Having watched the American version, I was just thinking of how boring it is. Someone commented that Jackie Chan should not have starred in it, as it gives the wrong expectation. I don't think that is it. This movie would have been just as poor with another actor. The problems are story (which is generic and un-original), under-development of villains, Jackie Chan has almost nothing to do in the film, as his talents are not utilized, no memorable characters, pointless nudity and too much casual swearing. The firefights are terrible, the tone of film is very brown and film is poorly shot by its' original crew.
Having watched the American Blu-Ray version, I never wanted to re-watch the film and even after finding out about the HK version, I put away watching it for about a year. However, based on another review recommending the HK version, I decided to watch it. Wow, it turned out a much better movie!
Jackie Chan was in charge of re-cutting the film, from what I understand. The changes are drastic: Pointless swearing is gone, nudity removed, some parts of the story were re-written and scenes changed order, some additional scenes were shot to accommodate new story, some comedy inserted to make movie less boring and the final fight sequence has been created and shot to give villains a satisfying ending. Basically, the Jackie Chan cut is similar to other 80's Jackie Chan films, still not as good as his classics like Police Store, etc, but overall, there is just no comparison to the original American cut.
So, if you've never watched this film, I only suggest watching the Jackie Chan cut. If you have no access to it, don't bother watching the American film, as even if you didn't know who Jackie Chan was, you would not have enjoyed this terribly-boring cut.
Review of The Protector
