Forbidden City Cop

1996 "He is the law! what law?"
6.9| 1h29m| en| More Info
Released: 16 February 1996 Released
Producted By: Samico Films Production Co., Ltd.
Country: Hong Kong
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

An imperial agent gets ridiculed for his various inventions, until his supportive wife encourages him to attend a conference, which's actually a trap to kill all the doctors serving the emperor, where his crazy inventions come in handy.

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Samico Films Production Co., Ltd.

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Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
GamerTab That was an excellent one.
RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Chrysanthepop What makes 'Daai laap mat taam 008' different from other Kong Fu comedies is that it's slightly more offbeat and has less kong fu. But hang on, it's funny as hell and endearing. I love the character Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow) and his wife Kar Ling (Karina Lau). Chow as Fat is a royal servant, an inventor, a medicine man, a devoted husband and a cop is amazing. He shows another side of his comedic talent that is very different from what he did in 'Shaolin Soccer' and 'Kung Fu'. Carina Lau displays her versatility by playing a comic role as the devoted and loving wife Kar. The relationship of the two characters is very well portrayed and is one of the highlights of the film. There are also many funny characters as I mentioned in the summary that just make the movie experience more fun. The over the top fight scenes are both comical and well shot, fitting well with the context. Yes, a lot of the scenes are done in a cheesy way, a lot of them are far fetched too but then again, it just adds to the humour. There are several laugh out loud moments and very funny twists. I am pretty sure that one will be unstoppably laughing throughout the film. I find 'Daai laap mat taam 008' to be a very refreshing comedy but it's probably the kind one would either hate or like very much.
pspower This movie started out with so much potential, but like a lot of Stephen Chow movies, the second half goes crazy and becomes TOO MUCH of a cartoon.**Possible minor spoilers**The beginning of the movie is funny. We are introduced to Chow's character, Fat, who enjoys inventing things. Unfortunately his fellow Forbidden City Cops, and the emperor, value martial arts more, so it seems like he is not needed. We are then introduced to his wife, who is very likable. Following this is a fight scene where all the Forbidden City Cops, with the exception of Fat, are ambushed and destroyed in the woods. This is a great scene full of action and humor. Up until THIS POINT the movie is great! It strikes a good balance between believability and random humor.Here's where the movie starts to SUCK. I'm not a professional movie critic so I probably cannot point out all the exact reasons why, but it's obvious that the movie becomes TOO far-fetched and random. The believability is thrown completely out the window and the whole show becomes too much like a bad cartoon. The emperor, who was taken when the Forbidden City Cops were ambushed, is dressed in an alien suit, and almost gets an autopsy by Fat. It may sound a little funny, but it's done in a very stupid and cheesy way, and doesn't match the level of realism in the first half (I know it's a comedy, but I would think you have to maintain a stable level of realism and not just change halfway through the movie).Then Fat uses some of the inventions we were introduced to in the superior first half do defeat the enemies. All this is done in the most stupid and cheesy way possible. He uses staff shaped like a propeller to fly by spinning it around in his hands! Then he sticks a gun like object in his mouth to shoot down all the enemies! All this is done in that ugly blue light Hong Kong movies use so much. The scene is totally stupid, and what more, all the enemies seem destroyed! Shouldn't the movie finally be done?Nope. Seems only 56 or so minutes have passed to they need to add more movie. What follows is an idiotic storyline about how the emporer gets Fat to go look for a good looking prostitute because all his concubines are fat (yes there is a scene with a lot of fat women running at the screen). It's just all totally stupid from here. I'm done with this review. The first half was so good, too.
erock-3 I saw the movie in a theater during a Martial Arts HK movie festival and like the other reviewer, couldn't stop laughing! It's silly, fun, not historically accurate, there are some creative "side bits", i.e. the academy award scene mentioned in the other comment, but everything that happens in the movie drives the plot and fits with the style of the movie.It's the one movie I always look for when I go to rent videos. It's hard to find, (there's only one place in Seattle that has it, as a DVD)but if you see it at the store, or playing during a movie festival, go see it!
core-3 Saw this on a flight from Tokyo to HK - had no idea what it was about (still don't, really) but it had my wife and I ROTFL. There's bits about the alien autopsy, Academy Award speeches and cooking shows, I think. Doesn't make any sense, has cheesy effects and this isn't really acting, just mugging for the camera and winking at the audience, but everyone's very charming and once you stop worrying about the story (there might have been one, somewhere), you won't stop laughing.