Last night I was trying to explain the tone of Big Trouble in Little China to a friend. Forget it, just play it.
We're not to the second act, when she points out the similarities between Big Trouble's Jack Burton and Angus MacGyver himself. I might have been blind to it as MacGyver was a key favorite character of my youth (and non youth) years.
Big Trouble I had only seen for the first time maybe a year ago, so it was still fresh, but I had responded to it strongly--the fun, the balance of absurdity to not, the ideas within, its respect for the right things, realism and magical.
Regardless, these two characters mirror each other in these ways. It goes beyond the look (there are some stylistic similarities, sure) and into the attitude of the character, his reality, his "everyman-ness" maybe.
He is the kind of guy who might shake his hand after punching out a bad guy (who deserved it). Maybe it's right there in the parenthetical; he has a sense of justice about him and has a respect/lack of respect for the right things.
Reminds me of Raymond Chandler's detective hero: "..a man fit for adventure. If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, without becoming too dull to be worth living in."
Regardless, each now has a spot in the hardcopy movie/tv collection.
Cheers and power to you and to great characters, great tone, and great storytelling.
