Night Watch (2004) Nochnoy dozor (original title)

Popularity:

Up 17% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 September 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Fantasy | Thriller

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 | Bridge | Truce

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

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)
Anna Slyu	...	Tigryonok
Anna Dubrovskaya	...	Vampirsha
Sergey Prikhodko	...	Pyotr
Igor Savochkin	...	Maksim Ivanovich
Georgiy Dronov	...	Tolik (as Egor Dronov)
Nikolay Olyalin	...	Inkvizitor
Dmitriy Klokov
Dmitriy Osetrov	...	Militsioner u vykhoda iz metro
Konstantin Murzenko	...	Paren v metro
Anatoliy Gorin	...	Rabotnik TETs
Lyudmila Yaronova
Aleksandr Shchurok
Nikolay Kiselev
Marina Ivanova
Viktor Ivanov		(as Vitya Ivanov)
Polina Shchurok
Tatyana Shchankina	...	Suevernaya passazhirka v samolete
Aleksandr Kozlov	...	Muzh suevernoy passazhirki
Igor Pismennyy	...	Passazhir samoleta
Viktoriya Smirnova
Sergey Kalashnikov
Ekaterina Malikova	...	Styuardessa samoleta
Vladislav Anufriev		(as Vladik Anufriev)
Yuriy Yakovlev	...	Malchik (as Yura Yakovlev)
Ivan Popov		(as Vanya Popov)
Aleksey Kurochkin		(as Lyosha Kurochkin)
Yaroslav Romashenko		(as Yarik Romashenko)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Kostya (voice: English version)
Darian Weiss	...	Egor (voice: English version)
Blestyashchie	...	Gerl-gruppa Alisy (uncredited)
Igor Gasparyan	...	Voditel-kavkazets (uncredited)
Yuliya Kovalchuk	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Igor Lifanov	...	Presledovatel (uncredited)
Oleg Mokshantsev	...	Pokupatel v supermarkete (uncredited)
Aleksandra Nazarova	...	Mat Svetlany / Starushka na plyonke (uncredited)
Aleksey Neklyudov	...	Zakadrovyy tekst (voice) (uncredited)
Kseniya Novikova	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Anna Semenovich	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Galina Stakhanova	...	Starushka na plyonke (uncredited)
Stepan Starchikov	...	Zakadrovyy golos (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Timur Bekmambetov

Writing credits (WGA)
Timur Bekmambetov		(screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis		(screenplay)
Sergey Lukyanenko		(novel)

Produced by
Varvara Avdyushko	....	executive producer (as Varvara Avdiushko)
Igor Bondarenko	....	co-executive producer
Konstantin Ernst	....	producer
Arthur Gorson	....	executive producer: post-production
Aleksey Kublitskiy	....	executive producer
Aleksei Kulibin	....	supervising producer
Anatoliy Maksimov	....	producer
Sook Yhun	....	producer (english version)

Original Music by
Yuriy Poteenko

Cinematography by
Sergey Trofimov

Film Editing by
Dmitriy Kiselev

Casting by
Tamara Odintsova

Production Design by
Mukhtar Mirzakeyev
Valeriy Viktorov		(as Valera Viktorov)

Art Direction by
Valeriy Viktorov		(as Valera Viktorov)

Costume Design by
Varvara Avdyushko		(as Varvara Avdiushko)

Production Management
Reece Ewing	....	post-production supervisor (as Larry Ewing)

Sound Department
Bob Bowman	....	assistant sound editor
Andy D'Addario	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pavel Doreuli	....	sound effects
Marc Fishman	....	additional sound re-recording mixer
Tony Lamberti	....	additional sound re-recording mixer
Aaron Levy	....	sound recordist
Donald Lyles	....	sound recordist
Tim Maxwell	....	sound re-recordist
Jon Mete	....	supervising sound editor
Danial Shimiaei	....	Sound Re-Recording Stage engineer
Jon Title	....	sound editor
Karen Vassar Triest	....	sound editor (as Karen Vassar)

Special Effects by
Ilya Churinov	....	pyrotechnician
Pyotr Gorshenin	....	special effects
Angela Petrosyan	....	special effects producer

Visual Effects by
Denis Alymov	....	animator
Evgeny Barulin	....	visual effects supervisor
Stas Basko	....	visual effects artist
Roman Bazyuchenko	....	visual effects supervisor
Oleg Belyaev	....	digital compositor
Gregory Chalenko	....	digital compositor: Bazelevs
Nick Damico	....	visual effects
Sergey Denisov	....	visual effects supervisor: Dr.PICTURE Studios
Arkadiy Dubinin	....	additional visual effects
Yaroslav Dyachenko	....	digital compositor
Andrey Emelyanov	....	digital artist
Evgeniy Gittsigrat	....	animator: Ulitka
Aleksandr Gorokhov	....	visual effects producer
Pavel Khanyutin	....	visual effects supervisor
Max Kirienko	....	visual effects supervisor
Vadim Kirillin	....	computer graphics artist
Oleksandr Kucherov	....	visual effects artist
Viktor Lakisov	....	animation supervisor
Vladimir Leschinski	....	visual effects supervisor
Dan Lopez	....	visual effects
Nikolay Malyshev	....	digital compositor
Andrey Mesnyankin	....	visual effects supervisor
Oleksii Moskalenko	....	visual effects supervisor
Andrei V. Nikitin	....	visual effects art director
Ruslan Ogorodnik	....	visual effects supervisor
Pavel Perepyolkin	....	visual effects art director
Angela Petrosyan	....	visual effects producer
Dmitry Robustov	....	research & development
Dmitry Shumkin	....	digital artist
Kirill Skaletski	....	digital effects artist
Maksim Sychev	....	computer graphics artist
Greg Tsadilas	....	digital effects artist
Ilya Vostrov	....	modeler
Johnny Wilson	....	visual effects
Sergei Zadorozhny	....	digital artist
Robert Lang	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)
Chris Wallace	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)

Stunts
Dmitriy Tarasenko	....	fight choreographer
Sergei Vorobyov	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Vitaliy Ershov	....	assistant camera
Elena Ivanova	....	director of photography: second unit
Nikolay Litvinov	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Dan Aguilar	....	digital intermediate editor
Nikolai Bulygin	....	assistant editor
Tuija Kotamäki	....	negative cutter
Jonathan Slater	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Norik Basegian	....	musician: duduk
Nadezhda Chibisova	....	musician: piano solo
Gennady Papin	....	music recording mixer
Alexei Rudnevsky	....	chorus director
Jim Schultz	....	music editor
Aleksandr Vedernikov	....	conductor

Other crew
Alexey Borisov	....	post-production manager
Severi Glanville	....	2K data recordist (uncredited)
Mika Kongas	....	2k data recordist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Bazelevs Production
• Channel One Russia
• TABBAK

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Australia (2005) (Australia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Bontonfilm (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Fox-Warner (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2004) (Russia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Italia (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Channel One Russia (TV)
• FS Film Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Film1 (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2011) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Dr. PICTURE Studios (visual effects)
• "LESTA" Studio (visual effects)
• "Ulitka" Studio (visual effects)
• Bazelevs Production
• Encore (as Encore Hollywood)
• KeyArt (visual effects)
• Mosfilm-Art (visual effects)
• ORT-Design
• Perfect Pixels (visual effects)
• Postproduction.ru (visual effects)
• Reaction (visual effects)
• Terminal FX (visual effects)
• WE Project (additional visual effects)

Other Companies

• "Mi" Production Studio  visual effects
• Babich Design  visual effects
• FotoKem  digital film services
• MentalDrive Studio  visual effects
• Russian National Symphony Orchestra  orchestra
• United Digital Artists  visual effects (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Nochnoy dozor" - Russia (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language

Runtime:

114 min | 104 min (international version)

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA15+ | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | Czech Republic:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Russia:12+ | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

Originally, the film, as well as its sequels, was 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:

Continuity: 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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Ugly Truth/G-Force/Orphan (#1.21)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Vsyo budet khorosho

From Russia with Loads of Monsters

"Night Watch" is one of the most expensive Russian film production ever and enjoyed in it's home country the best movie start of all time (15 million US $ in its first month), but is it any good? Yes and no. First of all, let me say that this is a special effects film and even though for a Russian production this has a comparatively huge budget for CGI and makeup f/x, the results are decidedly mixed. Most of it is OK, with single drops into the ridiculous. The direction by former ad director Bekmambetov is stylish enough, without forgetting to portray the grittiness of Russian life circumstances. The actors are competent, though leading man Konstantin Khabensky is lacking in the charisma department. The story ultimately is the measurement of what is good and bad about "Night Watch" and it does contain both. The novels, on which this film is based, are pretty complex, making this the first in a trilogy, with "Day Watch" and "Dusk Watch" to come. The presented battle between good and evil supernatural beings is reminiscent of other genre efforts, but unlike, say "Underworld", "Night Watch" takes its elements seriously. This is a mixed blessing. On one hand you have a real mythology underlying events instead of a starting point for subway machine gun battles of longhairs, on the other there is no humor in the picture and the reverent and dead serious tone in spite of the bizarre events is sometimes overdone and a little laughable. The idea of supernatural police forces observing and checking each other is a nice one, as are numerous quirky little ideas, but overall there are two lame stereotypes for every good and fresh idea. Most disappointing is the double climax letdown. The 'grudge' storyline is extremely well built up with lots of suspense but ends with a whimper instead of a bang. The climax of the 'kid' storyline is muddled as well, but does offer a nice full circle resolution to one aspect of the story and features an interesting cliffhanger.

Overall, the shortcomings are (just slightly) outweighed by a fresh, different and decidedly un-Hollywood take on fantasy movie standards. This is an interesting and worthy effort, though strictly for fans of the fantasy/mystery genre.

6/10