Forbidden City Cop

Forbidden City Cop
Forbidden City Cop DVD cover
Traditional	大內密探零零發
Simplified	大内密探零零发
Mandarin	Dà nèi mìtàn líng líng fā
Cantonese	Daai6 noi6 mat6taam1 ling4 ling4 faat3
Directed by	Vincent Kok Stephen Chow
Produced by	Wong Jing
Written by	Vincent Kok Stephen Chow Edmund Liu
Starring	Stephen Chow Carina Lau Carmen Lee Tats Lau
Music by	Tats Lau
Cinematography	Lee Kin-keung
Edited by	Kwong Chi-leung
Production company	Samico Films Production Win's Entertainment
Distributed by	Newport Entertainment
Release date	16 February 1996 (1996-02-16)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$36,051,899

Forbidden City Cop (Chinese: 大內密探零零發; literal translation: "Imperial Secret Agent 008") is a 1996 Hong Kong wuxia comedy film directed by Vincent Kok and Stephen Chow and starring Chow, Carina Lau, and Carman Lee.

Ling Ling-Fat (Stephen Chow) is one of the Chinese Emperor's four elite personal bodyguards, the "Baolong clan" (保龍一族) - whose names form the Cantonese Chinese New Year's greeting: "Kung hei fat choi" (恭喜發財). Ling Ling-Fat's own name also doubles as a Cantonese wordplay on the code number "008", a reference to James Bond, whose number was 007 (see From Beijing with Love). Instead of studying martial arts like his fellow bodyguards, he devotes his time to making practical yet often mundane and/or cumbersome 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 four ugly swordsmen who are trespassing in the Forbidden City. He does, however, manage to acquire a kung fu manual, Flying Fairy (天外飛仙, Tin1 ngoi6 fei1 sin1, lit. 'Outer Heaven Flying Fairy'), from one of them. During an imperial audience, Ling-ling Fat's seemingly useless inventions and lack of any martial arts skills enrage the Emperor, who demotes him to various menial tasks around the palace.