Day Watch (Unrated)
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Movie Reviews of Day Watch (Unrated)
Movie Review: The adrenaline rush continues...
Summary: 5 Stars
but this time around, Bekmambetov and the gang take themselves rather less seriously.
This is the second installment in the film trilogy based on the series of fantasy novels by Russian writer Sergei Lukyanenko. There's much less physical pain and spurting blood than in the first movie, Night Watch (which really should be seen first for one to fully understand Day Watch), but the special effects are still over the top, and everybody seems to be having a lot more fun.
Konstantin Khabensky returns as Anton Gorodetsky, the brave but bumbling Night Watch agent who can't seem to stay out of trouble. His life hasn't improved much since he found out that he has a twelve-year old son, Yegor, who is potentially the most powerful Other of all time. The boy is now under the tutelage and watchful eye of Zavulon, the malevolent leader of the Dark Others, and Anton believes that it's his own fault that Yegor has chosen the Darkness. He's also in love with his beautiful, much more talented Night Watch trainee Svetlana but too insecure to declare himself.
Svetlana unknowingly puts Anton on the trail of the Chalk of Fate and the chance to correct his biggest mistake and save the World from the ultimate mega-battle between Good and Evil. Khabensky makes Anton even goofier and more charming than he did in Night Watch, rushing head long into the mystery of the Chalk (by midnight flight to Uzbekistan), barely avoiding being arrested - and worse - by the Day Watch for a murder he didn't commit, finding himself in someone else's body, trying to reconcile with Yegor, and fessing up to Svetlana. We viewers find ourselves as out of breath as he is as he runs every where in his desperation.
All these misadventures and more provide the moviemakers with plenty of opportunities to show off their talents for amazing special effects. The dvd extras reveal just what's real - more than you might think - and what's not.
Movie Review: Enjoyable sci-fi flick-great action and tension
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a highly enjoyable movie. Now, mind you, it has little to do with the book series outside of the same characters - it was (very, extremely) loosely adapted from the latter part of the "Night Watch" novel, so don't expect it to at all relate to "Day Watch" the book. Like the first movie, there was a lot of great action and watching Anton get his butt kicked all over the place - which hey, that's why we love him, right? Not to mention the whole scene at Yegor's party. But you'll have to watch it to see that - it's just a good thing the old witch wasn't holding a grudge after her 12 years in the zoo as a toad (definitely HAVE to WATCH IT *grin*).
We watched it in Russian with the subtitles. They weren't as much a part of the movie as the original - but they still occasionally were created so be a part of the scenery.
(EDIT): After watching the added features, I am even more impressed with this movie. The birthday party scene was filmed in a most unique manner. The director simply rounded up a bunch of people (if I recall correctly, it was a business conference) and gave them free food and drink. After a couple of hours, when everyone was nice and buzzed, they started filtering in the actors and filming. This sort of off-the-cuff manner of filming was an enormous risk but it paid off brilliantly - most of the people in that scene, in the background, are really just people at a party, doing what people at a party do. I was VERY impressed! (/EDIT)
Fans of good sci-fi/action/thrillers will enjoy this, as will people who enjoyed the first movie. If you haven't yet read the books, do watch the movies FIRST; which is pretty much good advice for any movie adapted from a book. But still a high rating from me for this movie!
Movie Review: Very dissimilar to the book, still a great movie
Summary: 5 Stars
As has been said, the movie has very little to do with the book that shares it's title. Rather, most of it is from the second two "books" of Night Watch. Understanding that, I still whole-heartedly recommend this movie to any science fiction or vampire fan, and even fans of the original written series. You may be disappointed by the dissimilarities, but if you keep an open mind, and judge the movie on it's own merits, I think you'll enjoy Day Watch.
I saw this in the theatres, and the subtitling was excellent, as always, and continues to be creatively used and made a living part of the movie. I agree that overall, the movie isn't as dark and depressing as Night Watch, and I'm not a fan of the ending, since it closes off any logical continuation of Anton and Svetlana's story in Twilight Watch. But that's really the only big problem I have. The special effects are NOT overdone, in my opinion, they are used to good effect, and although the plot is complicated, a second or third viewing cleared up a lot of questions. So does reading Night Watch in it's entirety.
Bravo to Fox for not totally ruining a great foreign film, and I'm not sure what the differences will be in this unrated version, but hopefully the DVD will also include interviews with either Sergei Lyukanenko and/or Timur Bekmambetov like Night Watch, where they go into how they designed the movie.
My final recommendation is a definite yes to buying or at the very least renting this movie and expanding your cultural horizons. See how other countries do horror.
Movie Review: A visual FEAST!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was blown away when I initially watched Nightwatch, and eagerly awaited the sequel--and of course the marketing geniuses managed to foul the release up. I think it played in 2 theaters when it was released. Anyways, everything but the kitchen sink was thrown into this production.
The dvd comes in a 2:35 anamorphic widescreen--5.1 DD, director's commentary, making of featurette. It's a mini special edition, oh and it's Unrated too.
I've read a few reviews that condemn its story structure. I'd suggest watching this and absorbing it. This film (and Nightwatch) are visual collages. Both films were made for 4 million dollars a piece. Hollywood should take notice. These are epic tales--and succeed at every level.
I have not read the books, so I can't comment on that. There is no trailer for Twilight Watch--and Daywatch pretty much wraps up the entire original story arc.
What's even cooler is that the director's new film comes out in March '08, called "Wanted". The actor that plays the lead in Nightwatch/Daywatch is the main bad guy in that.
I look forward to more of Timur's work.
A final note, Fox opted not to include the ultra cool animated english subtitles into this release. This version has regular white font subs.
Enjoy!!!
Movie Review: Terrific sequel
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this was a tremendous sequel to Night Watch and while it wasn't particularly faithful to the book it was still an exciting movie - fast-paced, with clever twists and turns throughout. But if you're looking for something with animated subtitles, this is not what you get here. But, instead, you get the complete and original Russian version of the film (which the version of Night Watch with animated subtitles was not). I doubt that Day Watch would make any sense at all if you hadn't seen Night Watch and, even then, some things seem to happen at lightning speed, and you can be left a little confused. But that's just all the more reason to buy the DVD so you an watch it again and again. For me, at least, that's well worth it.