The Protector is a 1985 Hong Kong action film that was Chinese martial arts movie star Jackie Chan's second attempt at breaking into the American (and subsequently, global) film market. His first attempt was 1980's Battle Creek Brawl, a film which flopped at the box office, forcing Chan to wait for years for his next attempt. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Action movies usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on April 7, 1954, is a Hong Kong martial artist, film actor, director and stuntman. ... The Big Brawl was a 1980 movie which marked Jackie Chans first attempt to enter western cinema. ... The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ...

Plot

Chan plays Billy Wong, a New York cop whose partner is gunned down in the line of duty. Set up with new partner Danny Garoni (Danny Aiello), the pair find themselves on the trail of kidnappers who have taken a wealthy businessman's daughter, eventually leading them to Hong Kong where they battle both a drug kingpin and the authorities to try get her back. State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Daniel Louis Aiello, Jr. ...

Behind the scenes

Jackie Chan was the biggest star in the Asian market, surpassing even that of the legendary Bruce Lee. He had starred in approximately 40 films in his native land, so it was a logical step in his career to take a stab at Hollywood. The only real drawback was that Chan didn't have a strong grasp of the English language because since his movies focused mainly on dynamic action sequences, only a basic understanding of the English language would be sufficient. Martial arts actor Bruce Lee. ... For other uses, see Hollywood (disambiguation) Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that runs from about Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to... English may refer to: The nation of England. ...

For The Protector, Jackie would team up with an American director by the name of James Glickenhaus.

Glickenhaus had previously directed Z-grade action star Robert Ginty in a film entitled The Exterminator, which was also his only real profitable film. The Exterminator was a violent, gritty, and crude vigilante action film, which has been perceived as a rip-off of Charles Bronson's Death Wish. The Protector would only be Glickenhaus's fourth time in the directing chair Z-movie is a term applied to films with an extremely low budget and a miserable quality. ... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. ... In modern terms, vigilantes are militias or police who attempt law enforcement, in the usual phrase, by taking the law into their own hands. Vigilantes often operate in secret. ... Charles Bronson For the Welsh prisoner, see Charles Bronson (prisoner). ... Death Wish (comics) is also the title of a strip in the Tiger and Eagle comics. ...

It is no secret that Jackie Chan and James Glickenhaus didn't get along. Glickenhaus wanted Jackie Chan's character in The Protector to be a "Dirty Harry"-type, speaking softly, carrying a big gun and swearing a lot. There was also gratuitous nudity in the film, specifically a scene in which Chan's character walks into a drug lab run by nude women. To make matters worse, Chan was shocked at how bad Glickenhaus's directing was, especially since The Protector was to be ostensibly a martial arts film, but instead had become another Dirty Harry clone. Chan had gained much experience directing in his Asian films and was disgusted with the way Glickenhaus would move onto each subsequent scene, even when prior ones needed to be reshot. Film box cover for Dirty Harry For the 1953 nuclear test nicknamed Dirty Harry, see Upshot-Knothole Harry [1] Dirty Harry is a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood as the eponymous Harry Callahan, a San Francisco detective tracking Scorpio, a serial killer. ...

In his autobiography "Jackie Chan: My Life in Action", he relates how he called up his manager saying, "He keeps going after four takes of each scene. FOUR Takes! I've never done a scene that took less than 20 takes!"

Chan knew that his Asian audience would be offended by the frequent foul language, the exploitive nudity and Glickenhaus's poor direction. Chan asked Glickenhaus to let him direct the fight scenes but Glickenhaus refused. As far as Glickenhaus was concerned Chan was the actor and he was the director and there should be absolutely no confiding between the two of them.

In a heated argument between Glickenhaus and Chan halfway through the shoot, Chan said he "quit" and walked off the set. Back at his hotel room Chan phoned his manager in Hong Kong and told him what he had done, saying, "Glickenhaus is destroying my career." His agent responded that he had to return to the set and finish the film because Glickenhaus had an iron clad contract.

When the film was finally completed and Glickenhaus left Hong Kong, Chan decided at first not to release the fi;m in Asia, but changed his mind after reshooting some scenes including doing away with the nudity, vulgar language, and re-coordinating the final fight between his character and the villian played by Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace.

In the end the American version was stiff and editing was sloppy, whereas the Hong Kong version was more elaborate, dynamic and faster. Subsequently the American version flopped at the box office while the Hong Kong version received moderate success in Asia.

It is claimed that Chan's next Hong Kong film, the hugely popular and critically acclaimed Police Story, was made in order to atone for The Protector. Police Story is a 1985 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by and starring Jackie Chan. ...

External link

• IMDB entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089847/)