Night Watch [Blu-ray]

 

 

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It's about time the Russians gave us something besides ICBMs targeted on our cities and nuclear power plants in Iran. It's actually a little difficult to review Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor); it's a film you hate to criticize, even though the plot can get pretty confusing at times. The special effects are darned impressive, certainly up to (if not better than) the standards of your typical Hollywood blockbuster, but I don't think the stylish atmosphere of the film rises to the point of richness. Night Watch actually reminded me a bit of Constantine in that regard -- but I must say that Night Watch is easily the better film of the two.

What you've got here is basically an eternal struggle between good and evil, with both sides really residing in a gray area in between. Supposedly, there was this huge confrontation between the forces long ago -- but, seeing that both equally matched sides would surely annihilate one another, both sides agreed to a truce that has held for many, many years. Light rules the day, Night rules the night, and both sides watch one another to make sure no one goes around messing with that whole balance thing. Who are these guys, anyway? They call themselves the Others, and everyone among them has some kind of special power that is decidedly more than human (most humans can't transform themselves into cheetahs, for example). As with all such mystical beings, there's a prophecy. This one says that some Other will emerge and win the day for one side -- it could be Light, or it could be Dark. Sounds a little like Star Wars, doesn't it?

Anton Gorodetsky (Konstantin Khabensky) discovers that he is an Other after seeking the assistance of some ooby jooby lady to get his wife back. That whole thing doesn't go too well, which isn't all bad because a wife would sort of get in the way of Anton's new job -- tracking down vampires who are illegally "calling" victims to them. Even though he chose the Light side, he still has to scarf down a bunch of blood in order to exercise his special gift. Things start to heat up after he kinda sorta kills one of the agents of Darkness, but everything comes down to a contest between both sides to lay claim to a boy who may bring balance to the Force (oops, I mean tip the balance for one side over the other). There's a twist toward the end, which probably won't come as a huge surprise to some viewers, but the conclusion succeeds very well in setting the stage for the next installment in what will be a trilogy of films.

While I can't get as breathlessly excited over the film as a good many others have (including the population of Russia, who made this the country's highest grossing film ever -- although it only held that title for a few months), it's still an enjoyable, visually stunning, decidedly different type of film -- and a real treat for Western audiences. Don't worry about the subtitles, either, as they are superb. If the writers can firm up the storyline as they work their way into the sequels, then the sky's the limit with this enigmatic Russian trilogy.

I loved the cinematography, the story, the subtitles. This movie captivated me as much by the story as the amazing way it was shown to me.

Night Watch (2004) (Widescreen)

I got a chance to see this movie in the theaters. I had heard a lot of great things about it on the internet and they were all right. This movie was really cool. It had a really cool story to it, great actors, and the subtitles were done really cool too. Not to mention the special effects were awesome !!!!

I hope this DVD comes out in english because it can become tiresone when having to read the subtitles for the whole movie, and it kinda takes away from the story.

Check it out. Rent it, and once you've seen it, you gunna wanna buy it. Watch for the second and third movies to be comming out to theaters too, Should be awesome.

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3.0 out of 5 stars a real mishmash
a friend of mine had told me this movie was horrible.but,i decided to
give it a try any way.it starts off pretty awful,then slowly gets
watchable. Read more

Published on Feb 26 2008 by falcon

3.0 out of 5 stars This film was great during the first ten minutes and so.....,
And after that it went all over the place. A number of reviewers stand correct on this film regarding its ups and downs base on the production. Read more

Published on July 5 2007 by Jenny J.J.I.

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