almost like they are mirror images of eachother. Consider that both films:
- star a hero with long blond hair
- have pretty cheesy special effects that add a certain something to them. Big Trouble has some goofy looking monsters and green flame. Flash has a radical scene of Gordon flying a rocket sled.
- have a hero who gets transported to another world and has to save his own. Burton gets sucked into the Chinese underworld and Gordon goes to Mongo
- have main characters who get help from an old guy with special powers. In Big Trouble it is Egg, the old Chinese tour bus driver who is also a wizard waiting to duke it out with evil forces. Gordon runs across Hans Zarkov, a rocket scientist.
- feature a romance between the hero and a random blonde who also gets mixed up in the mess.
- depict a villain with special powers and powerful minions who rules over world that is threatening ours. Burton fights against Lo Pan some sort of ghost sorcerer who rules some level of Chinese hell and is poised to take over the universe. Gordon fights against Emporer Ming an alien superbeing who rules Mongo and is planning to destroy Earth.
- feature an exciting finale where the hero must save his world and break up a marriage between the villain and his love interest. I feel like this is not the most original of endings and looking back on it, its a little strange. But recognizing this was the ‘aha’ moment of this comparison.
- really reflect American values. Gordon is like a Sci Fi John Adams rallying the various kingdoms of Mongo to unite against the tyrant Emporer Ming. Burton relies on his guts, reflexes and moxie to see him through. He is like a 1986 version of John Wayne who messes up sometimes for comic relief.
- have Asians as bad guys. (Though the Asians are also the good guys in Big Trouble)
These movies have some important differences as well. While Flash is a traditional hero and has a real world occupation of being quarterback for the New York Jets, Burton is a truck driver known for CB monologues while rolling in the Pork Chop Express. While Flash has wholesome optimism, leadership and results Burton is a cynic, likes drinking and routinely screws things up. Burton’s chinese friend is more like Flash in the realm of purity of heart and physical prowess. The other most important difference is the music. While Flash has one of my favorite soundtracks, Big Trouble’s score is purely pedestrian.
Somehow, both of these movies ended up in my relatively short set of highly viewed movies. I will now commence spending a long time figuring out what this says about my childhood and my present psyche.
