The Protector is a 1985 Hong Kong-American action film directed by James Glickenhaus and starring Jackie Chan, Danny Aiello and Roy Chiao with Bill Wallace. It was Jackie Chan’s second attempt at breaking into the American film market, after 1980 film The Big Brawl (1980) (Battle Creek Brawl). Conflicts between Glickenhaus and Chan during production led to two official versions of the film: Glickenhaus’ original version for American audiences and a Hong Kong version re-edited by Jackie Chan. The original Glickenhaus version was a box office failure in North America, while Chan’s edited version was a moderate success in Asia; the film was also moderately successful in Europe. It would take a decade until Chan starred in a successful American project, with Rumble in the Bronx (1995). Chan later directed Police Story (1985) as a response to this film.
Bill Wallace also starred in The Protector (1980) alongside Jackie Chan. Wallace played a tough ex karate champ bodyguard (for a criminal boss), who has an extended fight scene with cop Jackie Chan in a Hong Kong warehouse.
Two New York City cops, Billy Wong and Danny Garoni, head to Hong Kong after the daughter of a rich businessman is kidnapped by the drug lord, Mr. Ko.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDB
