Le Retour du Chinois

This movie is a lot better than people say it is. Sure, it's not a typical Jackie Chan movie, but it's good anyway. It has lots of action and is better than most of the buddy cop movies of the 1980's. Don't expect this to be like all of his other movies and you may like it. I did.

In the second attempt to introduce martial arts superstar Jackie Chan to the North American market (after "The Big Brawl" in 1980), ever likable Jackie is amusingly miscast as Billy Wong, an NYC cop who, after some hot dog heroics, is demoted to crowd control at a fashion show, where he's partnered with Danny Garoni (the engaging Danny Aiello). Unfortunately, they prove to be pretty useless and Laura Shapiro (Saun Ellis), daughter of a wealthy big shot, is kidnapped by goons working for dastardly Hong Kong mobster Mr. Ko (Roy Chiao). Billy and Danny manage to convince their commissioner to let them travel to HK to advise and assist local authorities in defeating Ko and rescuing Laura, but of course these two mavericks are pretty much just going to do whatever they want to do.

There are *some* fine moments here for Chan fans, but there simply may not be enough. The tone *is* rather gritty, but although there's not a lot of outright comedy, the movie does still have a sense of humour. Chan has some fine action and fight sequences, especially one around the halfway point where he's trying to pursue a henchman escaping by boat. The stunts near the end are impressively scary. Writer / director James Glickenhaus ("The Exterminator") does a very fine job in utilizing the various HK locations. Jackie does his best in the lead, with Aiello offering fine support and Chiao being just right as our glowering bad guy. Jackie does have a decent if not spectacular climactic fight with fellow martial artist Bill Wallace. All things considered, it's not hard to see why Chan himself and some of his fan base might not care for the movie, but there is an alternate cut now available on Blu-ray with additional scenes created by Jackie himself, to better suit his vision (he really had no control on this feature at the time).

In any event, it's worth noting the presence of a couple of familiar faces among the supporting cast, including Becky Ann Baker, John Spencer, Mike Starr, Big John Studd, and Trey Wilson.

It would take another 11 years before North America finally, really took notice of Jackie with the release of "Rumble in the Bronx".

Six out of 10.

This movie is not Jackie's style at all.He is born to play cartoonish,witty characters in far fetched situations like in "Winners and Sinners",but this is just a cold,heartless,clich'ed,dull and boring American action movie.I once read the opening sequence hailed as being"a rival for James Bond films for elaborate thrills".The scene,which is a speed boat chase,is one of the most boring and dragged out action scenes I have ever seen,and the outcome(Jackie beind lifted from a helicopter out of the boat and it crashing into the other boat and exploading)can be seen coming a mile away.I also once read that Chan considered this one of his worst movies.I agree with him wholeheartdly.The ending title song(called the protector)is the worst title song I have ever heard.(those that have seen it will know,as long as they didn't switch off by then).And by the way,who exactly is he protecting?

Everybody and their mothers bashed this movie including Jackie himself who reshot and added more action and fight scenes in Hong Kong. I think Jackie bashed the movie himself because it was a flop.

This was an above average 80's action cop-buddy movie with some very expensive action scenes. In NY harbor they blew up 2 boats and in HK they blew up a helicopter. The fights were good to excellent including a Jackie fight with legendary MMA fighter Bill Wallace and a crazy fight in a massage parlor and that is just off the top of my head. Probably my favorite scene is the fight and chase scene in Kowloon harbor on the water itself where a population of boat people live year round. He does 2 death defying stunts in that scene alone, one involving a motor-cross bike and one with a long pole.

It was not a typical Jackie flick because Jackie curses a lot and is seemed to be a cocky womanizer and there is a lot of nudity in this movie and it wasn't a comedy. His acting wasn't bad and i thought his chemistry with Danny Aiello was pretty good too.

Personally, i am a huge fan of Jackies being that i think i saw just about all his movies including some bad ones went he was just starting out in the early 70's and as a fan i'm glad he switched to a new role in this movie...and i don't know but there is just something about this movie that makes me watch it again and again. People ripped the endsong and i thought there was nothing wrong and it was a good song.

It doesn't hurt that the gorgeous Moon Lee is in the movie too! All in all this is probably in my higher selection of Jackie movies that i like. When and if you do watch this movie, know that this is not a typical Jackie movie and just start from there and i hope you will like this movie also.

I DIDNT HATE IT! which really surprised me, because everyone on IMDb said this movie totally sucked and I went in expecting the worst. Sure Jackie is miscast, but other than the addition of curse words, his character isnt any darker than in Crime Story or Police Story 2. The action is slow, but better than any of the American action junk I've ever seen. Plus, there is tons of full-frontal nudity! Bet you didnt expect that from a Jackie Chan movie, did ya? I can understand why JC was disappointed with it, because it is nowhere near as good as almost any of his other 80's-90's movies, but it aint all that bad. Go in thinking you will hate it, and you just might like it.