PTU — PTU(Blu Ray)

PTU is a 2003 crime drama from Hong Kong, directed by Johnnie To (Mad Detective, Drug War and Election ) starring Simon Yam (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Election and Ip Man)  and Suet Lam (Kung Fu Hustle, The Legend if Born: Ip Man and Dynasty Warriors).

The film centres around two separate but related events, firstly, Ponytail, the son of a local crime lord (Bald Head) is stabbed to death in a restaurant, meanwhile in the aftermath of that event a police sergeant slips and falls and has his gun stolen by Ponytail’s gang. The film follows the PTU (Police Tactical Unit) as they attempt to deal with the fallout from the murder and try to track down the missing weapon.

Rather than reporting the incident with the firearm,  Sergeant Mike Ho (Simon Yam) is persuaded to help his friend and colleague “Fatty” or Sergeant Lo Sa (Suet Lam) to retrieve the weapon in order to protect his impending promotion. The gun has been stolen by murder gangster Ponytail’s gang, and the pair have till dawn to track them down and recover the gun. However, they are beset with other factors that hinder their search, one of  Ho’s own team, Kat (Maggie Siu, Election, Eye in the Sky and Breaking News) would rather follow protocol and report the loss of the weapon, Ponytail’s murder is being investigated by the local CID and their inspector Leigh Cheng (Ruby Wong, Anna and the King, Lifeline and Running Out of Time) has her eye on Lo Sa. On top of all of this, you add into the equation the local gangsters Bald Head who is looking for vengeance against the man who ordered his son to be killed and Eyeball, the man who ordered the killing. 

Much like many of the film noir that influenced it, PTU is a slow burn that follows our protagonists through one, particularly crazy night as Sergeant Ho attempts to help his friend retrieve his gun before dawn. PTU is quite an effective crime thriller, a sometimes dark and violent ride through the mean streets of Hong Kong. It is surprisingly well made considering its low budget. The cast is excellent, and it never feels like a cheap movie. On top of that the new Blu-ray from Eureka looks great, the picture is sharp and despite the whole movie being shot at night, and in low light, the images are always clear and the colours look natural, yet you can always see clearly what’s going on. 

The disc features some limited bonus materials including an audio commentary with Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng and several interviews with director Johnnie To and stars Simon Yam and Maggie Siu, whilst the ubiquitous trailer rounds out the special features. Overall, this set is really all about the film and that is as it should be, as described earlier, it is a good film made by a talented group of film-makers, and whilst this is not really a genre I am a big fan of I enjoyed this title a good deal. This is a very solid release for a very solid film.