Movies:
Night Watch
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2006
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- Extended ending with optional commentary by co-writer/director Timur Bekmambetov
- Subtitled commentary (in English, French or Spanish) by renowned novelist Sergei Lukyanenko
- A sneak peek at the upcoming Night Watch sequels
- Rating:
- Genre: Fantasy
- Movie Type: Action Thriller, Supernatural Thriller
- Themes: Metamorphosis, Werewolves, Chosen One
- Director: Timur Bekmambetov
- Main Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Maria Poroshina, Galina Tyunina, Victor Verzhbitsky
- Release Year: 2004
- Country: RU
- Run Time: 116 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Two bands of warriors, one good and one evil, battle to keep the peace in Moscow in this cat's cradle thriller from Russia. In 1342, the Warriors of Light (led by Gesser, Lord of Light) and the Warriors of Darkness (led by Zavulon, General of Darkness) declare a truce under which each side will form a law enforcement team to monitor the other side's activities. The Warriors of Light, who enforce the powers of good, patrol the Night Watch, while the Warriors of Darkness, who openly embrace evil, staff the Day Watch. Each watch group also contains "Others," mortals with supernatural powers from both sides that include vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and the like. Prophecy suggests that one day, a Great One will surface and permanently extinguish the threat of an apocalyptic war between the two sides by upsetting the balance, lending greater power to either good or evil (depending on his or her choice) and thus determining the future of mankind forever.
In 1992, Night Watch member and Warrior of Light Anton Gordesky (Konstantin Khabensky) discovers he's an "other" amid a sting on a witch. Cut to twelve years later. In 2004, Anton still works the Night Watch, but now he's a vampiric warrior who drinks blood. One night, while on patrol, he rescues a young boy named Egor (Dima Martinov) from a handful of Dark Warriors, but in the process, he encounters Svetlana (Maria Poroshina), a woman who acts as a "funnel" -- a conduit for the powers of evil. Anton reflects on the prophecy regarding "The Great One," and begins to suspect that Svetlana and Egor may be harbingers of this fateful event. As the first installment in a Russian trilogy, Night Watch (aka Nochnoj Dozor) was a massive box-office success in its native Russia, and is followed by the second installment, Day Watch; it was released in the U.S. with a heavy prologue and epilogue, and animated subtitles that alternately scuttle across the screen, dissolve, shudder, and explode.
20th Century Fox not only purchased United States distribution rights for the film, but also announced plans for a Westernized remake. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Russian cinema could not have returned with a greater bang. Largely dormant since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian film industry received a huge goose of credibility with Night Watch, a relentlessly stylish vampire movie that proves that the vampire genre has not yet been sucked dry. But Timur Bekmambetov's film is not cutting edge merely for its music video kinetics; it boasts such a revolutionary concept for subtitle design, Russian audiences ought to rent the English DVD release just to get the full viewing experience. Impressively, the subtitles are treated as an active pictorial element in the gothic proceedings, as the English words sometimes appear typed out in bursts with the dialogue, other times dissolve into smoke, or quiver with a disturbance in the soundtrack. It all adds to an enthralling vampire story that's simple enough not to confuse most audiences, but enough of a labyrinth to please viewers thirsting for mythology. Bekmambetov's world posits an uneasy truce between daywalking and nightwalking vampires, imagining their age-old rivalry as naturally evolving into a modern-day bureaucratic impasse. This is an excellent jumping off point to witness the unraveling of that agreement, with vampires moving in and out of a middle plane of existence called "the gloom," ready to pounce. The exquisite details of the Night Watch world are too many to enumerate, but they include prophecies, shape shifters, telepathic mind control, large flocks of birds, swooping cameras, quick edits, and all the blood dripping from chins you could want. The film's effectiveness is all the more unlikely given the climate at the time of its release, when vampire movies had bombarded multiplexes like the 21st century's answer to Quentin Tarantino ripoffs. That Night Watch accomplishes what it does under such unique circumstances is a testament to its singularity. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideCast
- Konstantin Khabensky - Anton Gordesky
- Vladimir Menshov - Boris Gesser
- Valery Zolotukhin - Kostya's Father
- Maria Poroshina - Svetlana
- Galina Tyunina - Olga
- Victor Verzhbitsky - Zavulon
Gosha Kytsenko - Ignat; Alexei Chadov - Kostya; Zhanna Friske - Alisa; Ilya Larutenko - Andrei; Rimma Markova - Darya, Witch; Mariya Mironova - Irina; Dima Martinov - Egor; Alexei Maklakov - Semyon; Anna Dubrovskaya - Larissa; Nikolai Olyalin - Inquistor; Marina Ivanova; Alexandre Samoilenko - Bear; Konstantin Murzenko; Ilia Lagutenko - Andrei; Anna Sliu - Tiger Cub; Sergei Prikhodko - Peter; Igor Savochkin - Maxim Ivanovich; Yegor Dronov - Tolik; Dmitry Klokov; Dmitry Osetrov; Anatoly Gorin; Liudmila Aronova; Alexander Shchurok; Nikolai Kiselev; Vitia Ivanov; Polina Shchurok; Tatiana Shchankina; Alexander Kozlov; Igor Pismenny; Victoria Smirnova; Sergei Kalashnikov; Ekaterina Malikova; Vladik Anufriyev; Yura Yakovlev; Vania Popov; Liesha Kurochkin; Yarik Romashenko
