Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Inspired by Capcom’s smash-hit video game sensation Street Fighter II, Future Cops is a mash-up of martial-arts action, comedy and science fiction directed by Wong Jing (God of Gamblers) and featuring an impressive ensemble cast, including Andy Lau (Casino Raiders), Jacky Cheung (Once Upon a Time in China), Aaron Kwok (Throw Down), Chingmy Yau (Royal Tramp) and Simon Yam (PTU). In the year 2043, the evil crime lord The General (Ken Lo, Drunken Master II) has been imprisoned for his heinous crimes. His loyal followers Kent (Ekin Cheng, Young and Dangerous), Thai King (Billy Chow, High Risk) and Toyota (William Duen, Crime Story) have a plan to free him, though: they will travel back in time and eliminate the Judge who sentenced him. They are followed into the past by Lung (Kwok), Broomhead (Cheung), Ti Man (Lau) and Sing (Yam), “Future Cops” who intend to keep The General in jail where he belongs. But as both cops and criminals arrive in the year 1993 to search for the Judge – who back then was just a teenager – they find themselves embroiled not just in a battle for the future… but high-school drama, too. Released in 1993 (shortly after City Hunter, another Wong Jing film that draws upon the Capcom franchise), Future Cops beat the first official adaptation of Street Fighter into cinemas by a full year. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK in this special edition. (95 Mins)

 

Universe HK DVD Synopsis: In the year 2043, the notorious villain is about to be put on trial. His killers decide to go back 50 years by the time tunnel, and look for the judge in his youthful age. They want to program into the boy's mind and alternate his decision. However, the Future Cops follow. They infiltrate into a school and befriend with a slightly retarded boy, who is always insulted and bullied. Who knows he is in fact the judge of the future? (95 Mins)

 

Views: Released in 1993, Wong Jing's outrageously entertaining and very unofficial Street Fighter 2 influenced movie predates the official Hollywood outing (starring Jean Claude Van Damme) by a year, and completely wipes the floor with it in terms of getting things right. From its wild selection of characters to its insane fight choreography that delivers moves that are true to the popular Capcom game, Future Cops may only have been made for the cost of the Hollywood feature's catering budget, but it's quirky cheapness just adds even more entertainment value and charm to this unsung classic of Hong Kong cinema. When a major criminal, known as The General, is sent to jail after an attempt at world domination, a number of his ruthless minions travel back in time from 2043 to 1993 to kill the Judge that locked him away. But the Future Cops know of their plot and,under orders from their police chief, are sent back to protect him. Landing in the back garden of clumsy high school student Tai Hung, the Future Cops try to blend in with daily life, going back to school, falling in love, and protecting Tai Hung from The General's minions – as well as some high school bullies!

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Clearly inspired by the Street Fighter 2 wonders he worked on Jackie Chan's City Hunter earlier that year, writer and director Wong Jing immediately got to work on this whacky gem pulling out all the stops and pulling in an all-star cast to make it happen. But, with Wong Jing being Wong Jing, just having a blatant rip-off of the world's most popular video-game was never going to be straight-forward enough! With Future Cops, Wong delivers a host of pop culture homages that never fail to create a chuckle. These include the equally popular anime Dragon Ball, Super Mario, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, The Terminator, Doreamon, Ghost and others. Using his powers as one of Hong Kong's most prolific film-makers, Wong Jing secured the services of some of Hong Kong cinemas finest such as the incredible Andy Lau – a Wong Jing regular who began with him on the Magic Crystal back in 1986. Since then, the pair has worked together on films such as The Crazy Companies 1 & 2 (1988), Perfect Match (1989), Casino Raiders (1989), Crocodile Hunter (1989), God Of Gamblers (1989), Kung Fu Vs Acrobatic (1990), The Last Blood (1991), and so many more even through to today. In Future Cops, Lau plays Ti Man – the Vega character of game, complete with weaponised claws and face mask, while the fantastic Jacky Cheung stars as the hilariously named Broomhead – a Chinese variation of Guile. Wong Jing's old flame and fan-favourite femme fatale, Chingmy Yau (who starred in 9 features the same year, most of which were for him) turns in a highly-entertaining role as Chun-may; the Chun Li of the show, with the hilarious Kingdom Yuen making an appearance as another variation of the same character. And then there's the handsome Aaron Kwok who appears in a smaller role playing the Ryu character known as Lung – probably one of the very few that looks exactly like their video-game counterpart. The legendary Simon Yam turns in a comic performance as Sing, the Dhalsim of the piece who actually stretches and breathes fire when needed, and the popular Ekin Cheng stars as the Chinese version of Ken – albeit with a few tweaks...

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Jackie Chan Stunt Team member and popular villain of Hong Kong cinema Ken Lo leads the bad guys as The General; sporting an almost identical outfit to that of his M. Bison counterpart. Of course, Lo had just worked with Wong Jing on the aforementioned City Hunter that same year, and before that on Deadly Dream Woman and Naked Killer in 1992. Over the years that followed, and still today, Ken has appeared in a number of memorable Wong Jing titles. The equally menacing Billy Chow stars as the Sagat of the piece known as Thai King, getting to show his awesome kicking skills to the max, while the great William Duen plays Toyota – a more precise and weightier version of E. Honda than Jackie Chan's City Hunter variation (as much as I loved it). And the late-great Richard Ng is wonderfully miscast and hilarious as Blanka, although in the best possible way of course! Helping to fill out the cast list is the fun Andy Hui, Charlie Yeung, Nat Chan, Winnie Lau, Lee Siu Kay, and the great Dennis Chan as the unfortunate Head Master of the prime location high school. And last, but not least, there's the wonderfully charming and always enjoyable Dicky Cheung; the popular singer and actor who stars as Tai Hung – the target of The General who will go onto become the big Judge in the future, who eventually gains his own super-power and becomes Son Goku from Dragon Ball in the final battle. In fact, 1993 would prove to be a very busy year for Dicky with no less than 11 films roles on the go in films such as My Hero 2, Hero From Beyond The Boundary Of Time, Vampire Family, Black Panther Warriors, The Prince Of Portland Street, and Wong Jing films like Last Hero In China, Holy Weapon, and this.

 

Proving to one hell of a film-maker across many different genres and many decades, Wong Jing has always been somewhat of a marmite writer/director/producer for many fans in the west. And with that, I think it's only fair to say that a movie like Future Cops may not sit well for many. With plenty of in-jokes and an abundance of crazy, over-the-top, video-game inspired fight-action courtesy of the prolific and talented Tony Ching Siu Tung – all of which I can assure you, will most certainly entertain – the film has long been a favourite of mine, and one of the first HK movie bootlegs I ever ordered when I was starting out my collection back in the early 90s. Interestingly, Wong Jing would deliver a semi-sequel/remake a vast 17 years later with Future X-Cops in 2010 – a film that was blasted by most critics and fans for its bad CGI and poor writing, with only Andy Lau returning from this original and Tony Ching Siu Tung delivering the fight action once again. And while I certainly think it had its moments and entertained to a point, this modern adaptation was certainly no Future Cops for a number of reasons. So to sum it all up, it would only be fair to say that this is one of those movies that has to be seen to be believed. Sure, it's far from perfect, often looks cheap in production values, and offers plenty of childish antics, but just the sheer energy alone of this live-action cartoon is worth watching for the experience!

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Overall: Outrageous, insane, hilarious and showcasing some of the wildest martial-arts action ever seen in Hong Kong cinema, Future Cops is ridiculous yet entertaining, and deserves to be seen!

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Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng, Super Street Culture Turbo Featurette, Original Theatrical Trailer

 

Universe DVD Extras: Trailers, Star Bios

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Watch my unboxing video for this Eureka Video release HERE

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Watch my video retrospective for this film HERE