Patron (film)

Billy Wong ( Jackie Chan ) - New York policeman, originally from Hong Kong. He will not stop at any difficulty and danger, but in order to catch the criminal he will not be afraid and violate the orders of the authorities. After night duty, he calls in with a partner in a cafe, which they decided to rob several thugs. During the shooting that started, Wong’s partner is killed. Obsessed with a desire for revenge, he still overtakes the criminals, but for violation of numerous police rules receives only a reprimand from the authorities.

Later on the elite fashion show kidnapped the daughter of an influential millionaire. At the same party, Billy worked as a security guard with his new partner, Goroni ( Danny Aiello ). They are assigned to find a girlfriend. Traces lead them to Hong Kong, where they find out that the big drug traffickers are involved in all this.

Especially for this film, producers David Chan and Andre Morgan offered Jackie Chan to portray their character as a solid, serious and cruel guy in the style of Clint Eastwood . Jackie Chan did not agree with this decision, insisting that his fans like his image of a carefree and not at all cruel hero. But the film was still shot in the style proposed by the producers.

On the set of Jackie Chan began a creative disagreement with director James Glikenhausom . Jackie Chan was already struck by the fact that Glikenhaus was spending only 4 days on shooting the battle scenes, in his own films Jackie Chan spent at least twenty days on one serious fight. Even in cases where the episode was disgusting in Jackie’s opinion, Glikenhaus simply said: “Everything is fine. The next scene. When Jackie offered his help in staging scenes, Glikenhaus refused, regardless of the "experimental Chinese." At one point, Chan even left the project, but returned at the insistence of his agent. In addition, he could not break the contract and was forced to participate in the film to the end.

During the shooting of the film, Jackie Chan broke the bones of the fingers and forearm of his left hand.

In New York, only a small part of street scenes and individual scenes were filmed on the premises. Most of the film was shot in Hong Kong, even the opening scene of a shootout in a bar was filmed in Hong Kong.

Jackie Chan was very unhappy with the film, which eventually turned out and decided not to show it to his Asian viewers. Returning to Hong Kong, he invited Danny Aiello and Bill Wallace and again, as a director, re-watched many scenes and also cut out some of them, eventually creating his own version of the film.

Differences of the Hong Kong version from the American:

• The film on which the new scenes were filmed was lighter than the one on which scenes from the American version of the film were filmed, so it was decided to lighten the entire film after editing;
• Removed Michael's funeral scene;
• The scenes in which the characters use offensive language were deleted or re-voiced;
• The heroine was introduced into the plot, which was played by popular Asian singer and actress Sally E. This was made possible by screenwriter Jackie Chan, Edward Tangu;
• Cut out the scene with a naked masseuse in the sauna;
• Instead of a scene with an entrance to the warehouse, a comedy fight scene was inserted in the gym;
• Added another battle scene at the factory;
• Completely retake the final bout in the warehouse against Billy Wallace.

The Chan version was relatively successful in Hong Kong, but it was ignored all over the world.

Despite the rather large advertising, "Patron" failed in the US box office, collecting only $ 981,817.

The Hong Kong version of the film turned out to be commercially more successful, collecting a cash desk of HK $ 13,917,612, which, however, is much less than in all of Chan's previous works.

• Patron is the first film where Jackie Chan uses a firearm. It is not true. He used the weapon already in the film " Winners and Sinners ". However, he tried to lay out a firearm even earlier in the 1982 film “ Lord of the Dragon ” (the plot where the Dragon and the Cowboy picked up a musket and accidentally shot the ceiling)

• Police story

• " Patron on the Internet Movie Database  
• Review: 'The Protector' (Eng.) . Variety (December 31, 1984). The appeal date is May 6, 2015.
• The Protector (1985 ) . Comeuppance Reviews (6/23/2014). The appeal date is May 6, 2015.
• Chris Sawin. "Crime Story" and "The Protector" Examiner.com (January 18, 2013). The appeal date is May 6, 2015.