Night Watch (2004)
"Nochnoy dozor" (original title)

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

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers:

Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay), Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay),

Stars:

Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Menshov, Valeriy Zolotukhin

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Anton
Vladimir Menshov	...	Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Otets Kosti
Mariya Poroshina	...	Svetlana
Galina Tyunina	...	Olga
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ignat (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov	...	Kostya
Zhanna Friske	...	Alisa
Ilya Lagutenko	...	Andrey
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Zavulon
Rimma Markova	...	Koldunya Darya
Mariya Mironova	...	Mat Egora
Aleksey Maklakov	...	Semyon
Aleksandr Samoylenko	...	Medved
Dmitriy Martynov	...	Egor (as Dima Martynov)

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.

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Plot Keywords:

battle | vampire | supernatural power | truce | witch | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Author Lukyanenko's Official "Nochnoy dozor" Forum [ru] Fox [es]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian German

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Guardianes de la noche

Filming Locations:

Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$4,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$106,425 (USA) (17 February 2006)

Gross:

$1,487,477 (USA) (28 April 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bazelevs Production, Channel One Russia, TABBAK

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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).

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Goofs

As Yegor is about to enter the subway station, his hair is still wet. But when he enters the subway (and is spotted by Anton), his hair is dry and neat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Since the time immemorial, the knights who call themselves the Warriors of Light have been chasing witches and sorcerers who torture humans.

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Crazy Credits

The intro credits for the Russian version are shown during the swimming pool scene and the succeeding scene where Anton gets a phone call. The title credits interact with the surroundings, (e.g., flow like blood in the water).

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

"Imperiya"
("An Empire")
Written by Filip Chmyr, Aleksandr Kravtsov, Aleksandr Gorokh, and Stepan Bitus
Performed by Drum Ecstasy

User Reviews

Great film with a well created mythology

This is a very very entertaining film. It has some nice special effects for a film with such a small budget. Great acting by some believable actors. Great dialogue. Cool, fun action sequences. But the real backbone of this film is the mythology upon which the whole plot lies.

The mythology created by the original author upon which the film is based, belongs up there with the great ones like Lucas' Star Wars, the Wachowski brothers' Matrix, Tolkien's LOTR, Herbert's Dune. It just has that kind of history and interesting terms and names and events that make you go, "Wow! What's that all about?...That is so cool! I wanna learn more! Wouldn't be cool to live in that universe?" The funny thing for me though, is that this mythology, is a "vampire" related mythology. And since reading the Anne Rice novels and her well described history of the vampires, I have not been able to accept anyone else's interpretation of vampires. Kate Beckinsale in Underworld...no! And even though I think that the acting and writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer was some of the best stuff on television, I just did not think that their treatment of vampire mythology was up to standard. But here in Night Watch...it worked! I thought that this was a tremendous film and enjoyed it greatly. I would absolutely recommend it, especially if you like any of the above mythical worlds, and are looking to get yourself into another one. Can't wait for the sequels!