# Motorway (车手)
**Motorway** (车手) is a 2012 Hong Kong action thriller directed by Soi Cheang and produced by [Johnnie To](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnnie-to), about a rookie officer in a secret high-speed-pursuit unit of the Hong Kong Police who must learn from a veteran driver to catch a legendary getaway driver.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/) The film premiered on 21 June 2012, runs 89 minutes, and stars Anthony Wong, Shawn Yue, and Guo Xiaodong.[2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) • [3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 车手 (Motorway); also released in mainland China as 超音速刑警[2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) • [4](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/) |
| Director / producer | Soi Cheang (郑保瑞); produced by Johnnie To for Milkyway Image[3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf) • [1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/) |
| Release | 21 June 2012 (Hong Kong and mainland China); 89 minutes[2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) • [5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) |
| Principal cast | Anthony Wong (Lo), Shawn Yue (Cheung), Guo Xiaodong (Sun/Jiang Xin), Barbie Hsu, Josie Ho, Michelle Ye[3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf) |
| Awards | Golden Horse Award for Best Action Design (2012); Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Film[4](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/) • [2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) |
| Festival selections | 2012 Locarno International Film Festival and 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, official selection[6](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/motorway) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Cheung (Shawn Yue) is an overconfident newcomer to the Stealth Riders, a secret police unit of the force's best drivers that targets underworld racing and fugitives, driving disguised patrol cars.[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) • [2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) He chances upon Sun (Guo Xiaodong), a legendary getaway driver for criminals who had never been caught before retiring 15 years earlier, and after an arduous chase arrests him.[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) Sun has let himself be captured deliberately, and stages a prison breakout to free his partner Huang (Li Haitao).[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) • [1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/)
The humiliated Cheung turns to the veteran cop Lo (Anthony Wong), a master driver who nearly lost his life chasing Sun years before and has since sworn off the motorway.[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) In the sifu-disciple tradition, Cheung takes driving lessons from Lo to gain the skills needed to face his adversary.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/) When a police operation against a diamond heist reveals Sun's whereabouts, Lo returns to the wheel; in the pursuit he crashes off an embankment and dies in the explosion, and Cheung resolves to take on Sun at any cost.[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/) In the final confrontation, when Sun once again spins his car and speeds head-on toward him, Cheung accelerates straight at Sun's vehicle instead of swerving.[5](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/)
## Production
The film was produced by Johnnie To, Soi Cheang's mentor, through Milkyway Image, with Media Asia Films and Sil-Metropole Organisation as production companies.[1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/motorway) The screenplay is credited to Joey O'Bryan, who also wrote the original story, together with Szeto Kam Yuen (司徒锦源) and Francis Fung (冯日进).[3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740002/fullcredits/) [Cinematography](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematography) is credited to Fung Yuen-Man and Tse Chung-To, both HKSC, editing to David Richardson, and the score to Xavier Jamaux and Alex Gopher.[9](https://storage.googleapis.com/tghff_outland/download/programme/2012/2012FF_taipei.pdf) Action direction was by Chin Kar-lok (钱嘉乐), who with Wong Wai-fai won the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Design at the 49th edition.[4](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/)
Soi Cheang Pou-Soi was born in Macau and raised in Hong Kong. He worked as an assistant director, including for Johnnie To in the early 1990s, before directing *Diamond Hill* (2000); his other films include *Dog Bite Dog* (2006) and *Accident*, which screened in competition in Venice.[3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf) *Motorway* was his second film for To's Milkyway Studios.[6](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/motorway) The Golden Horse festival notes that he was later nominated for the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director for both *Motorway* and *Wisdom Tooth*.[2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769)
## Style and reception
The chases were staged with little computer-generated imagery: the Golden Horse program notes that the director insisted on using few CG effects, letting high-speed driving through the city supply the spectacle, with taillights and drift afterimages tracing Hong Kong's distinctive terrain.[2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) Daniel Kasman, writing in MUBI Notebook, praised "thrillingly physical car chases unaided by computer imagery that fully express senses of weight, speed, maneuvers and wuxia-like expert combative trickery."[6](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/motorway) The Doha Tribeca catalog described the film as eschewing the frenetic editing of many contemporary car-chase sequences and using the near-silence of Hong Kong's streets at night, with an understated score by Xavier Jamaux and Alex Gopher.[3](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf)
The film was an official selection at the 2012 Locarno and Toronto International Film Festivals and screened in the Film Comment Selects series at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center) in February 2013.[6](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/motorway) • [1](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/) At the 49th Golden Horse Awards it won Best Action Design, and it was nominated for Best Film at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards.[4](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/) • [2](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769) On Douban it holds a 6.1 rating from 32,475 users.[4](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/)
## Box office
In mainland China it ran from 21 June to 8 July 2012 and grossed RMB 29,780,000.[10](https://www.ccidahk.gov.hk/en/publication/2012.pdf)
## Home media and streaming
The DVD was released on 12 March 2013.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/motorway) In Germany the film is available with a German dub on services including Amazon Video, MagentaTV, Apple TV, and YouTube Free, and on DVD and Blu-ray.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/de/Film/Motorway) In the United States it can be streamed free with ads on Tubi TV, rented from $3.99, or bought from $5.99 on Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, and YouTube.[12](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/motorway/58138/where-to-watch/)
## References
1. [Motorway, Film Society of Lincoln Center (Film Comment Selects 2013)](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/motorway/)
2. [車手 Motorway, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival archive](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/769)
3. [MOTORWAY, Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2012 catalogue](https://media.dohafilm.com/sites/default/files/prod/2025-05/DTFF2012Catalogue-EN.pdf)
4. [车手 車手 (2012), Douban](https://movie.douban.com/subject/5319819/)
5. [Motorway, Media Asia Films](https://www.mediaasia.com/En/Movies/Info/36/)
6. [MOTORWAY, Siskel Film Center](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/motorway)
7. [Motorway (2012), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/motorway)
8. [Motorway (2012) full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740002/fullcredits/)
9. [Motorway programme entry, 2012 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (PDF)](https://storage.googleapis.com/tghff_outland/download/programme/2012/2012FF_taipei.pdf)
10. [表7.1 2012年首輪內地上映香港電影片目, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office](https://www.ccidahk.gov.hk/en/publication/2012.pdf)
11. [Motorway (2012), JustWatch Germany](https://www.justwatch.com/de/Film/Motorway)
12. [Motorway: Where to Watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/motorway/58138/where-to-watch/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2010–2014 films › Titles M to W*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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