:
Yury Barinov,
Alexei Sefin,
Eduard Bougaichuk,
more...
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Mukhtar Mirzakeyev,
Timur Bekmambetov,
Timur Bekmambetov
see all cast/crew...
: 
: 20th Century Fox
: Foreign, Horror, Vampires, Russia
: 114 min.
: English, Spanish, French, Russian
: English, Spanish, French
see additional details...
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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
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| pretensious bore
by SAvery
November 21, 2006 - 5:58 AM PST
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1 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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Not a very subtle movie with themes of light dark, good /bad...not much gore for a vampire type movie. just a bit in flashback beginnings. some element of style tried in the photography. Acting, slow and not much real action . I just didnt like it alot and went in with misconceptions about what i thought it would be like. Hey ...I have seen all kinds of movies...but there is better out there in this genre.
thanks for reading.
Try a virtual reality movie like the 13th floor |
| A Fun, Eye-Popping Ride
by Hallucination
September 28, 2006 - 3:49 AM PDT
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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| Yes, this film builds on many others that have come before it. But what the movie lacks in originality, it makes up in sheer style points. It's not only cool to look at, with slickly-produced state-of-the-art CGI, but it also has sly black humor and a rousing comic-book sensibility that keeps you engaged all of the way through. If you like Neil Gaiman's writing (the film's urban remaking of mythology like "Neverwhere"), Jeunet & Caro's films (the film's obsessive attention to detail and weird humor), or even "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the film's now-standard premise of agencies that work for good or evil), then you'll get a kick out of this movie. I personally loved the idea that the two opposing sides in a millenium-long conflict were such sleazy, low-rent operations. Be aware that the DVD has two sides; one features the dubbed versions (English, Spanish, French), the other side features the original Russian with English subs. |
| A Little "Star Wars," a Little "Gloom"
by talltale
June 24, 2006 - 9:37 AM PDT
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1 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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Are the filmmakers responsible for the most successful movie in Russian history--NIGHT WATCH--familiar perhaps with the "Star Wars" quintet? Does the Pope do his business in the woods? Whoops--I'm mixing my metaphors or maybe coalescing my cliches. But then, so do the moviemakers. Once you've ridden out their low-budget "Lord of the Rings" introduction, what begins with enormous originality and finesse (the clapping witch and the frying pan, the floating blood, the concept of the "gloom") by midpoint has reached its saturation point, and so for the final hour it's pretty much of a slow slough home.
Back to "Star Wars": Though the details are quite different (ditto the setting), all the Dark Side/Light Side business, not to mention the father/son relationship, is just too close for comfort. Well, as the joke used to go during my younger days, I guess the Russians can now claim to have invented "Star Wars," too! Aficionados of the fantasy/sci-fi/vampire genre will want to take a look, but I wonder if, by film's end, they'll be sufficiently prepped to follow up on the promised sequels? While there was just enough worthwhile here to merit a watch, at this point I'm inclined to pass on the next segment. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.78)
102 Votes
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