Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Stunts
Jackie's warehouse fight has moves he invented on the spot.
Direction
Glickenhaus wanted Dirty Harry; Jackie wanted poetry. Beautiful disaster.
Director
James Glickenhaus
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jackie hated the finished film so much he bought the Hong Kong distribution rights and recut it himself, adding new fight scenes and removing gratuitous nudity. The Asian version runs 91 minutes versus the American 94.
This disaster actually saved Jackie's career—The Protector's failure convinced him to never let Americans direct his fights again, leading to Police Story. Sometimes you need one bad cop movie to birth a legend.
HK
