PTU (2003)

When an obnoxious detective loses his gun to four young thugs, it's up to the P.T.U. (Police Tactical Unit) and their iron-willed leader to recover the weapon and clean up the mess before daybreak.

Director:

Johnnie To

Writers:

Nai-Hoi Yau (as Yau Nai Hoi), Kin-Yee Au (as Au Kin Yee)

Stars:

Simon Yam, Suet Lam, Ruby Wong

13 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Simon Yam	...	Sergeant Mike Ho
Maggie Siu	...	Kat (as Maggie Shiu)
Suet Lam	...	Sergeant Lo Sa (as Lam Suet)
Ruby Wong	...	Inspector Leigh Cheng
Raymond Ho-Yin Wong	...	Supervisor Wong (as Raymond Wong)
Eddy Ko	...	Eye Ball (as Ko Hung)
Hoi-Pang Lo	...	Bald Head (as Loi Hoi Pang)
Jerome Fung	...	Sergeant Fung
Frank Michael Liu	...	Triad (as Frank Liu)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi-Ping Chang	...	Insp. Chan's subordinate (as Chi Ping Cheung)
Soi Cheang	...	Undercover cop (as Pou-Soi Cheang)
Moon-Yuen Cheung	...	PTU Orderly (as Kenneth Cheung)
Chi-Shing Chiu	...	Ponnytail
Wai-Kwok Kwok
Roderick Lam	...	Mike's team member

Storyline

When an obnoxious detective loses his gun to four young thugs, it's up to the P.T.U. (Police Tactical Unit) and their iron-willed leader to recover the weapon and clean up the mess before daybreak.

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Plot Keywords:

one night | police shootout | female gunfighter | interrogation | shootout | 

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Taglines:

Into the Perilous Night...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Did You Know?

Quotes

Sergeant Mike Ho: Everyone in uniforms are brothers.

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Connections

Followed by Tactical Unit - Partners (2009)

User Reviews

Long Lens

I'm convinced that much of film is reverberation from the phenomenon of noir. The key element of noir was a capricious fate that both played arbitrary havoc with lives and flavored the eye of the camera.

I am not thoroughly steeped in Hong Kong work, but there seem to be three main communities: the deeply cinematic experimentalists led by Kar-wai, the stylistic ballet of Woo and company and the neo-noirists. Unfortunately, these can superficially appear similar in many respects. But I think here we have a clear case of the third.

The game is dark. Everyone seems to think they are in charge, but no one is. Luck plays the key role and many coincidences appear. The camera eye is based on the long lens.

I'm beginning to appreciate cinematographers who exploit either the long or short lens. I think it is impossible to do noir with a short lens because it is so obvious that the eye is within the space of action. But few noir films go so far, so long as this one.

Forget the story, which is only to convey the accidents and lack of control (except for the central scene where one character tries to get another to rub a tattoo off his neck). And forget the characters; they are just tokens borrowed from other movies. Just revel in the philosophy here: why does a world exist where everything is a matter of chance, but you as the viewer always, always happen to be in the right place to see everything?

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

17 April 2003 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

PTU: Police Tactical Unit

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$849

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mei Ah Films Production Co. Ltd., Milky Way Image Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1