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Matt Glasby

This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.
In the mid-1980s, Jackie Chan was one of the biggest stars in Asia. But while his films regularly topped the Hong Kong box office, he just could not crack America.
After the disappointments of The Big Brawl (1980) and two Cannonball Run movies, it was time to try again.
The Protector (1985), set in New York and Hong Kong, was a tough-talking buddy cop movie written and directed by American action expert James Glickenhaus and produced by Golden Harvest.


It was an unlikely pairing. Glickenhaus and Chan came from different worlds, had clashing styles and fundamentally disagreed about the type of film they were making.
“A cold-blooded killer type did NOT suit me, nor did I enjoy playing such roles,” wrote Chan in his 2015 autobiography Never Grow Up. “Unfortunately I didn’t have any say in this role or the film. Whether I liked it or not I was going to star in The Protector.” (He was contractually obliged to do so as part of his agreement with Golden Harvest.)
Chan plays Billy Wong, a Hong Kong cop transplanted to the NYPD. After his partner is killed in a robbery – followed by a high-speed boat chase across the Hudson River – Wong is demoted to crowd control.
While he works a fashion show with soon-to-be new partner Danny Garoni (Danny Aiello), a group of masked men kidnap wealthy gangster’s daughter Linda Shapiro (Saun Ellis) in front of them, before taking her to Hong Kong.
Accompanied by Garoni, who “knows Hong Kong from his Vietnam days”, Wong is sent home to save Linda and bring down local crime lord Harold Ko (Roy Chiao Hung).

Although it works through some familiar scenarios – there are, for example, two angry police chiefs – the film is much better than its reputation suggests.
The interplay between the leads is fun (sample dialogue: “I never go anywhere in Southeast Asia without an Uzi”), Mark Irwin’s camerawork is dynamic and the set pieces are suitably spectacular.
As long as you can ignore the usual Hong Kong clichés, such as a regrettable sequence set in a massage parlour, and some iffy secondary performances, it is an entertaining watch.
One memorable sequence sees Wong speeding through Hong Kong’s harbourside shacks on a motorbike before springing from boat to boat by foot, pole and plank.
Another has a villain falling from the top of an apartment block, destroying a neon sign section by section as he cannons towards the ground.
And Glickenhaus throws everything he can at the climax – rocket launchers, cranes, helicopters – to make sure it goes with a bang.

Graduating from exploitation movies such as 1980’s The Exterminator to pumped-up genre flicks like 1991’s McBain, Glickenhaus had a real flair for spectacular, stunt-filled violence, which he peppered with eccentric touches. What he was not interested in was making a typical Jackie Chan movie.
“If I had given Jackie everything he wanted it would have been just another Jackie Chan chopsocky film, which he could have made on his own and for which he didn’t need me,” he told Roel Haanen of The Flashback Files.
Chan, for his part, was equally unimpressed.
“I didn’t condone director James Glickenhaus’s style or methods, and working on this project was a tense, unpleasant experience,” he wrote. It probably did not help that he “damaged [his] hands and finger bones” in the process.

Although we get a few flashes of the familiar Chan magic, such as when he karate chops a Texan’s cowboy hat back into shape, or springs around the room during the fight sequences, he is clearly uncomfortable in the role.
Not only does his dialogue sound stilted, like he learned it phonetically, but the tone of the film goes against his carefully curated family-friendly image.
Indeed, Chan was so unhappy he asked to re-edit it for Asian audiences, bringing the fight sequences closer to his signature style, and cutting out all the American slang, profanity and nudity.
While the Glickenhaus version flopped badly in America, making just under US$1 million, Chan’s version was a moderate success, grossing almost double that in Hong Kong.
For Chan, the lesson was simple – never give up control. When he came back to America for one last try, with 1995’s brilliant Rumble in the Bronx, it would be on his own terms.

As for Glickenhaus, the lesson was even simpler: don’t sweat it.
“I never took any of that stuff seriously or personally,” he told Haanen. “I mean, if you read what Jackie Chan says about other movies he did with American directors, he thinks they’re all c**p!”
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American cinema

Why Jackie Chan hated doing The Protector movie, a 1985 Hong Kong-US co-production

Jackie Chan in a still from The Protector, one of the Hong Kong martial arts actor’s many attempts to crack the US market before finally having success with Rumble in the Bronx (1995).

Danny Aiello (left) and Jackie Chan in a still from The Protector.

Roy Chiao Hung in a still from The Protector.

Jackie Chan in a still from The Protector.

Jackie Chan and Jesse Cameron-Glickenhaus in a still from The Protector.

How depiction of Hong Kong expat life in Soldier of Fortune contained some harsh truths

Clark Gable and Susan Hayward in a still from Soldier of Fortune (1955). Directed by Edward Dmytryk, the film was mostly set and shot in Hong Kong and painted a somewhat dim picture of expat life in the city.

Michael Rennie and Grace Chang in a still from Soldier of Fortune (1955).

Kam Tong in a still from Soldier of Fortune (1955).

Clark Gable (left) and Michael Rennie in a still from Soldier of Fortune (1955).

How Chinese-American comedy 21 & Over became 2 movies, and why they’re both problematic

(From left) Miles Teller, Justin Chon and Skylar Astin in a still from 21 & Over (2013). Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

(From left) Skylar Astin, Justin Chon and Miles Teller in a still from 21 & Over. The original Hollywood version of this frat comedy and the subsequent Chinese cut are both controversial, but for different reasons. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

(From left) Teller, Chon and Astin in a still from 21 & Over. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

(From left) Astin, Sarah Wright and Teller in a still from 21 & Over. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

(From left) Astin, Chon and Teller in a still from 21 & Over. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

Chon in a still from 21 & Over. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

(From left) Teller, Astin and Chon in a still from 21 & Over. Photo: John Johnson/Twenty One and Over Productions, Inc.

In Ferry to Hong Kong, Casablanca meets The World of Suzie Wong, but cast nearly sinks it

Curt Jürgens (centre) in a still from Ferry to Hong Kong (1959).

Curt Jürgens (centre) in a still from Ferry to Hong Kong (1959). The movie, described by one commentator as part Casablanca, part The World of Suzie Wong, co-starred Orson Welles, who caused many issues for James Bond director Lewis Gilbert.

(From left) Orson Welles, Jeremy Spenser and Curt Jürgens in a still from Ferry to Hong Kong.

Sylvia Syms and Curt Jürgens in a still from Ferry to Hong Kong.

Orson Welles (left) and Curt Jürgens in a still from Ferry to Hong Kong.

A still from Ferry to Hong Kong (1959).

What killed Bruce Lee? 4 leading theories medical and martial arts experts proposed after his shock death 50 years ago in July, 1973

Bruce Lee on the set of “The Big Boss”. Lee died two years after the movie’s 1971 release, and in the years since, competing theories have been posited as to what exactly killed the martial arts star.  Photo: Yau Leung

Bruce Lee in a still from “Fist of Fury” (1972).

Lee with Taiwanese actress Betty Ting Pei. The two spent time together soon before Lee’s death.

Bruce Lee in a still from “Enter the Dragon” (1973). Photo: TNS

 Lee circa 1970. He had “chronic fluid intake” by virtue of his alcohol- and juice-based diet. Photo: Getty Images

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

East meets West

How giant shark movie The Meg, starring Li Bingbing and Jason Statham, became the highest grossing China-US co-production in history

Li Bingbing and Jason Statham in a scene from The Meg (2018).

Li Bingbing and Ruby Rose in a still from The Meg.

Rain Wilson and Winston Chow in a still from The Meg.

Li Bingbing (third, left) and Jason Statham (centre) lead an international cast in The Meg (2018). Despite negative reviews, the film made US$530 million worldwide to be the highest-grossing Chinese-American co-production of all time.

Zhang Yimou’s fantasy movie The Great Wall with Matt Damon – a great fail for the China-US co-production model

Matt Damon in a still from The Great Wall.

Director Zhang Yimou (centre) and his main cast members on the set of The Great Wall.

Andy Lau in a still from The Great Wall.

Matt Damon in a scene from The Great Wall. The most expensive film ever shot on Chinese soil, it lost US$75 million worldwide.

Keanu Reeves’ martial arts movie Man of Tai Chi marked a high point for China-US co-productions – yet bombed at the box office

Keanu Reeves in a still from Man of Tai Chi (2013).

Tiger Chen stars in Man of Tai Chi, a 2013 film directed by Keanu Reeves.

Tiger Chen (right) and Yu Hai in a still from Man of Tai Chi.

Keanu Reeves in a still from Man of Tai Chi.

How Chinese movie fans made Warcraft the most successful video game adaptation of all time

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning (2016).

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning (2016). Despite flopping badly in the US, the film made a massive US$156 million in its first five days on release in China.

Travis Fimmel (left) in a scene from Warcraft: The Beginning.

Fimmel (left) and director Duncan Jones on the set of Warcraft: The Beginning.

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning.

How 2012 time-travel thriller Looper rewrote the future of Chinese-American co-productions

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a still from Looper.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a scene from Looper. The movie was one of the first major Hollywood films to be granted Chinese co-production status.

Summer Qing (left) and Bruce Willis in a still from Looper.

Emily Blunt in a still from Looper.

Director Rian Johnson (left) speaks to Gordon-Levitt on the set of Looper.

US-China co-production Transformers: Age of Extinction, with its Hong Kong scenes and Chinese character, made more money in China than in the US

Mark Wahlberg in a still fromTransformers: Age of Extinction.  

Optimus Prime and a Dinobot in a still from Transformers: Age of Extinction. The fourth instalment in the Transformers series took more money at the Chinese box office than in the US.

 Mark Wahlberg at the world premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction, at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 2014. Photo: Felix Wong

Stanley Tucci and Li Bingbing in a still from Transformers: Age of Extinction.

A model of the Transformers character Bumblebee in front of Qianmen Gate in central Beijing in 2014. Photo: Jason Lee/Reuters

Why China – not Jackie Chan, nor even Jaden Smith – is the real star of 2010 co-production The Karate Kid

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith in a still from The Karate Kid (2010).

Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, co-stars of The Karate Kid. The real star of the 2010 co-production is arguably China, where the film was shot in locations including the Forbidden City, Great Wall and Wudang mountains. Photo: AP

Jaden Smith in a still from The Karate Kid.

Jackie Chan as Mr. Han and Jaden Smith as Dre Parker in a still from The Karate Kid.

How Marvel’s Iron Man 3 tried but failed to please Chinese viewers, from Fan Bingbing’s pointless cameo to brazen product placement

Robert Downey Jr. in a still from Marvel’s Iron Man 3 (2013). A special cut of the movie made for Chinese audiences included four minutes of extra footage. 

Ben Kingsley plays a version of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

Fan Bingbing in a still from the Chinese version of Iron Man 3.

Performers at a promotional event before the release of Iron Man 3 in China. Photo: Reuters

Why Jackie Chan’s 2017 movie The Foreigner, a UK-China co-production, was that rare project to offer the best of both worlds

Jackie Chan in a still from The Foreigner. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Jackie Chan and Rory Fleck Byrne in a still from The Foreigner, directed by Martin Campbell. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Jackie Chan and Katie Leung in a still from The Foreigner. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Pierce Brosnan in a still from The Foreigner.

Jackie Chan (centre) at the China premiere screening of The Foreigner.

How The Last Emperor opened doors for more China co-productions and offered a balanced view of its complicated past

Tao Wu and Joan Chen in a still from The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

John Lone as Puyi in a scene from Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987). The film opened doors for future co-productions with China.

A still from The Last Emperor.

Film director Bernardo Bertolucci (right) in Beijing, in 1985, with The Last Emperor adviser Pujie, brother of Puyi, the last emperor of China’s Qing dynasty.

How Furious 7 left the competition behind in China, unlike most China-US co-productions

Paul Walker in a scene from Furious 7. When the China-US co-production was released in China in 2015, it broke just about every record going.

A still from Furious 7.

Director James Wan and Vin Diesel on the set of Furious 7.

How 2012 movie The Expendables 2 short-changed Chinese viewers and everyone else, too – but still made US$315 million

Sylvester Stallone in a still from The Expendables 2.

(From left:) Yu Nan, Terry Crews, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture and Dolph Lundgren in a still from The Expendables 2.

Jet Li in a still from The Expendables 2.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in a still from The Expendables 2.

Sylvester Stallone (left) and Yu Nan in a still from The Expendables 2.

How US-China co-production The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), co-starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, buried a billion-dollar franchise

Jet Li in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Jet Li as the vicious Han Emperor in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).

Maria Bello (left) and Brendan Fraser in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Luke Ford (left) and Isabella Leong in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Michelle Yeoh in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Despite starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, The Forbidden Kingdom, a US-China co-production, ended up as ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for kids’

Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom. Photo: Online


From left: Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano and Liu Yifei in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). Photo: SCMPost

Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom. Photo: Online

Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan arrive for the world premiere of The Forbidden Kingdom in Beijing, China in 2008. Photo: AP

Jet Li and Liu Yifei in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom (2008).

Steven Spielberg’s China-set Empire of the Sun – the first American film to be shot in Shanghai since the 1940s – forgot one important element: the Chinese

Christian Bale (left) in a still from Empire of the Sun.

Christian Bale in a still from Empire of the Sun.

The crowded streets of Shanghai in a still from Empire of the Sun. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

A still from Empire of the Sun.

How The Dark Knight’s makers tried in vain to court China by shooting scenes for Christopher Nolan’s superhero masterpiece in Hong Kong

The Dark Night was partly filmed in Hong Kong.

Batman swoops over Hong Kong’s Central district in a scene from The Dark Knight, which failed to impress China despite its makers’ intentions. Photo: Warner Brothers

Christopher Nolan (right) on the set of The Dark Knight in Hong Kong.

Crowds mob Christian Bale during shooting in Hong Kong in 2007. Photo: SCMP

 Chin Han plays corrupt businessman Lau (right), with Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, in a still from The Dark Knight (2008).

Bad guys changed from Chinese to North Korean in Red Dawn remake at the height of Hollywood appeasing China in 2012 – but it still flopped

Chris Hemsworth in a still from Red Dawn (2012).

(From left) Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson and Chris Hemsworth in a still from Red Dawn. Photo: Ron Phillips/2009 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

‘North Korea’ in a still from Red Dawn.

Chris Hemsworth and cast in a still from Red Dawn.

Will Yun Lee in a still from Red Dawn.

Did China ruin actor Richard Gere’s career after 1997 film Red Corner?

FOR USE WITH FEATURE PACKAGE FOR SUNDAY NOV. 2 --Chinese actress Bai Ling begs Richard Gere not to run in a scene from the movie “Red Corner,” being released Friday, Oct. 31.  “Red Corner,” an account of an American executive framed for murder and railroaded by the Chinese judicial system, is one of five films being released that deal with Chinese oppression.  The fresh batch of China-related films is motivated by genuine concern about international human rights and the film business’ unique position to advocate for change. (AP Photo/Richard Foreman Jr., HO)

Richard Gere in the 1997 film Red Corner, which was highly critical of China. Photo: UPPA

Bai Ling (centre) in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Richard Gere in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Richard Gere (centre) and Bai Ling (right) in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Is Dwayne Johnson action movie Skyscraper a blueprint for US-China co-production despite being a box-office flop in America?

Dwayne Johnson attends a Skyscraper press conference in Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Dwayne Johnson (left) and Chin Han in a still from Skyscraper, a film which courted the Chinese market it wanted to break into with respect. 

Neve Campbell (left) and Dwayne Johnson in a still from Skyscraper.

Johnson with Chin Han (left) and Campbell (right) at the Skyscraper press conference in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Dwayne Johnson in a still from Skyscraper.

Why this dragon didn’t roar: starring Sam Neill, first Chinese-Australian film co-production The Dragon Pearl was a flop

Sam Neill in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

A still from The Dragon Pearl (2011). In order to appease China and get approval for the film, the character of the dragon was changed and the script rewritten weeks before filming began. 

Li Linjin as Ling (left) and Jordan Chan as Wu Dong in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Sam Neill as Chris Chase (left) and Robert Mammone as Philip Dukas in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Louis Corbett and Li Linjin in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Why Milla Jovovich movie Ultraviolet, a US film shot in China, went so horribly wrong

Milla Jovovich in a still from the 2006 movie Ultraviolet, a US-China co-production that rips off sci-fi standards such as Total Recall, The Matrix and Minority Report.

Milla Jovovich (left) and Cameron Bright in a still from Ultraviolet.

Milla Jovovich in a still from Ultraviolet.

(From left) Ultraviolet director Kurt Wimmer, Charles Wang of producer Salon Films, and John Tsang, then Hong Kong secretary of commerce, industry and technology, in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Why Brad Pitt was banned from China after 1997 movie Seven Years in Tibet

Brad Pitt as mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in a still from Seven Years in Tibet (1997), directed by Jean-Jacque Annaud. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo.

Brad Pitt in a still from Seven Years in Tibet (1997), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Seven Years in Tibet director Jean-Jacques Annaud (left) and star Brad Pitt (centre), and members of the Tibetan Association of Southern California, at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on October 6, 1997. Photo: Reuters

Brad Pitt (right) as Heinrich Harrer receives a blessing from Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk as the Dalai Lama in a still from Seven Years in Tibet. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo

Brad Pitt (left) as Heinrich Harrer and David Thewlis as fellow Austrian mountaineer Peter Aufschnaiter in a still from Seven Years in Tibet. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo

Brad Pitt poses for a selfie with Chinese fans as he arrives at a premiere of the film Allied in Shanghai, China on November 14, 2016. Photo: AP

Was Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, a US-Mexico co-production set in Hong Kong, really a show of Hollywood power?

A still from a scene in Hong Kong in Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”. The film, inspired by Godzilla movies, was criticised by some in China for its geopolitical undertones, but the director argued that it was simply popcorn entertainment. Photo: Warner Bros

Charlie Hunnam (left) and Rinko Kikuchi in a still from “Pacific Rim”. Photo: Warner Bros

A still from “Pacific Rim”. Photo: Warner Bros

Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro signs posters from “Pacific Rim” in Los Angeles, California, in 2013. Photo: EPA/Michael Nelson

How US-China co-production The 355, starring Penélope Cruz, Jessica Chastain and Fan Bingbing, failed on all fronts

Jessica Chastain as Mason “Mace” Brown in a still from “The 355”, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg.

(From left) Diane Kruger as Marie, Jessica Chastain as Mason “Mace” Brown and Lupita Nyong’o as Khadijah in a still from “The 355”, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg. The US-China co-production, which also featured Fan Bingbing, was a box office flop.

Co-writer/director Simon Kinberg (left) and Jessica Chastain on the set of The 355.

Fan Bingbing as Lin Mi Sheng in a still from The 355, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg.

(From left) Penélope Cruz, Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and Diane Kruger in a still from The 355.

How Jackie Chan vehicle Skiptrace, a 2016 US-China co-production by Hollywood director Renny Harlin, put the clash in culture clash

Jackie Chan as Benny Chan and Johnny Knoxville as US gambler Connor Watts in a still from US-China co-production Skiptrace (2016). Photo: Intercontinental Film Distributors

Fan Bingbing as Samantha (left), the daughter of Jackie Chan’s partner, and Johnny Knoxville as American gambler Connor Watts (right) in a still from “Skiptrace”.

Film director Renny Harlin in Hong Kong in 2019. Photo: Edmond So

Jackie Chan as Hong Kong detective Benny Chan in a still from “Skiptrace”.

Fan Bingbing in a still from “Skiptrace”.

How Bait 3D, an Australia-Singapore shark movie co-production, became a monster hit at the Chinese box office

Why Jackie Chan hated doing The Protector movie, a 1985 Hong Kong-US co-production

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chan was so unhappy with his role as a cold-blooded killer in the James Glickenhaus-directed film he asked for a new version for Hong Kong

Chan was so unhappy with his role as a cold-blooded killer in the James Glickenhaus-directed film he asked for a new version for Hong Kong