Қорғаушы: 1985 жылғы әрекет фильмi

1985 film by James Glickenhaus

The Protector is a 1985 Hong Kong American action film directed by James Glickenhaus and starring Jackie Chan, Danny Aiello and Roy Chiao. It was Chan's second attempt at breaking into the American film market, after 1980 film The Big Brawl, which had moderate box office success but was considered a disappointment. 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.

New York police officers Billy Wong and Michael are having a drink at a bar when armed crooks appear, looking for money. A fight ensues in which Michael dies and Wong kills all of the criminals. Wong is demoted to crowd control for the ruckus. Later, in the middle of a fashion show, masked gangsters storm in and kidnap Laura Shapiro, the daughter of known gangster Martin Shapiro. Crime boss Harold Ko and Martin Shapiro are suspected of smuggling drugs from Hong Kong to New York, and Ko may have taken her to Hong Kong for ransom. Wong and his new partner Danny Garoni get a lead – Shapiro's bodyguard Benny Garucci recently made several calls to a Hong Kong massage parlor. Wong and Garoni go to the parlor. While investigating, they get massages, and the masseuses try to kill them. Billy and Garoni fight back and escape alive. The next day, Wong and Garoni show Hing Lee the coin of Tin Ho, a Chinatown informant of Wong's and a friend of Lee's. Lee, concerned for his safety is reluctant to give any information about Harold Ko, noting that he retired. A man named Stan Jones gets on the boat, and warns Wong and Garoni they are being followed by the massage parlor manager and his men. Garoni, Jones and Wong get rid of the other gangsters and pursue the parlor manager to get more information, but fail to catch him. After witnessing this, Hing Lee agrees to help, telling the cops to come back the next day while he gathers information. Wong and Garoni head back to their hotel, a suitcase full of cash on the bed. Harold Ko then calls them, telling them to take the money and leave Hong Kong at once. During the phone call, they are attacked by Ko's men. Wong and Garoni prevail. Wong then attempts to interrogate one of them, who sets off a grenade in a suicide attempt to kill them. They are taken to the police station in Hong Kong, and are scolded by the Royal Hong Kong Police chief superintendent Whitehead for the ruckus. Whitehead refuses to believe that Ko was behind the attack, and tells the cops about Ko's charitable reputation in Hong Kong. Apparently, at a press conference, Ko will announce that all the winnings from a race horse he owns will be donated to charity. The next day, Garoni and Wong go there and embarrass Ko by publicly showing the crowd his attempted bribe to them. The next day, Wong, Jones, and Hing Lee's daughter Siu Ling visit Mr. Lee to see what he found. But instead, they see that Hing Lee has been killed and his boat burned. At a loss for information, Wong and Siu Ling visit a fortune teller. He cryptically informs them that Garruci has come to Hong Kong to make an exchange for Laura Shapiro. But he warns them that if they interfere, there will only be death and betrayal. Meanwhile, Garoni follows Garruci to a shipyard, and deduces that it is Ko's drug lab with Laura Shapiro inside. In a meeting between Ko and Garucci, it is revealed that Shapiro's daughter was kidnapped because her father did not pay for Ko's last shipment, which Garucci said was a "simple misunderstanding". Wong, Garoni and Jones go to the drug lab. They destroy it and save Laura in the process. Garoni, however, fails to escape with them after being shot by Garucci. He is held hostage unless Billy returns Laura to Ko. Wong decides to leave her with Superintendent Whitehead. Wong meets Ko and Garucci at the shipyard. He sees that Garoni is still alive, but then learns that Superintendent Whitehead was on Ko's payroll the whole time, and is now holding Laura hostage (confirming the "betrayal" that the fortune teller warned about). Garucci then engages Wong in a hand to hand fight, which Wong wins despite Ko's attempts to cheat and help Garucci. Then Wong dispatches Ko's guards. He is about to kill Ko, when Garucci comes after Billy with a cut off saw. In the ensuing fight, Garucci's saw hits an electric panel, and he dies electrocuted. Stan Jones and Siu Ling arrive to help rescue Garoni and Laura. Ko escapes in a helicopter, and Billy goes after him, but a guard blocks his way. Billy and the guard fight on a cargo lifter. Wong prevails by knocking the guard off to his death. Garoni goes outside with the gang and kills a sniper, saving Wong. Wong makes it inside of a crane, and kills Ko by dropping the contents of the crane onto his helicopter. With Ko dead and Laura saved, Billy and Danny are given a NYPD Medal of Honor.

Although the basic narrative of this edit is the same as the US version, Chan added a subplot to provide more depth to the movie, which slightly changes the story's progression. The plot here begins to deviate from the US version after Danny Garoni and Billy Wong leave the massage parlour. The next day, Wong goes to a theater to look for a woman named May Fong Ho. However, the woman he is looking for goes by the name Sally, and Wong quickly deduces who she is among the dancers with whom she is rehearsing. Wong disturbs her during the rehearsal by showing her the coin of Tin Ho, whom Sally knows. But she denies having any friends from New York and tries to avoid Wong. Two men competing for Sally's affection try to fight Wong but are easily beaten before Wong pulls out his gun, ending the fight. He explains to them that he is a policeman. Wong and Sally then go to a restaurant, where she reveals that her father and another man were partners of Harold Ko. Ko later killed her father. She changed her name in order to hide from Ko. She tells him to visit Hing Lee, her father's partner, and instructs Wong to show Tin Ho's coin to Lee in order to gain trust. Unbeknownst to Sally and Wong, one of Ko's men overhears the conversation. After this scene, the plot stays the same as the US version until after Ko's press conference. After the press conference, Benny Garucci expresses his concern to Ko's bodyguard, Dai Wai Ho, about Garoni and Wong's knowledge of their drug operation. Ho tells him that there is a way he can help. Later that night, Hing Lee meets with his contact Wing at a seafood warehouse to find information about Ko. Wing tells Lee that Laura Shapiro is being held at the shipyard, among shipping containers with Ko's heroin factory. They are suddenly attacked by a group of men with ice picks and Benny Garucci. Wing easily beats up everyone but Garucci, who kills him in a fight. Later, Wong meets with Hing Lee's daughter Siu Ling to see what information Lee found. They arrive at the warehouse, but find Lee's and Wing's dead bodies. Realizing that Sally may be in danger, Wong pays her a visit. He soon deduces that Sally's substitute maid works for Ko, and has planted a bomb under Sally's bed. Wong defuses the bomb. Minutes later, the massage parlor manager arrives to warn Sally that Ko is coming after her. Sally reveals that the manager is actually her uncle and an outcast in her family. The manager had been demoted and fallen out of favor with Ko after failing to kill Hing Lee, Garoni, and Wong, and that they are aware of Wong's visit with Sally. After the uncle arrives, more men working for Ko arrive to kill them, but they fail and retreat. Sally's uncle tells Wong that Laura is being held at a shipyard, where among containers is Ko's drug factory. With this new information, Wong calls Garoni and instructs him to keep watch over Ko's shipyard. After the scene of Garoni spying on Ko's shipyard plays, Wong escorts Sally and her uncle to the airport, and instructs them to find his contact in the United States so that they can build a new life and start over. After this scene, the plot of this edit is the same as the original US version.

According to his book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Chan broke his hand while filming a stunt scene.

Billy locates Sally Yeh, fights with two guys in a gym and interviews her. (added)
Stan Jones' reply to Lee Hing's comment "on credit I suppose" on the boat. (deleted)
Wong chasing the massage parlour manager. (trimmed for pacing and re scored)
Lee Hing tells Garoni and Wong that Soo Ling will contact them instead of Stan. (changed through dubbing)
The discovery of Lee Hing's dead body on his boat. (deleted)

Mr. Ko's assistant beats the parlour manager and plots to kill Billy and Danny. (added)
Ko's voice on the phone is replaced by a female voice demanding that he should leave. The original US edit has Billy saying "It's not your money we want, it's your ass." Whereas in the HK edit, he says, "It's not your money we want, it's Laura Shapiro." Garucci talks with Ko's henchman. (replacing the scene where Garruci exchanges money with Ko)
Benny Garucci beats up Lee Hing and Wing. (added)
Wong and Soo Ling visit a fortune teller. (deleted)
Wong discovers a bomb in Sally Yeh's bedroom. Then her uncle comes to warn Billy and Sally. Then Sally and her uncle depart from the airport. (added)

The fight scene between Billy Wong and Benny Garucci is re edited to be more fast paced. Billy trying to block Benny's brass knuckles with a large metal can. (added)
Billy smashes a pot over Benny's head. (slow motion and alternative take)
Billy spins a large gear handle to hit Benny in the face. (deleted)
The fight between Billy and Mr. Ko's henchmen has more close ups cut in. (re edited)
Benny Garucci attacks Billy with a concrete saw. (re edited)

All cursing has been excised and American slang replaced. The HK edit dubs all of the English dialog without properly translating the cursing, sometimes changing the entire context of lines. All nudity with women has been excised, with the drug lab re shot to show fully dressed lab workers, and the nude masseuse being deleted. The score is slightly different in certain scenes, and Chip Taylor's song "One Up for the Good Guys" during the end credits is replaced with a replayed upbeat theme from the movie's score.

The movie had a mixed to negative reception when it was released in the United States in 1985. In an interview with James Glickenhaus by Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan held before Chan achieved mainstream success with American audiences, Logan mentioned that many of his fans were disappointed with the movie. An unfazed Glickenhaus responded, "Well, you know that's still the most successful Jackie Chan movie internationally and always will be because the American audience, the mainstream audience will never sit still for Jackie's style of action". John J Puccio comments that "Chan's charm is in precious little evidence and his martial arts stunts are limited to a few jumps and spills. Without Chan's contributions, the film is nothing more than a clichéd, wannabe thriller". He points out that "The Protector" isn't just badly written; it's uniformly awful all the way around. The acting is mechanical; the action is gratuitous; the pacing is humdrum; and the background music is trite and redundant.

In North America, The Protector was a box office disaster, making only US$981,817 (equivalent to $2,606,126 adjusted for inflation in 2021). Chan's re edited version grossed HK$13,917,612 in Hong Kong, a respectable sum, but significantly less than any of Chan's domestic films at the time. In Japan, it grossed at the 1985 box office. In South Korea, it sold 181,236 tickets at the 1985 box office in Seoul City, equivalent to an estimated
In Germany, the film sold 130,607 tickets in 1986, equivalent to an estimated in gross revenue. In France, the film sold 487,749 tickets at the box office in 1987, equivalent to an estimated in gross revenue. The DVD itself is labeled with R rating. However, it is unknown if Warner Bros. actually obtained permission for the R rating by the MPAA with this new footage. In Hong Kong, a DVD from Universe Laser was released featuring Jackie Chan's personal edit (the Hong Kong version), featuring a Cantonese and Mandarin dub, along with 9 different subtitles, including English. It was non anamorphic. This DVD is now out of print. Like many DVDs from Universe Laser, the tracks were released in Dolby 5.1 and featured a remixed soundtrack with slightly altered sound effects. Shout! Factory released The Protector on DVD and Blu ray as part of a double feature with Crime Story on January 15, 2013. It features the US version in high definition with a lossless DTS 5.1 Master Audio and English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks (although both tracks are Fortune Star's remix with altered sound effects) and English subtitles. The Blu ray also contains Jackie Chan's edit of the film in anamorphic standard definition. In 2011, a blu ray release from Paramount in Japan features the US cut in high definition, the Hong Kong cut in anamorphic standard definition, and a "Japanese Extended Edition". This is not the original Japanese extended edition, as the scenes from the Hong Kong edit are visibly inferior to the scenes from the US version. The extended cut is presented in anamorphic standard definition, and combines scenes from the US cut and the Hong Kong cut. The Glickenhaus scenes contain the original English dialog and the Hong Kong version scenes contain the Cantonese dub. However, this version does have the exclusive outtake credits, which plays the song "One Up for the Good Guys" by Chip Taylor. In 2014, another Japanese blu ray from Paramount was released, this time containing the true Japanese extended cut (with the vertical Japanese subtitles) in high definition. It features the original English/Cantonese soundtrack and a Japanese dub, each encoded in LPCM 2.0, but with no English subtitles. In 2015, a German blu ray released by Splendid was released, containing the Glickenhaus version in high definition with the original unaltered stereo track in 2.0 DTS HD MA, along with Fortune Star's slightly altered audio track. It also features an HD upscaled version of the Hong Kong edit with a DTS HD MA encoded audio, and a non upscaled anamorphic version with a 2.0 Dolby track. In 2019, 88 Films released a region B blu ray in the UK. The blu ray features the Glickenhaus version in high definition, and it is the first time that it has been given a true high definition remaster. The blu ray by 88 Films also contains the Hong Kong edit as a 1080p upscale from an SD source (presumably the French DVD by Metropolitan). The Glickenhaus edit contains the original stereo track in 2.0 LPCM, and slightly remixed track in 5.1 DTS HD MA, while the Hong Kong edit contains a 2.0 Dolby track. Commentary tracks are provided to both edits along with many special features.