The Golden Child

I loved this movie. I totally disagree with some (negative) critiques that I've read over the years. This was a great vehicle for Eddie Murphy! He appeared to have a great time with his part as Chandler Jarrell and he should never care about what the critics say, if he had fun doing it – and most of his audience enjoyed it! And, it WAS fun to watch as it combined some great fantasy tension with Mr. Murphy's great comedic style. You have to keep in mind that 'Golden Child' is a 'fantasy' film – just an imaginative work of magic and wonder amidst the 'real' world. During the time this film was released, I was working in a video rental store. This was one of the most popular with all our customers. Every single time, we put this one up on our monitor, ALL the copies we had went out fast with wait-list requests that kept it on the queue for months! Everyone who rented it loved it! I was the resident film critic and all my regular customers would ask my opinion before they rented – this was one of my favorites and I knew the taste of my customers so I highly recommended this one to most of them. I really feel that this film is a Sleeper – it may not have done too well at the box office – due to very poor marketing – but it hit a high in the video rental and purchase market later! (YES, I did buy this film for my own video library!). I adored the little boy who played the 'Golden Child' – J. L. Reate - but after looking at his profile in IMDb, I noticed that he never did any more films. That is sad, because he definitely had an on-screen aura and could have continued with a film career. I also adored Victor Wong, who played the Old Man (I LOVED him in his part as 'Egg Shen' in 'Big Trouble in Little China' - 1986). At any rate, this was a great film. The only drawbacks that didn't seem to fit with the theme were some of the parts that got a bit more 'adult' in nature – such as 'Chandler's rather sexual remarks about the serpent lady that was presented to him as a silhouette. It was funny, but it still was out of sync. OK, so there were a few suggestive gratuitous scenes – those were put in for the mind-set of the day perhaps. This was still an adventurous and escapist type of film which we do need today to get away from all the hard core reality and depressing fluff that we are hit with from Hollywood. Now that's Entertainment!

I saw this movie available on Netflix and was interested in the premise. You have Eddie Murphy who plays a private detective that specializes in finding missing children. He is told he is the "chosen one" and must protect the "Golden Child" who was kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. I didn't know exactly what to expect. Eddie Murphy is known for doing a lot of action or comedy movies. This movie ends up being a mix of action, comedy and fantasy.

Some people will mention this movie was a low point in his career. Well this movie earned close to 80 million dollars. Eddie Murphy has done some more recent movies that have done far worse. There are a lot of funny parts in this movie. I really enjoyed this movie. This was a fun movie to watch.

"The Golden Child" is one of Eddie Murphy's most underrated films of the 80's but even though it's not well liked by many, well i have always loved it for the fun fantasy adventure it is & Eddie Murphy is still good fun here with his witty comedy.

Eddie Murphy, who is a hero of mine from growing up, here he plays a great role & play's it more straight & restrained, he's still funny but not overly energetic or crazy & i like his performance alot!!! He plays Detective Chandler Jarrell who specialises in missing children cases, discovers he's "The Chosen One" to help find a missing magical Tibetan Child who has great powers that can save the world from Evil, it's a totally fantastical Comedy adventure story with excellent pure 80's special effects & music & has a feel or vibe like the Classic "Big Trouble in little China" but not as great, & also stars two actors from that movie with Victor Wong & James Hong. The look & production design is excellent & some of the down town L.A scenes are actually very grimy & gritty, actually it's quite a dark movie with it's theme of child abduction & there's a very dark scene of a young girl found face down & dead in a grubby & gritty area of Los Angeles. Without the Fantasy & Magic side it would be a more Darker Noir Detective Thriller which in a way it really is!!! But that's also a plus point to this movie is it's basically set in the real dangerous world where these evil things do really happen but the Fantasy part helps to cope with it & gives a nice comforting feel that even the comedy legend Eddie Murphy has to come accross evil in the world. The demon monster villain at the end is Awesome & looks great still.

"The Golden Child" is so 80's & so much fun & was Directed by Michael Ritchie who has done many excellent films such as Fletch (Chevy Chase) & Fletch Lives & The Couch Trip (Dan Aykroyd) & Cops & Robbersons (Chase), he knows great comedy.

It's a different type of role for Eddie Murphy & he's great in it. "The Golden Child" is very underrated & i can see why some didn't enjoy it because it's not the usual Murphy brand of antics, he's more serious & reserved in a way but definitely suits the movie because of it's dark atmosphere & as a kids family type fantasy Comedy it has some scary stuff in here.

Yes i have Nostalgia for this flick but it's a film i have always loved & enjoyed. I love most films that critics hate anyway!!! I love the 80"s

Somewhat underrated Eddie Murphy movie with Eddie playing an American social worker recruited by a Tibetan woman to help rescue a kidnapped boy with special powers called the "Golden Child." I remember when this came out it wasn't met with a warm reception, from the critics or myself. In part I think because it wasn't a straight comedy like myself and others had come to expect from Eddie. But also because it wasn't as good as the similar Big Trouble in Little China, which came out the same year. Ironically, this was a bigger box office hit than Big Trouble but the latter has gone on to deservedly earn a cult fandom while Golden Child still has a mixed reputation at best.

Eddie Murphy is pretty good here and seems to be having a fun time. Charlotte Lewis is fine, performance-wise and looks-wise. Charles Dance is an enjoyable villain. The scene stealer here is Victor Wong, who was also in Big Trouble in Little China. The special effects are charming in that special way '80s effects often were. Love the Pepsi can dance scene. Some cheesy stuff in this movie for sure but, for the most part, it's pretty entertaining. If you like '80s movies you should find something to like with this. It's got action, comedy, and a little bit of fantasy all mixed together. It's not what I would call a classic but it is fun.

The premise may seem goofy, but since Murphy's character doesn't take it seriously, it helps ease the audience into this mix of mysticism and modern-day hard-boiled child abduction. Excellent cast, particularly Charles Dance and Charlotte Lewis, and Murphy is at the height of his 80's peak in comedy/action. There's also some great F/X, a very surreal dream sequence, and a fairly original plot. Often overlooked in the pantheon of Murphy flicks, but this one is worth a look.