Option Zero (1997)

Directed by Dante Lam as the third entry in the SDU series started by Gordon Lam (FIRST OPTION and FINAL OPTION being the other two). Tries to be a 'lives and loves of the SDU' type film, showing us that the cops with the big guns are real people too. Largely fails in this respect as characters are paper thin, and their relationships even thinner. Leaps about from event to event without filling in much of the connections - feels vaguely docu-drama-ish in that respect. Perhaps it's meant to be conveying the message "you could never understand what the lives of an SDU member or their lover is like", or something. Not much character empathy going on here. Lots of loose ends that are never tied up too.

BUT, whilst all that sounds very critical, I did quite enjoy it because:

a) It has 3 really very nice action scenes in it - a bit epilepticam at times, but quite exciting and bullet crazy.
b) It has Carmen Lee on screen for a good portion of the running time.
c) It's kind of pleasant brainless entertainment, and I really just needed to chill out for a while.