Director Johnnie To first caught my attention with ELECTION and ELECTION 2 (aka TRIAD ELECTION). PTU holds up to those two as members of the Police Tactical Unit try to recover a fat detective's missing gun (that four thugs may have) before daybreak. PTU has a few twists and plenty of shocking brutality from the cops (even a female detective watches as her fellow cops pour water on an undercover cop). It all builds up to one hell of a climatic gun battle.

PTU: POLICE TACTICAL UNIT is a low budget film that Johnnie To considers to be a personal film. It is a character driven film with a style different from other cop films. It took him three years to film PTU, but the end results is a unique film about a group of PTU cops who deal with the triads and various urban crime in Hong Kong (and how the cops protect each other as a team). The music and sound effects in addition to the way PTU was shot help back up the actors in their roles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
INTO THE PERILOUS NIGHT: An Exclusive Interview With Director Johnnie To- he talks about working with actors he knows (worked with before), filming at night and how he lit it, and had it low budget so he could do PTU his way and had it finished whenever (it took three years).

ON THE TRAIL OF THE SMOKING GUN: Exclusive Interview With Leading Man Simon Yam- In the longest interview on the disc, Simon Yam discusses how it is to work with Johnnie To (he has total faith in the director), his acting style and how it was different for PTU, working with other actors, Maggie Shiu being told to lose 15 pounds by the director during shooting, keeping fit, and team spirit. He also mentions how the film is popular in other countries including France.

COOL AS A KAT: Exclusive Interview With Leading Lady Maggie Shiu- she talks about how it is to work with Johnnie To and the actors, doing research for the role by talking to real policewomen, and being mistaken for real cops by tourists.

feature audio commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan gives various information about the production, actors, Hong Kong facts and other films, and Johnnie To's direction (in addition to mentioning upcoming Dragon Dynasty titles). Bey gives a great commentary. It is never boring like some film experts on other audio commentaries.

The original theatrical trailer and US trailer for PTU are on the disc.

FINAL ANALYSIS: PTU is a character driven police drama that builds to an explosive climax. It stands out from the other Hong Kong police films (which are more action driven).

this DVD review is (c)7-7-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  

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