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:

female police officer deceased | police officer | female police officer | one night | police 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 - Comrades in Arms (2009)

User Reviews

good but not great...

We meet the PTU on one of their worse nights. Chasing a suspect, a police sergeant loses his gun, and streets away, the son of a crime lord is stabbed to death in a small restaurant. We follow the PTU in their attempts to both find the policeman's weapon and prevent the fallout from the murder escalating. While it sounds an intriguing premise, PTU is not the pacey action-thriller you might expect, but is instead a slow, dark, and tense journey through the HK underworld.

Some scenes are brilliant, the use of harsh light and almost omnipresent shadow works well, effectively capturing the mood of the underworld. There's some real artistry here, and it's for that reason that the pacing frequently seems to be a little slow; the scenes look so good that the camera lingers on them for perhaps too long, causing pacing issues in some sections. However, it does work well in terms of suspense as the film builds towards its inevitably violent conclusion.

On a negative note, the music is terrible, and significantly dates a film that's only four years old. You have to wonder if they ran out of action movie ambiance sounds and just hit the classic cheese guitar button instead, but I guess that's just an Eastern film meets Western audience convention clash. It does however, in my opinion, completely undermine the final scene, which comes across as faintly ridiculous instead of as a dramatic release.

While it suffers from pacing and score issues, PTU's style and sense of tragic irony are enough to make it enjoyable if not quite essential viewing.

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