| Forbidden City Cop | |
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Forbidden City Cop DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Vincent Kok Stephen Chow |
| Produced by | Wong Jing |
| Written by | Vincent Kok Stephen Chow |
| Starring | Stephen Chow Carina Lau Carmen Lee Tats Lau |
| Distributed by | Win's Entertainment Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Running time | 89 min |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese, Mandarin |
Forbidden City Cop (大內密探零零發; lit. "the Imperial Secret Agent 008") is a 1996 Hong Kong martial arts/comedy film directed by Vincent Kok, starring Stephen Chow, Carina Lau and Carman Lee.
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Ling Ling Fat is a Cantonese wordplay on the code number "008", a reference to James Bond, whose number was 007 (see From Beijing with Love), as well as part of a Cantonese Chinese New Year's Greeting: "Kung hei fat choy" (恭喜發財).
Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow) is, by heritage, a member of the Chinese Emperor's elite personal bodyguards. He belongs to the tribe of Baolong, which literally means "King Protecting". Instead of studying martial arts, like his fellow bodyguards, Ling Ling Fat makes unusual inventions, such as cannons fired from the mouth, helicopter blades, and magnets. He also practices gynaecology, and spends time with his loving wife (Carina Lau). In the beginning of the film, Ling Ling Fat fails to apprehend a group of ugly swordsmen who are trespassing in the Forbidden City, but he does manage to acquire a kung fu manual, Flying Fairy, from one of the swordsmen. During an audience with the Emperor, Ling Ling Fat's seemingly useless inventions and his ignorance of martial arts enrage the Emperor, who demotes him to menial tasks around the palace.
Meanwhile, Faceless, King of Gum Tribe, plans to assassinate the Emperor and overtake China. The Gum Tribe creates a diversion by inviting all the doctors of China to a medical exposition in which an alien is to be dissected. Ling Ling Fat and the Emperor separately depart for the event. While Ling Ling Fat and his wife feast at a string of restaurants, Gum's men assassinate and kill the Emperor's three remaining bodyguards. The assassins put the unconscious Emperor in an alien costume to present him as the alien for dissection. Just as Ling Ling Fat and the other doctors discover the Emperor's identity, Gum's assassins begin to slaughter everyone in attendance. Ling Ling Fat uses his wits and inventions to defeat the assassins.
The Emperor honors Ling Ling Fat for his success and gives him an enormous pearl as a reward. For his next assignment, the Emperor charges Ling Ling Fat with investigating a prospective concubine, the beautiful prostitute Gum Tso (Carmen Lee). Ling Ling Fat meets with Gum Tso without his wife's knowledge and has difficulty restraining himself from her seductive advances. He gives her the enormous pearl and lies about it to his wife. Later, Gum Tso surprises Ling Ling Fat at his home, forcing a violent confrontation between Ling Ling Fat and his wife's family. Ling Ling Fat forsakes his tearful wife and leaves with Gum Tso.
When Ling Ling Fat brings Gum Tso to the palace, he and the Emperor throw Gum Tso in chains and reveal that she is actually Faceless in disguise. Ling Ling Fat had deciphered Gum Tso's true identity during their meeting and enlisted his entire family in a ruse to fool Faceless. The Emperor begins handing out acting awards to Ling Ling Fat's various family members, but Faceless manages to break free. Once again, Ling Ling Fat uses his inventions and wits to combat Faceless, but Faceless fights back with powerful martial arts techniques. On the verge of defeat, Ling Ling Fat is struck by a lightning bolt meant for Faceless which awakes his potential and enables him to use the Flying Fairy technique he learned from the manual he gained at the beginning of the film, thus destroying Faceless.
It grossed HK $36,051,899 in Hong Kong.
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