Night Watch: Nochnoi Dozor (2004) Nochnoy dozor (original title)

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) and
Sergey Lukyanenko (novel)

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy

Tagline:

All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.

Plot:

A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Vampire | Supernatural Power | Witch | Truce

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)

Also Known As:

"Nochnoy dozor" - Russia (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Peru:14 | Japan:PG-12 | Canada:14A | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Czech Republic:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

Originally, the film, as well as its sequels, were commissioned by Channel One as a four-part mini-series for television. The rushes impressed the executives so much that they decided the material merited big-screen treatment.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The number plate on the Gorsvet lorry in 1992 is the same as in 2004; but the current standard for number plates was introduced in 1995.

Quotes:

[Two agents of the Day Watch, in a shiny, black sports car, have found Vampiress Larisa wandering in the middle of traffic in a busy tunnel. Slowing the car to a walk, agent Alisa Donnikova pulls up alongside, and holds a jar pig's blood just out of Larisa's hungry reach]
Vampiress Larisa, initiate:[grasping for the jar of pig's blood] Give it to me!
Alisa Donnikova:What, you've sunk to pig's blood?
Vampiress Larisa, initiate:Give it to me!
Alisa Donnikova:Andrey taught you how to call.
Vampiress Larisa, initiate:He taught me, he taught me. Give it to me!
Alisa Donnikova:The boy succumbed to your call. Lure him out, and when he's in your hands, demand that they bring the one who killed your Andrey.
Vampiress Larisa, initiate:My Andrey... Give it to me, please. Well, give it here.
Alisa Donnikova:Do you want revenge?
Vampiress Larisa, initiate:Give it, give it here.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy vs. Dracula (#5.1)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Moskovskie okna

mind boggling

When the forces of light and dark take to battle and realize they are equally strong, decide to make a truce. The people of light will become the Nightwatch, and the people of darkness will become the Daywatch. Neither side can force people to join their side, they have the freedom of choice. The Daywatch and Nightwatch keep tabs to make sure this truce holds.

When Anton finds out he is an other; a person with special powers, he joins the side of light. Anton is a seer and when he is finding a victim of two vampires, he runs into Svetlana, a virgin cursed with bad luck and key into the Apocolpes.

Night Watch is a mind blowing, visually astounding triumph of Russian cinema. Its dark, claustrophobic, grungy and a very thrilling ride. You can see that Timur Bekmambetov has a history in commercials, this moves at a fast paced and the camera doesn't stop moving, with constant fast swoops and always tracking around. The story has been done many times before, but it seems so fresh here. The flaw of the story though is that it's so layered it's hard to understand at first. As it moves at such at fast pace, there isn't much chance to take everything in and to nut everything out. But with all the energy Nightwatch contains, you don't care, cause you'll gladly go again.

For the small budget it had, you wonder how they made this film. You are constantly blown away by the visual effects. They are so flawless. The subtitles are cleverly used as well; they come into a form of their own.

All i can say is i cant wait for the sequels to now make there way over.