Tactical Unit (film series)
Encyclopedia
Tactical Unit is a series of films produced by Johnnie To
with studio Milkyway Image, featuring the adventures of two columns of PTU
officers, the Kowloon West Police Station and its CID
officers, of Hong Kong
. The films are in Cantonese.
The film series spun off from the feature film directed by Johnnie To, PTU: Police Tactical Unit
, giving it five sequels. Original conception on PTU started before 2002.
The film series stars Simon Yam
, Maggie Shiu and Lam Suet
.
The film revolves around the criminal underworld of dark skinned non-Chinese, and discrimination by Chinese against the darker skinned non-Chinese, with the PTU and CID investigating a criminal plot by an Indian criminal kingpin.
of Montreal.
The film deals with the rivalry of the two PTU columns commanded by May and Sam, as May has been proffered a promotion, and Sam has been in the field much longer, and the actions of their commander, Ho in preferring May's column over Sam's in their PTU platoon. Their rivalry leads to disrupted interaction and communication when many PTU units are used in a search for a gang of criminals holed up on a forested mountain.
The film focuses on the retarded Fai and his girlfriend, rather than the members of the PTU, and life in the Temple Street
district. It follows Fai, as he is physically coerced to do things by the PTU, and two rival triads, and the resultant consequences and violence that is paid in return for those actions.
The film focuses on the aftermath of an unreported beating meted out by a PTU column on a person in a back alley that was caught on a camera placed by the tourism bureau. The West Kowloon Police Station comes under investigation by an investigative committee of the police, as the film follows various members of the police with different motivations try to find the person who was beaten, in order to settle different goals, with a subplot of another member of the PTU having gotten into administrative trouble before the investigation began and having difficulty dealing with it.
. It also gave Johnnie To a Best Director award at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards
. The film has also been featured in many film festivals. It was shown at the 2003 St. Louis International Film Festival; It has a score of 57% at RottenTomatoes.com
The film focuses on the aftermath of CID Lo losing his service revolver, and the night that follows, with PTU patrols and rival criminal gangs seeing action on the street in the climax of the film.
One of these is "PTU女警之偶然陷阱" (PTU File - Death Trap) from 2005, written, produced and directed by Tony Leung Hung-Wah.
Johnnie To
Johnnie To Kei-Fung, born 22 April 1955, is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas...
with studio Milkyway Image, featuring the adventures of two columns of PTU
Police Tactical Unit (Hong Kong)
The Police Tactical Unit is a paramilitary riot control unit of the Hong Kong Police Force. The Police Tactical Unit provides an immediate manpower reserve for use in any emergency, Unit companies are attached to all land Regions and are available for internal security, crowd control, anti-crime...
officers, the Kowloon West Police Station and its CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
officers, of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The films are in Cantonese.
The film series spun off from the feature film directed by Johnnie To, PTU: Police Tactical Unit
PTU (film)
PTU , is a 2003 Hong Kong crime thriller produced and directed by Johnnie To, starring Simon Yam, Maggie Siu, Lam Suet and Ruby Wong.-Synopsis:...
, giving it five sequels. Original conception on PTU started before 2002.
Series
Films in the series include:| International title | Traditional Chinese title | Cantonese title | English translation | Year | Director | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PTU: Police Tactical Unit | PTU | PTU | PTU PTU PTU may refer to:*Police Tactical Unit *Professionalno-Tehnicheskoye Uchilische, Russian for Vocational technical school*Propylthiouracil, a drug used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism*PTU , a 2003 Hong Kong film... |
2003 2003 in film The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,... |
Johnnie To Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-Fung, born 22 April 1955, is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas... |
|
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| Tactical Unit: The Code | 機動部隊─警例 | Kei Tung Bou Deui: Ging Lai | Mobile Tactical Unit - Police Cases | 2008 2008 in film This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008... |
Wing-cheong Law |
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| Tactical Unit: No Way Out | 機動部隊─絕路 | Kei Tung Bou Deui: Juet Lou | Mobile Tactical Unit - Road to Ruin | 2009 2009 in film The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note... |
Lawrence Ah Mon Lawrence Ah Mon Lawrence Ah Mon or Lawrence Lau Kwok Cheong is a Hong Kong film director. His films are famous for exploring youth problems in Hong Kong, such as Gangs , Spacked Out , Gimme Gimme and City Without Baseball... |
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| Tactical Unit: Human Nature | 機動部隊─人性 | Kei Tung Bou Deui: Yan Sing | Mobile Tactical Unit - Humanity | 2009 | Andy Ng | ||
| Tactical Unit: Comrades in Arms | 機動部隊─衕袍 | Kei Tung Bou Deui: Tung Pou | Mobile Tactical Unit - Colleagues | 2009 | Wing-cheong Law |
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| Tactical Unit: Partners | 機動部隊─伙伴 | Kei Tung Bou Deui: Fo Pun | Mobile Tactical Unit - Partners | 2009 | Lawrence Ah Mon Lawrence Ah Mon Lawrence Ah Mon or Lawrence Lau Kwok Cheong is a Hong Kong film director. His films are famous for exploring youth problems in Hong Kong, such as Gangs , Spacked Out , Gimme Gimme and City Without Baseball... |
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The film series stars Simon Yam
Simon Yam
Simon Yam Tat-Wah , born March 19, 1955, is a Hong Kong actor and film producer.-Background:The son of a former police officer of Shangdong heritage, his father was a Hong Kong Royal Police ship captain who was murdered by his colleague....
, Maggie Shiu and Lam Suet
Lam Suet
Lam Suet is a Hong Kong actor.-Biography:Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after all the money had been squandered and Lam had to work various odd jobs to make a living.In the mid-eighties he got employment...
.
Partners
"Partners" is the last film in the film series.The film revolves around the criminal underworld of dark skinned non-Chinese, and discrimination by Chinese against the darker skinned non-Chinese, with the PTU and CID investigating a criminal plot by an Indian criminal kingpin.
Comrades in Arms
"Comrades in Arms" has been featured in the 2009 Hong Kong Film Panorama in Brussels,, the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival of New York City, the 2009 Zero em Comportamento festival of Lisbon, and the 2009 Fantasia FestivalFantasia Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996...
of Montreal.
The film deals with the rivalry of the two PTU columns commanded by May and Sam, as May has been proffered a promotion, and Sam has been in the field much longer, and the actions of their commander, Ho in preferring May's column over Sam's in their PTU platoon. Their rivalry leads to disrupted interaction and communication when many PTU units are used in a search for a gang of criminals holed up on a forested mountain.
Human Nature
"Human Nature" focuses on the always-in-debt CID officer Tong, and his travails to try to repay the debt he owes a loanshark. With his feeble attempts to repay the debt, he gets himself entangled with a gang of killers from mainland China, who are out killing criminals to rob them of their money, and using an ideological basis to justify the killings as protecting mainland China from the criminal scum of Hong Kong.No Way Out
"No Way Out" is the second sequel to the original PTU.The film focuses on the retarded Fai and his girlfriend, rather than the members of the PTU, and life in the Temple Street
Temple Street
Temple Street may refer to:*Temple Street, Hong Kong*Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland*Temple Street, Singapore*Temple Street in Los Angeles, California*Temple Street Birmingham UK...
district. It follows Fai, as he is physically coerced to do things by the PTU, and two rival triads, and the resultant consequences and violence that is paid in return for those actions.
The Code
"The Code" has been featured in the 2008 Far East Film Festival of Udine; it is the first entry spun off of PTU. The script for the film was written by Yip Tin Shing.The film focuses on the aftermath of an unreported beating meted out by a PTU column on a person in a back alley that was caught on a camera placed by the tourism bureau. The West Kowloon Police Station comes under investigation by an investigative committee of the police, as the film follows various members of the police with different motivations try to find the person who was beaten, in order to settle different goals, with a subplot of another member of the PTU having gotten into administrative trouble before the investigation began and having difficulty dealing with it.
Into the Perilous Night
"Into The Perilous Night" has won many awards. In 2004, it won five awards at the ninth annual Golden Bauhinia AwardsGolden Bauhinia Awards
Golden Bauhinia Awards is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996....
. It also gave Johnnie To a Best Director award at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...
. The film has also been featured in many film festivals. It was shown at the 2003 St. Louis International Film Festival; It has a score of 57% at RottenTomatoes.com
The film focuses on the aftermath of CID Lo losing his service revolver, and the night that follows, with PTU patrols and rival criminal gangs seeing action on the street in the climax of the film.
Knock-offs
In addition to the official entries in the series, as in Hong Kong tradition, other films have been named with similar titles, to take advantage of the fame and popularity surrounding PTU, which have no relation to the series at all.One of these is "PTU女警之偶然陷阱" (PTU File - Death Trap) from 2005, written, produced and directed by Tony Leung Hung-Wah.
See also
- Breaking News (2004 film), a similar film by Johnnie To