Future Cops (Chinese: 超級學校霸王; Ciu Khap Hok Hau Ba Wong; Literal Title:Super-School Tyrant) is a 1993 Hong Kong action-comedy film loosely based on the Street Fighter video game franchise.
It was the first live-action film to feature characters from the Street Fighter series, the second being City Hunter starring Jackie Chan, which was also directed by Wong Jing, but released 15 days later. The following year the official Street Fighter motion picture was released, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Plot
In the year 2043, an evil and anonymous crime lord who only goes by "The General" (M. Bison) is attempting world domination. Only one government official stands in his way, and plans to send him to prison, so The General and his minions Kent (Ken), Thai King (Sagat), and Toyota (E. Honda) travel to the year 1993 to kill the official before he has a chance to get into office. During a battle with The General's minions, the Future Cops Lung (Ryu), Broom Man (Guile), Ti Man (Vega), and Ah-Sing (Dhalsim) hear of their evil plan and devise a plan of their own to travel back in time to protect the official. Lung ultimately stays behind because he is the Police Director's son in law, and does not appear again until the very last few minutes of the movie.
Once the Future Cops get to 1993 they land in the backyard of 20 something year old high school student Tai-Hung, who helps them stay under cover by letting them live with him and his family. Tai-Hung ends up being the one the Future Cops are looking for, Ti Man pretends to be a fellow student while striking up a romance with Tai Hung's sister Chun May (Chun Li); Broom Man pretends to be a music teacher at the school while also striking up a romance with one of the students, Crab Angel; while Ah-Sing follows Tai Hung pretending to be his servant, all the while protecting him from the evil school bullies, while Tai Hung pursues a romance of his own with his long time friend Choi Ney. Eventually the villains show up, wreak havoc, and there are many epic battles.
The film moves through strange romance, wacky comedic situations, and a couple of bizarre musical numbers (many of the Chinese actors in the film are also accomplished pop singers), until the introduction of the villains halfway through the movie. There are some epic fight scenes featuring the special attacks and fighting styles of the Street Fighter characters. Though the characters bear an obvious similarity to those of Street Fighter, Fantasy Productions could not get the rights to use their names at the time the film was being made. All in all, the plot of the film has little to do with the actual storyline and characters of the original Street Fighter series.
Ending
With the General defeated, the allies from the future can now return to their own time. However, Lung (Ryu) suddenly appears to bring a message from their HQ. Lung was informed that Super Saiyan has landed on earth and Lung was assigned to destroy him along with Ti Man (Vega), Broom Man (Guile) and Ah Sing (Dhalsim). But in that part, they don't really care for their missions. In the end, the filmmakers were only trying to get a good ending without a reason (i.e., a parody).
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role | Hanzi |
|---|---|---|
| Dicky Cheung | Tai-Hung/Yu Ti Hung (Goku) | 陳大雄余鐵雄 |
| Andy Lau | Ti Man (Vega) | 鐵面 |
| Aaron Kwok | Lung (Ryu) | 阿龍 |
| Jacky Cheung | Broom Man (Guile) | 掃把頭 |
| Simon Yam | Ah-Sing (Dhalsim) | 發達星八大師兄 |
| Chingmy Yau | Chun May (Chun Li) | 春美 |
| Ken Lo | The General (M. Bison) | 將軍 |
| Ekin Cheng | Kent (Ken) | 阿健 |
| Billy Chow | Thai King (Sagat) | 泰王 |
| Tuan Wai-Lun | Toyota (E. Honda) | 豐田 |
| King-Tan Yuen | Chun Dai (Chun Li 2) | 春代 |
| Richard Ng | Uncle Richard/Green Wolf (Blanka) | 青狼 |
| Andy Hui Chi-An | Kei-On (Gian/Suneo/Bully) | 余忌安 |
| Charlie Yeung | Choi Ney (Shizuka) | 采妮 |
| Winnie Lau | Sui-Wai/Crab Angel | 小慧 |
| Dennis Chan | Headmaster | |
| Newton Lai | Future Cops Commander | |
| Dave Lam | Discipline teacher | |
| Lee Siu-kei | Plumber | |
| Fanny Leung | CR3 | |
| Sam Hoh | Leon Lai | |
| Lam Foo-Wai | School Bully |
Characters
Heroes
Villains
Game references and differences
- All the characters in the film have the likeness, fighting style, and special attacks of the Street Fighter II video game characters they are based on.
- In the final battle of the film, Chun May and her mother (both dressed as Chun-Li) simultaneously perform Chun-Li's "yatta!" win animation from Street Fighter II.
- Vega, who is normally a villain in the video game series, is the main hero, whereas Ken and E. Honda are villains as opposed to heroes.
- In the scene where Ti Man and Chun May are on a date at an arcade, they jump into a game of Nintendo's Super Mario World (1990).
- Through most of the film Ti Man (Vega), and Chun May (Chun-Li) wear normal school clothes, Vega wears half a mask and Chun May wears glasses.
- Despite having the same moves as Ryu, Ken also had a somewhat psychic power (seen in a scene where he use some kind of Psychic force from his eye to push away a lady in a convenience store) perhaps due to his second-in-command status with M. Bison.
- Ken and Guile who normally have blonde hair, have black hair with bleached-blonde streaks in the film. In addition to their minor changes, instead of the names of their projectile moves being "Surge Fist" and "Sonic Boom", they have been changed to "Swaying Fist" and "Crescent Knife".
- Dhalsim, who is normally bald and had earrings, has black hair with red streaks and left earring in the film.
- The film's M. Bison is revealed to be an evil cyborg, similar to Rudolf von Stroheim from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, and as opposed to the canonical M. Bison who is very much human. Before the reveal, M. Bison is shown in scenes to be fire-proof and can talk without moving his mouth.
- The story also takes inspiration from The Terminator (1984), centering on a killer cyborg from the future going back in time to slaughter the main young protagonist, while a human resistance group also goes back in time to defend the protagonist. The Future Cops also warped into the past the same way as T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), except none of them were naked.
- Sagat who is usually a bald-headed behemoth of a man with muscles, large hands and severe scars. He is shown in the film as being six-foot-tall, with a flattop haircut, and a goatee, but still wears his recognizable eyepatch.
- When Tai-Hung wakes up to his abilities as Yu Ti Hung, he is dressed up as the character Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise.
- Though the Hadouken fireball was seen in the film, it's interesting to note that the fireball appear as the red glitch Hadouken from Street Fighter II Turbo and not the default light Hadouken from the game.
- Kei-on is seen in an arcade playing Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (1992), he is playing as Ken and fighting against Guile.
- Unlike the regular characters in this movie, the main characters who portray the Street Fighter characters here are actually invincible superheroes with superhuman strength unlike their game counterparts who are martial artists that can summon ki-force. Throughout the movie with scene where Ti Man got stabbed by Chun May but wasn't killed, Broom Man and Kent could lift and push a number of vehicles with just their bare hands, Ti Man could jump 3 story highs up and down a building, Ti Man ate snake venom but is still alive, etc.
- Characters from the game that are missing in the movie (or has no counterparts) are Zangief and Balrog as well as the newcomers from Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (Cammy, Fei-Long, T. Hawk and Dee Jay). The movie was released at the same year as Super Street Fighter II.
Video
External links
- Future Cops at Internet Movie Database
- Future Cops film review
- Future Cops trailer at YouTube
- Future Cops movie at qq