Plot
A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.
Release Year: 2004
Rating: 6.4/10 (31,755 voted)
Critic's Score: 58/100
Director:
Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Menshov, Mariya Poroshina
Storyline Among normal humans live the "Others" possessing various supernatural powers. They are divided up into the forces of light and the forces of the dark, who signed a truce several centuries ago to end a devastating battle. Ever since, the forces of light govern the day while the night belongs to their dark opponents. In modern day Moscow the dark Others actually roam the night as vampires while a "Night Watch" of light forces, among them Anton, the movie's protagonist, try to control them and limit their outrage.
Writers: Timur Bekmambetov, Laeta Kalogridis
Cast: Konstantin Khabenskiy
-
Anton Gorodetsky
Vladimir Menshov
-
Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin
-
Kostya's Father
Mariya Poroshina
-
Svetlana
Galina Tyunina
-
Olga, the sorceress
Yuriy Kutsenko
-
Ignat
(as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov
-
Kostya (Anton's young vampire neighbor)
Zhanna Friske
-
Alice Donnikova
Ilya Lagutenko
-
Andrei
Viktor Verzhbitskiy
-
Zavulon
Rimma Markova
-
Darya Schultz, the witch
Mariya Mironova
-
Irina, Yegor's mother
Aleksey Maklakov
-
Simeon
Aleksandr Samoylenko
-
Ilya (Bear), mage-transformer
Dmitriy Martynov
-
Yegor
(as Dmitri Martynov)
Taglines:
All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.
Opening Weekend: RUR 80,740,175
(Russia)
(11 July 2004)
Gross: $31,933,365
(Worldwide)
(13 February 2006)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The film was a huge box-office hit in Russia, which made it widely despised by an underground nonconformist intellectual movement "Padonki", who criticized it for wide use of Hollywood-style filming and lack of ideas behind the FX. They labeled the movie "Nochnoy Pozor" (Night Shame).
Goofs:
Continuity:
In the scene with the "frozen" people, one of the "frozen" guys blinks several times and his hand holding a fork is shaking.
Quotes:
[Geser and Zvalun sit talking in a darkened bedroom. Anton enters]
Zavulon:
Ah, the Light mage with a Dark past has come... just the one I'm looking for...
User Review
Shows promise as the beginning of a trilogy...
Rating: 7/10
I have always respected fantasy-set films that try and take themselves
seriously as cinematic pieces. When a director takes the actual
construction of the film seriously, or tries to, I can respect the
intent. As such "Night Watch" is difficult to judge. The cinematography
is excellent: the camera-work is superb, the mood is perfect, the
effects are beautifully rendered (and not overused), and the timing of
individual scenes is consistent throughout the piece. The problem is
the overall timing of the film. For over half the film, the overall
plot and premise is ignored. It is very much as if we are watching two
different episodes of the same TV series; the characters are the same,
the premise is the same, it is clear how the plots fit together
visually and thematically, but otherwise they have pretty much nothing
to do with one another. They are not disjointed in their construction
or presentation, it is simply that the plot threads are mostly
unrelated.
It is worth pointing out that this is the first film in a planned
trilogy. Every hanging plot/character moment in the film is very
strongly intended to be followed through upon in the next two films,
and it shows. Characters and references are not simply tossed aside,
but are led into gently just enough to let the audience know that
greater things are intended. While I'm not particularly a fan of this
kind of thing, Night Watch does it very well, and I await the sequels
with anticipation.
Many people on this board have made comparisons to Star Wars EpI-II,
and for the life of me I haven't the faintest clue why. The concept of
Imperfect Good vs Seductive Evil within the human soul was hardly
invented by George Lucas (though vampires in Star Wars would be pretty
freakin' cool), and its presentation in Night Watch is tight and
interesting. There is no resemblance whatsoever, this is one of the
more original films that I have ever seen, and I recommend it both for
its flaws and perfections.
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