The reason why I bought this was simple. Since I was on a DVD buying spree, and had picked up Johnnie To's The Mission (see review here),I thought I might as well pick up yet another of his movies which I have not watched, and so PTU presented itself because of the price, and the uber cool slip case cover.

PTU, or Police Tactical Unit, is quite unlike To's movies like the Election series, or The Mission. Here, we look at cops. Ordinary cops, who like everyone else, just want to go home safe and sound after their tour of duty. The movie started off with the sounds of the bustling streets of Hong Kong, before we find ourselves inside a police truck, with everyone in sombre mood during their trip to their patrol grounds of Tsim Sha Tsui, and listening quite ominously to an announcement over the radio regarding the death of a cop.

And so begins am eventful night, which is the time period where PTU takes place in. We follow quite a number of characters - Lam Suet as Lo from the Anti-Crime Division, whose firearm was lost during a scuffle with thugs, and forms the crux of the story in which the lives of everyone else in the movie revolves around, Maggie Siu as Kat, sergeant of her team of PTU cops, and Simon Yam as Mike, her counterpart leading the other team. It's a great character study piece of the three main characters, initially one who knows he's in lots of trouble for the loss, and desperately trying to recover it, in order to save face, and keep his reputation intact for an upcoming promotion, Kat's sense of doing what's right, following procedure, and Mike, who's willing to risk it all to help another of his own "for kay" (slang for cop).

Under To's direction, PTU is a brilliant visual piece. Creative use of light and shadow illuminates PTU, making it a visual spectacle, so much that you'll still enjoy the movie even if you turn off the volume. I particularly enjoyed the rather quiet moments which were plenty throughout the movie, rather than the usual wham-bang kind of action with guns ablazing. In fact, a shot is never even fired, until the end-all finale, combining all the separate threads of the story into one heck of a finale. What could probably raise eyebrows, are the unorthodox methods employed by the upholders of the law. You can't help but ponder over the methods, and how the lieutenants either turn a blind eye to, or are in full agreement with the provocative procedures meted out by their captain. Surely a talking point, if fire should be met with fire when dealing with scum.

There are many subtle touches in this compact tale of less than 90 minutes, with the ubiquitous mobile phone being so important as a plot element, and that strong sense of irony in the narrative. And again in To's cops and robbers / triad movies (though I may be wrong),it seemed that the cool soundtrack which is peppered throughout the film, seemed to stem from a single primary theme music, this time with some electric guitar riffs.

PTU doesn't get bogged down by wasting time explaining the many whys and how comes, and prefers to zap you right into the moment. It's the sense of contemplative urgency that makes it compelling to watch, and every turn brings something unexpected. The ending is particular interesting too, especially for those who have written statements in uniformed groups - you surely know what they're doing!

To be almost have it but not. To almost know the complete picture but still missing some pieces. To fear but you must go on. Don't we know this is the way most of us experience life?

You can get frustrated by some of the more nuance Johonnie To films. They may not be about the ends but the means. They may not be about plot lines but plot circles. And PTU is about as round as you get. But notice the cool eating places, the explicit and yet natural lighting, the play of light and shadows. It is a poem more than a story, almost.

Maybe it is not important who lost what or who gain what in the this one single night within the movie, but drink in the atmosphere, walk with the people of the night, see their world, worries their worries, and live another life!

This is another film purchased on DVD while in Hong Kong last summer and that for some reason or other I never got round to watching, which is a shame, because it's a good little film. 'PTU' – or 'Police Tactical Unit' (do you want to see my unit?) – follows the plight of Detective Lo, as he searches for his gun; lost to street punks. Enlisting the help of fellow officers, he roams the streets on Tsim Sha Tsui in hope of retrieving it by dawn.

Directed by Johnnie to, this feels like one of those fun films that gets made quickly in between much larger productions, a la 'Chungking Express', also set in Hong Kong. The plot is simple enough – though the characters may not always be – and it is easy to dip in and out of without too much thought.

Filmed with wide-angled lenses, with close-up shots, this is classic Hong Kong cinema: capturing the claustrophobic nature of the milieu, with bright lights, dingy streets and an endless array of colourful characters trading blows through the night. Hardly To's best work, but a further stamp in his place as the John Woo for the new millennium and probably the best director from the SAR over the last decade.

Using regular collaborators, such as Simon Yam and big-and-beautiful Suet Lam, To's police are a far cry from the hapless characters of Jackie Chan's 1980s, giving the impression that if one thing is illegal in Hong Kong: it's smiling. The look and feel are both slick and stylish and cult at the same time, though the music – typically a weak point in Hong Kong films, bar the work of Wong Kar-wai – is, at times, more sixth-form college hopeful with a synthesizer after a two litre bottle of Tizer than professional. But that's minor, and along with 'Breaking News' and 'Exiled', 'PTU' shows that To is the master of the roaming groups of loners…in Hong Kong and Macau, at least.

www.politic1983.blogspot.com