The Protectors (1975) User Reviews

Another average movie for the year and genre

[ckormos1 · 6/10 · 31 January 2020]

It begins with everyone sword fighting during the opening credits. The story opens with Chang Pei-Shan is unhappy he has not become rich in the escort business. Lo Lieh is happy with the status quo. Chang Pei-Shan is also unhappy the chief's daughter has eyes only for Lo Lieh.

The movie has the expected high production values of Shaw Brothers so the sets and costumes are fabulous. The fights are almost all weapons and mostly swords. Some weapons have tricky modifications added. I never liked this because I practice martial arts and consider the weapons of China in their historical and martial aspects. I can also see how fans watching the movie got a kick out of the tricks. Overall, I find nothing that raises the movie above average for the year and genre.

Brief and to the point

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 26 January 2020]

THE PROTECTORS is a rather unusual action adventure from the Shaw Brothers studio, insomuch as the running time is a scant hour. Nonetheless plenty of plot twists and turns are packed into said running time so that you don't really feel that anything is being missed out, and in addition there's a wealth of fun fight scenes to keep this moving quickly from beginning to end. It marks one of the last times that Lo Lieh would play a hero for the studio and he's a delight here (I may be a bit biased given that Lieh is one of my all-time favourite stars). The bad guy is slimy and hissable and Wu Ma's direction solid, with plenty of neat flourishes in the fast-moving action. In essence, there's nothing not to like about this brief and speedy adventure flick that does it all, and at speed.

Back-stabbing 101...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 8 February 2013]

Ling (Lo Lieh) and Guan are the Black and White Chiefs of the Eagle Escort security firm: during the opening credit sequence, we see them recover a stolen shipment of gold; by the time the credits have run, the two are literally knee-deep in bodies. And THE PROTECTORS just gets better from there. Beautifully directed by Wu Ma, it's a tale of betrayal and murder and more betrayal and even more murder. Guan, in debt to local gang boss Jin, agrees to help Jin steal a gold shipment. En route, Guan convinces some of his fellow employees to help him pull a switch (bricks are used to replace the gold, which is buried). When Jin's gang ambushes the escort, Guan "manages to escape." His fellow would-be thieves do not. Ling arrives on the scene too late to help and is bamboozled by Guan. When Jin and his gang learn that they, too, have been tricked by Guan, everybody's gunning for everybody else. There are more betrayals per square foot in this movie than in all the American Republican politics of the last decade. Often suspenseful and amazingly well-crafted, THE PROTECTORS is definitely worth seeing.