After completing 'The Protector' in America Chan rushed back to Hong Kong, with Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace in tow, to re-shoot several of the film's fight sequences in an effort to ensure that at least the far-east version would be up his usual standard. Having done all he could to save 'The Protector' he was motivated to show the US industry in general and Glickenhaus in particular what he COULD have achieved if left to his own devices. He also undoubtably felt he needed to regain some of the following he felt he was going to lose when Protector hit the streets.
He pulled out all the stops with his 'Police Story' and created the most action packed, stunt filled mega movie of his career if not of the entire history of Hong Kong movies. It is hard to overstate the impact this film had. It was responsible for the re-emmergence of the Hong Kong gangster film which became a new film genre, 'Heroic Bloodshed', as Rick Baker named it. John Woo followed Police Story's triad themes in the following year's blockbuster 'A Better Tomorrow'.