a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I started watching this movie on HBO, or some other movie channel, when I was at a friends house waiting for everyone to get ready to go do something or other, so I was only able to catch the first twenty minutes or so. But I enjoyed it so much I ended up renting it and watching it with friends. It was without a doubt, one of the worst directed movies I have ever seen! But it was bad in such a way as to make me laugh my ass off threw the whole thing.*warning = spoilers ahead!* From the time Jackie sends a thug flying fifteen feet threw a bar window with his 9mm pistol, to the time he faces off with an ex worldwide karate champ who "owns half of new york"; I couldn't stop laughing! The idiocy never stops.I found it funnier than hell that the chief of police can show up with five squad cars, ten minutes after some fools try to rob the bar Jackie is in, only too tell him not to go chasing after the guy who just killed his partner; which of course, is an order Jackie shrugs off.(I may have some of the details a little mixed up as I was more than a little wasted)*End Spoiler*This is one of those movies where you need to grab some friends and some beer, and enjoy one of the worst made action movies ever.

This movie suffers from the fact that for years Hollywood had no clue as to how to package Jackie Chan for the masses. His low-budget Hong Kong movies were all fast-paced kinetic thrillers that highlight his amazing gymnastic skills and talent for light comedy. His early Hollywood films stuck him in the same movies that were being packaged for Stallone or Chuck Norris. There is nothing about Chan's character in this movie that requires the character to be Asian except for his being the star. In his Hong Kong films Chan is never dull, with the movies being one rapid-fire martial arts sequence after another, but "The Protector" is lifeless throughout. Danny Aiello isn't given much to work with either and the lacking chemistry between the two probably is more a result of the script and direction than how the two actors got on together. Both have been better in worse movies. The best thing about the movie is the Hong Kong settings. The worst part is the appalling way that Jackie Chan comes off so colorless and drab. It wouldn't be until the made-in-Canada "Rumble in the Bronx" that the west would finally figure out how to make a good Jackie Chan movie.

The perfect example of the difference between HK, and American action, this one exists in two forms: the James Glickenhaus pile of garbage, and the fairly entertaining Jackie re-edit with new subplot and fight scenes....I can't really recommend either, but the Chan edit, is well, obviously better, and it turns out the villains CAN fight.....Sad to compare the two really. I still get a rise out of seeing former pro-wrestler Big John Stud in an early scene as a robber.....

This movie was the reason why Jackie didn't do a movie in the US for about 13 years (This is what Jackie said in an interview for the German DVD-release of "WHO AM I"). He was so deeply disappointed with this movie, that he reshot a lot of the scenes when he returned to Hong Kong.And now for my experience:I have seen nearly all Jackie Chan movies, and I wanted to see this one too. So I rented this one, although a friend told me that I would puke afterwards. And my friend was right.If you see it, you can also understand why Jackie didn't make movies in the US for such a long time.... Believe me!