Forbidden City Cop (1996) Dai lap mat tam 008 (original title)

Directors:

Stephen Chow
Vincent Kok

Writers:

Stephen Chow (written by)
Vincent Kok (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

16 February 1996 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Action | Romance

Plot:

A wild and hilariously anachronistic tale of an imperial guard of the Forbidden City who has no martial arts abilities but a talent for making futuristic machines and must save the kidnapped emperor.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | China | Guard | Kung Fu | Martial Arts

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Stephen Chow	...	Ling Ling Fat (as Chiau Sing Chi)
Carina Lau	...	Kar-Ling (as Lau Ka Ling)
Carman Lee	...	Gum Tso (as Carmen Li)
Tat-Ming Cheung	...	Emperor (as Cheung Tat Ming)
Kar-Ying Law	...	Fat-Yan (as Law Ka Ying)
Tats Lau	...	The Ghost (as Lau Yee Tat)
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	No Face's Wife (as Yuen Cheong Yan)
Shun-Yee Yuen	...	Two Face (as Yuen Shun Yee)
Lik-Chi Lee		(as Li Lik Chee)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
King-Man Chik	...	Sex-starved patient
Vincent Kok	...	Doctor
Elvina Kong	...	Dizzy Patient
Kin-Yan Lee	...	Emperor's Mistress
Indra Leech	...	Doctor
Hang-Sang Poon	...	Fat's father-in-law
Manfred Wong	...	Luk Siu-Fung
Quinton Wong	...	Doctor
Yut Fei Wong	...	Yip Koo-Shing
King-Tan Yuen	...	Madam

Directed by
Stephen Chow		(as Chiau Sing Chi)
Vincent Kok		(as Kok Tak Chiu)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stephen Chow		written by (as Chiau Sing Chi)
Vincent Kok		written by (as Kok Tak Chiu)
Man Sang Lo		written by (as Lo Man Sang)

Produced by
Tiffany Chen	....	administrative producer
Jing Wong	....	producer (as Wong Jing)
Siu Cheung Wu	....	associate producer (as Wu Siu Cheong)

Original Music by
Tats Lau		(as Lau Yee Tat)

Cinematography by
Kin Keung Lee		(as Li Kin Keung)

Film Editing by
Chi-Leung Kwong		(as Kwong Chi Leung)

Production Design by
Cyrus Ho		(as Kim Hung Ho)

Art Direction by
Cyrus Ho		(as Ho Kim Hung)

Costume Design by
William Chang		(as William Cheung)
Silver Cheung
Carina Lau		(as Lau Ka Ling)

Production Management
Rita Fung	....	production manager
Marco Mak	....	post-production manager (as Mak Chi Sin)
Kai Man Tin	....	production manager (as Tin Kai Man)

Special Effects by
Jackie Tang	....	special effects (as Jacky Tang)
John Ting	....	special effects

Stunts
Kin-Kwan Poon	....	martial arts coordinator (as Poon Kin Kwan)

Other crew
Charles Heung	....	presenter
Kim Wah Lo	....	executive director (as Lo Kim Wah)
Tsai Mu Ho	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Win's Entertainment Ltd.
• Samico Films Production Company Ltd.

Distributors

• China Star Entertainment (1996) (worldwide) (all media)
• Mei Ah Entertainment (2004) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Long Shong Entertainment Group (1996) (Canada) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Fine Art Film Production Company  subtitles
• Salon Films  camera equipment provided by
• Salon Films  grip and lighting equipment
• Tai Fung (Tsu's) Co. Ltd.  film supplied by
• True Technic Ltd.  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"Dai lap mat tam 008" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Big Inside Cop Ling Ling-fat" - Hong Kong (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15

Company:

Win's Entertainment Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dr. No (1962)

Far fetched farces has me pretty amused

This is a pretty off-beat sort of HK film with a fair share of action and a lot of silliness. Our hero may be incompetent at Kung Fu, but his gadgetry reminds me of Q from the Bond films, whose music is ripped off and whose sexy introductions are parodied at the start of the film. The usual HK blood spilling, a very twisting and contorting (and even surprising in its predictability) plot and a sentimental thread of the happy couple make this worth a look. It kind of sits between Jackie Chan and the Chinese Ghost Story series.