In his second American film (The first was The Big Brawl in 1980), Jackie Chan leaves his South Bronx beat and teams up with fellow cop Danny Aiello on a drug-busting mission in Hong Kong. Directed by James Glickenhaus (The Exterminator), The Protector was a departure from the typical Hong Kong action thriller, placing more emphasis on Jackie's acting than his stunt work and adding a dash of female nudity (which was later excised). Chan was not happy with the result and ended up reshooting the entire second half of the movie, adding several car, boat, and helicopter chases, a spectacular fight on top of a dockside industrial crane, and lots of chop socky action. And what does Joe Bob Briggs, America's foremost drive-in critic, have to say about it? "This is great movie, by kung fu standards....And this movie has everything. We've got: twenty dead bodies. Trunk hijacking. One stuffed monkey. Gratuitous street punks. Barroom shootout. Three motor vehicles chases, with exploding boat, motorcycle jumping, Hong Kong harbor pole-vaulting, and one excellent crash-and-burn. Four gunbattles. Three death plunges. Punji sticks through the bod. Exploding coke lab. The old pool-table torture. One chainsaw electrocution. Gas to the face. Exploding helicopter. Seven Kung Fu scenes. Massage-parlor Fu. Brass-knuckle Fu. Four stars."

Rating: TV-14-LV.