6.0/10
49,925
88 user 35 critic

Golden child - L'enfant sacré du Tibet (1986)

The Golden Child (original title)
A private detective specializing in missing children is charged with the task of finding a special child whom dark forces want to eliminate.

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writer:

Dennis Feldman
Reviews
Popularity
4,414 ( 341)
2 nominations. See more awards »

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
J.L. Reate J.L. Reate ... The Golden Child
Eddie Murphy ... Chandler Jarrell
Charles Dance ... Sardo Numspa
Charlotte Lewis ... Kee Nang
Victor Wong ... The Old Man
Randall 'Tex' Cobb ... Til
James Hong ... Doctor Hong
Shakti Chen Shakti Chen ... Kala (as Shakti)
Tau Logo Tau Logo ... Yu
Tiger Chung Lee Tiger Chung Lee ... Khan
Pons Maar ... Fu
Peter Kwong ... Tommy Tong
Wally Taylor Wally Taylor ... Detective Boggs
Eric Douglas ... Yellow Dragon
Charles Levin ... TV Host
Learn more

More Like This 

Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to help Taggart and Rosewood investigate Chief Bogomil's near-fatal shooting and the series of "alphabet crimes" associated with it.

Director: Tony Scott
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Jürgen Prochnow
48 heures (1982)
Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.

Director: Walter Hill
Stars: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O'Toole
Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

Jack Cates once again enlists the aid of ex-con Reggie Hammond--this time, to take down The Iceman, a ruthless drug lord operating in the San Francisco bay area.

Director: Walter Hill
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James
Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.

Director: Martin Brest
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton
Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.6/10 X  

Axel Foley, while investigating a car theft ring, comes across something much bigger than that: the same men who killed his boss are running a counterfeit money ring out of a theme park in Los Angeles.

Director: John Landis
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Jon Tenney, Joey Travolta
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Director: John Landis
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy
Certificate: Tous publics Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

An extremely pampered African Prince travels to Queens, New York, and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and will.

Director: John Landis
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A conman discovers during a "job" that US Congress is where the money is. "Name recognition" gets him elected. Will he develop a conscience?

Director: Jonathan Lynn
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph
Comedy | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

During the 1930s, a New York City illegal gambling house owner and his associates must deal with strong competition, gangsters, and corrupt cops in order to stay in business.

Director: Eddie Murphy
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx
Certificate: Tous publics Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.6/10 X  

Grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.

Director: Tom Shadyac
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn
Certificate: Tous publics Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

A Hostage Negotiator teams up with a Sharpshooter to bring down a dangerous jewel thief.

Director: Thomas Carter
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport, Kim Miyori
Boomerang (1992)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

A successful executive and womanizer finds his lifestyle choices have turned back on him when his new female boss turns out to be an even bigger deviant than he is.

Director: Reginald Hudlin
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Robin Givens, Halle Berry
Edit

Storyline

Eddie Murphy plays a detective with a speciality of finding lost children. He is told he is the 'Chosen one' who will find and protect the Golden Child, a Bhuddist mystic who was kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. Murphy disbelieves the mysticism but finds more and more evidence of demon worship as he investigates. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Eddie Murphy Is The Chosen One.


Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Golden child - L'enfant sacré du Tibet (1986) bares some similarities to the 2000 horror-thriller L'élue (2000) starring Kim Basinger. Both Eddie Murphy and Kim Basinger play ordinary people chosen to save a mysterious child with a destiny based on the unexplainable from those who would corrupt them.

More specifically, both movies' plots revolve around involve a child with supernatural abilities being kidnapped by groups with malicious intents, hellbent on exploiting the (respective) children's supernatural powers for their own gains. And whatever decision the child chooses may affect the fate of the whole world. See more »

Goofs

(at around 6 mins) When we first see Chandler he is putting a poster up on the pole. Firstly there are a number of posters on the pole but then when we see him staple his poster on it, his is the only one on the pole. See more »

Quotes

Herb Shop Clerk: Yak loin. Good to keep the Yang up.
See more »

Connections

References Let's Make a Deal (1963) See more »

Soundtracks

ANOTHER DAY'S LIFE
By David Wheatley
See more »

User Reviews

 
People should really lighten up and just ENJOY this movie.
19 May 2000 | by Schmuck-4See all my reviews

Why hardly anybody seems to appreciate this film anymore is without doubt one of the greatest mysteries of our time. I'm truly perplexed. Roger Ebert seems to be the only critic to at least half-realise how truly funny, entertaining and brilliant a film THE GOLDEN CHILD really is.

Without doubt it's one of Eddie Murphy's finer films; it's impossible to not have a good time while watching this movie... his one-liners keep coming thick and fast, and if you can't find humour and fun in this movie, then surely your heart is made of stone. Visually, its cinematography is executed very well, the special effects are fantastic (except in one poorly executed shot where Charles Dance turns into a rat) and the theme tune has a strange kind of catchiness to it.

Don't be prejudiced against this movie, just because everybody else is. People are so easily swayed by popular opinion these days that true cinematic gems like THE GOLDEN CHILD are forgotten. Four stars out of four. Long live 80s movies!


68 of 92 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 88 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Edit

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1986 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Golden child - L'enfant sacré du Tibet See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,549,711, 14 December 1986

Gross USA:

$79,817,937

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$79,817,937
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed