The Story: After his partner is killed in a robbery, New York detective Billy Wong (Jackie Chan) is assigned a new partner in Danny Garoni (Danny Aiello). The duo get mired in a kidnapping scheme when a girl is abducted from a fashion show they are working. Turns out the girl is the daughter of a man the FBI suspects is in league with a Hong Kong drug kingpin named Mr. Ko (Roy Hung Chiao). So, the two are sent to Hong Kong, where they begin to track down Ko and cause him no end of trouble by busting up his dope ring.

The Film: Jackie Chan and Danny Aiello has to be one of the great mismatches in cinematic history. They are not Hope and Crosby. They're more like Estelle Getty and Sly Stallone, Carmen Miranda and Groucho Marxs, Chuck Norris and Reno the dog (poor dog), or Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante. Although probably still sore over his American debut The Big Brawl being a flop, I guess Jackie decided to try breaking into the American market one more time. After all, he was just following the footsteps of his HK predecessors who tried similar crossover films, like the teamings of David Chaing and Peter Cushing (Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires), Wang Yu and George Lazenby (The Man from Hong Kong), Ti Lung and Stuart Whitman (Shatter), and Lieh Lo and Lee Van Cleef (Stranger and the Gunfighter). Though I'm pretty certain Jackie's ambitions were much higher than his predecessors. But, Aiello and Chan just do not gel or compliment each other in any way. As much as I dislike Rush Hour and to a lesser extent Shanghai Noon, at least in those films Jackie is a Jackie character and somehow the parings work in a very puerile way with Rush Hour, and an odd offbeat way with Shanghai Noon. Instead we get Chan and Aiello saddled within a generic mid-80's brainless action movie, so dull, even if they had chemistry it is doubtful the Aiello/Chan combo could save the film.

Aiello plays a typical boneheaded, foul-mouthed goomba, but the real miscasting is Chan. Jackie Chan is not Dirty Harry. Instead of letting him be Jackie Chan, James Glickenhouse and the US producers tried to take Jackie Chan and make him into an American action stereotype. Sure, the film lets us see things completely absent from other Jackie films like cursing and gratuitous female nudity, but who cares about that? You watch Jackie Chan movies to see Jackie Chan be a likable, in over his head comedic hero, who can get nasty if a fight calls for it, and perform intricate jaw dropping stunts and fight scenes. Jackie phonetically saying "f**k", trying to trade banter with Aiello, and playing it straight-faced seething with revenge doesn't make a good film... Well, that's not exactly true. Eight years later he played it straight/dramatic in Kirk Wong's Crime Story, but he did it on his terms, in HK, and it worked.

Here Jackie gets mired by Glickenhouse's boring direction and bland action choreography. Jackie tries to do some stunts and good fights, but Glickenhouse just doesn't know how to handle him. You can just see Jackie surrounded by so many opportunities to let loose with his standard action improvisation, but he never gets to shine. Glickenhouse paces everything in the film, including the action, like molasses. His idea of an action sequence- Jackie chasing a guy in a boat, firing a couple of shots at him, and then calling a helicopter to lift him off his boat, which he has steered into he bad guys boat. It lasts about 4-5 minutes, basically just shots of the boats chasing each other... An army of thugs crashes into the fashion show, what does Jackie do? Well, he throws down his gun and puts his arms in the air, not even one punch... See Jackie run across a bunch of boats!... See a tiny hatchback rush at Jackie, which Jackie shoots, causing the car to comically flip over and explode (a scene Jackie would almost mirror in Police Story but make far more elaborate and with a double decker bus instead of a Subaru)... See Jackie climb crates!... See Jackie fight the seemingly arthritic Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, and then briefly fight some of his stunt team and show how its really done... See the muscle-bound henchman throw empty cardboard boxes at Jackie!

The best thing about Jackie's US feature failures was that he took his disappointment at working within the constraints of limited US executives and directors and channeled it into his HK films. Instead of being defeated by the experience, he was inspired to create the modern HK action film. Big Brawl inspired Jackie to do Project A and The Protector spawned the genre defining Police Story. Before these films, the more modern setting Asian martial arts films were usually only done by cheapie indepenent studios because they lacked the budget for period costumes and sets, so the modern martial film wasn't a highly regarded thing. But, in the early 80's the period kung fu film was dying and HK audiences were ready for something new. The US wouldn't let Jackie be Jackie on The Protector, so he goes back to Hong Kong, reshoots action scenes, and recuts the film, giving a glimpse of his true self. And, just as quickly, he fashions Police Story and makes the film that would cement him as a true innovator and an icon. In other words, Jackie Chan might as well have turned around and screamed, "___ you Warner Bros./Glickenhouse! I'll show you how to make an action film!" from across the Pacific Ocean.

The DVD: Warner Bros doesn't even bother to release the HK Jackie Chan edit, but stick with the same old US cut... And its another Warner cardboard snapper. Oh Warner, when will you learn? Picture- Widescreen, Anamorphic. Color and Sharpness are good. The main complaint is that it is quite grainy, though its pretty typical of the day and age. Not a huge drawback, but you wont be using it to show off the crispness of your DVD system. I'm sure with some tweaking it could be better, but its doubtful anyone is going to do that with the movie. Sound- Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround. Pretty basic, decent audio. Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Extras- 30 Chapters--- Cast and Crew List with Jackie filmography--- Theatrical trailer.

Conclusion: Really, this film (in either form- US edit or Jackie/HK edit) is only for Jackie Chan completists. Basic barebones DVD combined with what I think is a boring movie, I say its a rental, at best, and only if Police Story 1-4, Project A 1&2, Armor of God 1&2, Drunken Master 1&2, Snake in the Eagles Shadow, Rumble in the Bronx, and a number of other, better, Chan films are checked out. But, if you are one of its rare fans, go for a purchase.