BIG
TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA II
Movie of the Week
Story
by
Charles Proser and Peter David
Screenplay
by
Based on Characters Created by
David Z. Weinstein, Cary Goldman and W.D. Richter
EXT. SAUSALITO -
CHINESE HERITAGE MUSEUM - NIGHT
INT. MUSEUM
In the middle of a
marble floor a single display case topped by a crystal dome. DISTANT BUZZING, A
SHAFT of light appears. Then a BURNING INCENSE STICK. The smoke wafts down.
TWISTING
PULL OUT
The incense stick is
upside down and being lowered into the room. As the smoke spreads, it reveals
laser beams...that form a security barrier.
The incense stick is
held by a muscular hand, followed by a powerful forearm sporting the tattoo of
a Chinese Dragon.
Black hair, a black
headband with red Chinese characters, dark eyes in a handsome, upside-down
face; followed by the rest of BOBBY WANG...in red muscle shirt and black jeans.
He is tied
upside-down with a red nylon rope. His powerful body moves like a contortionist
to avoid the interlocking laser matrix as he's lowered toward the display case.
A thin tube slides
down his arm. A liquid drops onto the glass and HISSES as it flows in rivulets
down the side. Bobby takes a hammer, covers the crystal with a cloth and taps
it gently. CRACK. Bobby carefully pries a piece away. He reaches in, plucks a
JADE ARTIFACT from its pedestal.
CU - THE ARTIFACT
THE CHAI TAO...a
piece of jade carved into part of a Chinese ideogram.
MATCH
DISSOLVE
CU - COMPUTER
A 3D rendering of the
JADE PIECE rotates. Text windows appear connecting it to historical
references...T'ang Dynasty.
INT. ASSISTANT
CURATOR'S OFFICE - SAME TIME
STEVE Van Buren
studies his computer. He's 29, smart and confident. He studies a hologram of
the SAME JADE ARTIFACT. Using a voice-recognition computer, he tries to fit it
and TWO OTHER SHAPES into a complete CHINESE PUZZLE; the CHAI TAO. He's
also on the phone.
STEVE
...ROTATE LEFT 10.
Yeah Dad, I know what
time it is but I thought you'd like to know. The piece we just put on display,
I think I found out what it really is. Something even more interesting!
Yeah! The CHAI TAO! Well, according to
legend it was created by YAMA, the God of Hell. It's the key to unearthly
power.
CU COMPUTER SCREEN
The 3D model, breaks
into three pieces, two phantom pieces rendered in wire-frame, the museum's
piece in full color.
STEVE
It
disappeared...around 580 AD. Rumored to be separated into THREE PIECES, each
piece held by certain moral humans for safety. No, it's not the complete Chai
Tao, but it sure looks like one of the pieces!
ANGLE - SURVEILLANCE
MONITOR - OVER SHOULDER
One security camera
is picking up Bobby Wang, but Steve doesn't notice.
STEVE
TILT Z AXIS BACK TEN.
What? I don't know. Priceless!
ZOOM IN 20.
I found it in the
Fung collection. Maybe old man Fung was a secret sorcerer. Well, of course not,
but that's what they believe... What? Of course it'll be here in the
morning, but it's so exciting I just thought you'd like to know. No?
Really?
INT. GALLERY - BOBBY
He slowly slips the
JADE from the case, puts it in his pocket but as he does, he dislodges the
hammer. It drops from his pocket, hits the glass with a PING. The glass
shatters and falls, cutting the laser beams. ALARM! Bobby screams a command
into a throat mike.
BOBBY
Heur-La! Fi-dee! Heur-La!
HEUR-LA!
(Go! Now! Go go go!)
Giou La! (Let's get
out of here!)
INT. ASSISTANT
CURATOR'S' OFFICE - SAME TIME
Steve's engrossed in
the puzzle when ALARMS BLAST.
STEVE
What's that? It's
nothing... Just the alarm.
(suddenly realizes)
Look, I gotta go! Bye
Dad!
(slams down the phone.)
Damn!
He
leaps up, runs out.
EXT. HERITAGE MUSEUM
- ANOTHER FLAME LORD
YEE, an
Asian-American kid in black jacket and headset pops the clutch of a Ninja
Cycle, ROARS off.
ZOOM IN AND HOLD ON
THE CYCLE
Tied to the back
pommel is the red rope. As he rockets away, the taut rope whips by.
ON THE ROOF
A pulley in a tripod
spins madly...as
INT. MUSEUM
BOBBY is rocketed
straight up and out.
EXT. THE ROOF
Bobby FLIES into the
arms of Flame Lords. They grab his gear, stuff it into packs. They tie the rope
to the tripod, hook onto it and drop off the roof.
FLAME LORDS -
TRAVELING
They powerslide down
the rope and drop to the lawn, hitting with a rolling tumble that brings them
up to their bikes. Yee leaps off the ninja cycle as Bobby vaults right into the
seat.
WIDE ANGLE
The Lords take off.
Still roped to the tripod, Bobby guns it.
EXT. ROOF
The tripod SNAPS
FREE, LEAPS off the roof.
EXT. GROUND
The tripod hits and
tumbles, dragged by the Cycle.
ANGLE BOBBY -
TRAVELING
He roars by as GUARDS
run out screaming into radios. The tripod tumbles across the lawn.
STEVE
runs out, sees the
Flame Lords roar by. A ROAR. He turns.
STEVE'S POV
A ROARING CYCLE bears
down on him. Bobby grins maniacally.
Steve DARTS
left. The CYCLE darts
LEFT.
STEVE darts
RIGHT. The CYCLE leans
RIGHT
STEVE feints LEFT,
dives RIGHT, just as ...
The CYCLE ROARS BY...
ripping his clothes as he rolls. Bobby rights the Ninja, laughing back at
Steve.
Steve goes tumbling.
He rolls and flips onto his feet, about to give chase when he notices the rope
whipping at his feet. He turns. The tripod tumbles straight at him. He dives to
the side, lands in a fountain. He comes up spewing water.
EXT. MUSEUM FRONT
GATE
COP CARS pull up,
SIRENS WAILING, LIGHTS FLASHING, blocking the exit.
THE CYCLE - TRAVELING
Bobby whips out a
sword. With one swipe he parts the rope.
He rockets up the
front hood of a cop car and launches over it, Cops tumble away. They hop back
in just as...
THE TRIPOD
tumbles up and
smashes into the cars, wedging them.
CU - FLAME LORDS -
TRAVELING - OVER TITLES
Five young men and
women of mixed ethnic types, mostly Asian-Americans in leather jackets with Red
Dragons. They wear red head bands with Chinese characters. The cycles sport
dragon pennants. They're neon streaks as they ROAR by.
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO -
CHINATOWN
More cops join the
chase and close in. The FLAME LORDS slam into LITTLE CHINA, swerve around blind
corners, boots kicking sparks. They roar up a culvert. Cop cars appear at the
top. Lords swerve, pull up, surrounded.
The Lords gun their
choppers up a ramp into an alley which turns into a luge tube. They rocket down
out of sight.
In a flash they are
gone. In Little China they are invincible, protected by an invisible
architecture of secret ramps, tunnels and bridges. Two cops run up, find them
vanished, scratch their heads in disbelief.
TITLE MONTAGE
A mix of stills,
animation and live action. Modern San Francisco is contrasted to the past.
Modern Chinatown: Martial Arts and modern bustle is SUPERED over ancient images
of China: shrines, architecture, scrolls of misty landscapes and mystic
images... Ancient gods are intercut against characters from "Big
Trouble". Classical Chinese music is heard in modern arrangements. A quick recap of action from "Big
Trouble in Little China", for those who care, is transparent to those new
to the genre.
END
PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
EXT. STREETS OF
LITTLE CHINA - NEXT MORNING
Steve and CLARENCE
JAMES, a bearish, black SFPD Detective, walk though Chinatown. Steve's upset.
He's also stressed out and exasperated. Clarence grins and waves to merchants.
He is known and liked in Little China despite the fact that he helps himself to
the goods. He takes a fresh lichee nut from a fruit stand, nods to the grocer,
pops it into his mouth.
STEVE
Listen, I already
told this to the guys downtown.
CLARENCE
Indulge me. Tell me
again. Try one of these, they're great. Thanks Lu!
LU
Have a nice day,
Sergeant. Take some for the precinct.
He
does. He stuffs them in his pocket.
STEVE
I haven't had any
sleep!
The
grocer offers another fruit.
LU
Insomnia?! Ah... Lo
quats!
CLARENCE
Good for the blood.
Thanks Lu.
STEVE
You believe that?
CLARENCE
Listen, kid. There
are really two Chinatowns. Most people only know of one of them. The one you don't
know is a mess 'a mystery. You know,
wizards, demons...magic, that kind of stuff.
STEVE
You don't believe
that.
CLARENCE
It's bull. But they
believe. It affects how they behave.
STEVE
Like breaking into a
museum, you mean?
CLARENCE
Yeah. Red and Black
dragons, huh? That'd be Flame Lords. Any Blue and green cycles?
STEVE
No. Why? Who would that be?
CLARENCE
White Hearts, rival
gang. You know about the Flame Lords?
STEVE
I've heard of them.
CLARENCE
They work for Chi
Lung. A real charmer. Extortion, smuggling, white slavery... Nothing we can pin
on him yet.
STEVE
And the White Hearts?
CLARENCE
Run by Egg Shen,
another local character.
STEVE
Egg Shen? Isn't he
some sort of martial arts master?
CLARENCE
Oh, he's got lots of
interests ...tour bus company...a curio shop. He's also supposed to be involved
in the occult.
Steve
turns to him, curiously.
STEVE
The occult?
CLARENCE
It's Chinatown, pal.
Some of our guys come outta there babbling about demons, magic potions and
stuff.
STEVE
Really? Egg
Shen...huh?
CLARENCE
This stuff may sound
silly to us, but it's very real to them. It can bite you.
STEVE
It doesn't sound
silly to me.
Clarence
looks at him curiously.
CLARENCE
The older Chinese
still believe in this magic. Chi Lung and the Flame Lords take advantage of
that. Gives them power. There was big trouble here a few years ago. Some truck
driver wandered in, got himself shanghaied by devils ... at least that's what
he said. Some people claim it was magic. Personally, I think the boys got ahold
of too much saki. But it raised a hell of a stink downtown.
STEVE
They kidnapped him?
CLARENCE
He was lucky to get
out alive. Claimed they tried to kill him.
STEVE
You think they'd kill
someone over these...ancient beliefs?
CLARENCE
Yeah. I think they
will. Now why don't you just let us handle it.
STEVE
I have to get the
jade back.
CLARENCE
Why? Who the hell are
you, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon?
STEVE
I'm...I'm interested
in this. I...I was born in Xi'an. I been studying this all my life. If this
jade is what I think it is, your troubles are just beginning. Now can we get on
with trying to find it?!
CLARENCE
Why's this jade thing
so important? What's it worth?
STEVE
If it's what I think
it is, it could open a window to the distant past...the earliest Chinese
culture and beliefs.
CLARENCE
No. I mean in money.
You know, ...street value...
STEVE
Well...uh...actually...
kind of ...priceless.
CLARENCE
Insured?
STEVE
I..uh...I was getting
around to that. Hey! There!
He
points to the street corner.
EXT. GRANT STREET
In the crowd, Yee,
the Flame Lord. He spots Steve, turns and takes off, slipping into the crowd.
STEVE
Flame Lord! One of
the thieves!
Clarence looks up
from helping himself to a Chinese pastry. He sees Steve bolt, turns, slams into
a delivery boy. Chow Fun flies all over the street. They go down, tangled up.
CLARENCE
Wait! Hey, wait!
But Steve's off and
running. Clarence struggles up but
Steve's already gone, disappearing into the crowd.
STEVE - TRAVELING
Zipping in and out of
the crowd, bumping tourists. He runs up
a street stuffed lined with shops for herbal medicines, food, tourist goods.
Ahead, a glimpse. The
Flame Lord's headband disappears around a corner.
STEVE
broken field running
through the crowd, over trash cans, around barriers. He turns the corner and
finds himself in...
EXT. KUNG ALLEY
...a QUIET, DESERTED
SIDE STREET off the tourist track, lined with the dim windows of small shops.
But the Flame Lord has disappeared.
STEVE'S POV
A Pacific Power truck
is parked in front of a SMALL CURIO SHOP. A boom is extended and a worker is
affixing a power line to the building. BRAD, a youth in a hard hat, sets out
barricades, yells to his partner in the boom basket.
Steve notices the
partner, a pretty Asian-American woman. KIM CHAN, 22, wears a t-shirt and
jeans. She cannot hide her beauty under a hard hat and as she leans out of her
basket to wrestle with the power lines, Steve is drawn to stare.
Brad's a body builder
with a Gold's Gym T-shirt and a Forrest Gump/Fast Times at Ridgemont High
demeanor. He has the hots for Kim but they're co-workers. There's an underlying
sexual tension as he controls her basket height.
KIM
Down a little. Up a
touch.. Down. There, that's good.
BRAD
It's great.
ANGLE KIM
She's very pretty,
lithe and strong. She leans over her pod attaching wires, glances down at Brad
grinning up at her.
KIM
Don't start with me,
Brad. Try to be professional for once.
ANGLE
BRAD
He
glowers, mumbles to himself.
BRAD
What the hell am I
supposed to do, work with my eyes closed?
STEVE
Excuse me. See a guy
in a red headband come through here?
Steve's standing on a
power cable. Brad moves him back.
BRAD
Excuse me, pal. Don't
stand there, please. We've got hot stuff up there.
STEVE
Yeah, I see.
Kim leans over,
straining her t-shirt. She's very sexy.
BRAD
The wires, I mean.
STEVE
Yeah, the wires.
Brad
looks up at Kim impatiently.
BRAD
Think you'll get that
tied off before the Year of the Weasel is over and the Year of the Banana Slug
begins?
STEVE
Actually, it's the
Year of the Pig.
BRAD
The Pig. Oh. Good.
KIM
Hey Brad, it's your
year.
BRAD
Yah, funny.
(to Steve)
Well, it's gonna be
the year of the fat lip if you don't get off my cable.
(he coils cable,
mumbling to himself)
I'm in the truck with
her all day. It's driving me nuts.
(notices Steve's still
there)
Something I can do
for you?
STEVE
A kid. About twenty.
Red Headband. Black and red jacket. Flame Lord.
BRAD
I didn't see nothing.
'Specially no Flame Lord.
STEVE
How about an antique
shop.
BRAD
This whole
neighborhood is one big antique shop.
STEVE
I'm looking for Egg
Shen's.
He shows Brad his
map. Brad studies it, glances up.
BRAD
You're in luck, pal.
You're here.
He points at the sign
EGG SHEN ANTIQUITIES hidden by Kim's basket. Steve looks around. He senses eyes
watching him. Then, a shout!
KIM