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The movie is based on series of Sci-Fi novels by a Russian bloke whose name I can't pronounce but the basic premise is simple and familiar. There are powerful Dark (vampires, etc.) and Light (wizards and suchlike) forces in the world. Humans are pretty much food or collateral damage. There cannot be all-out war between the Dark and the Light since they both figured out that once one of the sides is winning all sorts of calamities ensue (wars, plagues, revolutions…). So there's a real need for balance and coexistence, thus the Night Watch, made up from both the Dark and the Light ones, to police the world, to look for vampires who got over their quota in blood supplies, or for wizards going all Valdimort on your ass. Then there's the Inquisitor (ooh, scary man), who watches over the Night Watch. So the Night Watch drives around Moscow in a bright yellow City Utilities and Electric Power truck (with rocket boosters), keeping the peace and balance. Stuff goes terribly wrong? Power outages all over the place, swirling plagues of crows, aircraft out of control, people running out of Nescafe…y'know, the usual apocalyptic portents. . And there's this kid who holds the key to the balance in the force…erm…I mean the balance between the good and bad stuff. Only he don't know that he's either the messiah or the anti-Christ and just wants to watch TV. Ok. The plot is great, convoluted and difficult to follow through the subtitles sometimes, but great. The cast is also great (nice to see some ugly leads for a change). Special effects are generally passable, even by American standards (watch out Yanks, the Ruskies are catching up), and some are even innovative enough to be regarded as new ideas. Excellent stunts, action set pieces, exploding heads and flying body part stuff and plenty of blood (the film, in case you couldn't tell, is quite gory). Nice creepy, eerie atmospheric feeling to it as well. And, surprisingly, I got the humour as well, dark and Russian as it is. I haven't enjoyed a film, foreign or otherwise, this much for ages. Recommended whole-heartedly.Read full review
I first saw Night Watch on TV. Actually, the first time I saw 'Night Watch', it had Ewan McGregor in it, but that was a different movie! This is the Russian one, and it's best viewed in in it's original language. That's usually true of foreign movies in my opinion, the replacement voice actors aren't usually as good as the all-round actors. In this movie, however, they have actually taken the time to make the subtitles very much a part of the movie. A vampire calls to some kid, and the subtitles look like they've been written in blood. One guy's tripping out, and the subtitles disappear as he waves his arm! All very cool. Still, if you're one of those people who just can't stand subtitles, there is an English language track as well, but as I say, the acting isn't quite as good. Another thing that surprised me was how good the special FX were. Probably because I've never even heard of a Russian action movie, I wasn't expecting much in the way of FX, but they really are top-notch. You've got people transforming into animals, trucks doing somersaults, and the forces of light & darkness literally going medieval on each other, and it all looks as good as anything Industrial Light & Magic has done. Apart from all that, the story's good as well! It reminds me of Star Wars, or the Matrix, in that even though it's the first part of a trilogy, it stands on it's own pretty well. I didn't even know it was a trilogy when I saw it the first time, and I was totally satisfied with the ending. Also, the characters aren't just cardboard cut-outs as they so could easily have been. The 'light' guys act like they're just doing a job, like bin-men or something. One of the 'darkness' guys get's a phone call, and he's at a pop concert! All in all, if you liked Blade, or any other movie with a strong good vs evil, supernatural theme, then you'll probably like this.Read full review
I went to the cinema with my friends for which we didn't do our research and didn't know it was subtitled - but this only added to the affect of the film. The story is that of good vs evil, light vs dark...day vs night. Following an epic battle eons ago, the forces of good and evil came to the conclusion that no-one could be forced to either of their sides...it was up to the individual to decide. Thus the Night Watch and Day Watch were formed from the soldiers of each side. This film focuses on The Night Watch who are made up of the forces of light and are charged with making sure that the forces of dark don't step over their mark i.e kill too many humans. The story mainly follows one human who becomes part of the Night Watch, and how he (and his child) play a part in the greater scheme of things. There's vampires, chagelings and witches to spot. Lots of action and the just about the right amount of blood and gore make this film one to watch. The dark manner in which its shot also adds to the overall atmosphere of the film. Will evil rule..only the next two parts of this trilogy will tell!Read full review
This is a complicated, dark and broody film. You have to want to watch it as it's not a movie that can be put on and just skimmed. But damn is it cool. Think the x-men with gonads. The central premise of the movie is that there is an eternal hidden battle that would be constantly taking place between 'good' and 'evil' all around us if an ancient truce wasnt being enforced. Based on the first of a trilogy of books by a Russian author dude, Nightwatch introduces you to the key players of the 'Night Watch', those few special souls who have been given the task of keeping tabs on the baddies through the dark hours, and it lays the foundations for 'Day Watch' the next film due in the trilogy. But it also stands alone on its own merits, this is no prequel. Nightwatch is a good entertaining film. Not one for the kids, or for the feint hearted. It's clever nightmarish stuff. A dark, slightly gory but ultimately enjoyable movie. But for real thrills get the book that has been transalted into English; the film delivers, but the books go up to eleven. The trilogy order is NightWatch, DayWatch then DuskWatch and they are all very well written good reads.Read full review
With vampires being the new "superheros" this year, making night watch was a bit of a risk. However this film is easily the most memorable vampire movie i have seen this decade. How does it do this. Well its inventive backstory was very much a part of it, but for me, its russian charm brought out not only by its setting, but very much by the direction taken and the themes present. So its no suprise that this is one of the highest grossest russian films to date. I would highly reccomend watching the theatrical version. This is the russian audio with some cleverly intertwinned subtitles. The russian audio is definatly better, than the english dub. While you may have to read a little more, it really helps with the characters, bringing you into the plot much more.
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