Nochnoy dozor (2004)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

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 | Moscow | Supernatural | Witch

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Anton Gorodetsky
Vladimir Menshov	...	Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Kostya's Father
Mariya Poroshina	...	Svetlana
Galina Tyunina	...	Olga, the sorceress
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ignat (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov	...	Kostya (Anton's young vampire neighbor)
Zhanna Friske	...	Alice Donnikova
Ilya Lagutenko	...	Andrei
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Zavulon
Rimma Markova	...	Darya Schultz, the witch
Mariya Mironova	...	Irina, Yegor's mother
Aleksey Maklakov	...	Simeon
Aleksandr Samoylenko	...	Ilya (Bear), mage-transformer
Dmitriy Martynov	...	Yegor (as Dmitri Martynov)
Anna Slyusareva	...	Lena (Tiger Cub), mage-transformer (as Anna Slyu)
Anna Dubrovskaya	...	Larisa
Sergey Prikhodko	...	Peter
Igor Savochkin	...	Maxim Ivanovich
Georgiy Dronov	...	Tolik (as Yegor Dronov)
Nikolay Olyalin	...	The Inquistor
Dmitriy Klokov
Dmitriy Osetrov
Konstantin Murzenko	...	Man in Metro
Anatoliy Gorin
Lyudmila Yaronova
Aleksandr Shchurok
Nikolay Kiselev
Marina Ivanova
Viktor Ivanov		(as Vitya Ivanov)
Polina Shchurok
Tatyana Shchankina	...	Woman on Plane
Aleksandr Kozlov
Igor Pismenniy
Viktoriya Smirnova
Sergey Kalashnikov
Ekaterina Malikova
Vladislav Anufriev		(as Vladik Anufriyev)
Yuri Yakovlev	...	Boy (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	...	Yegor (voice: English version)
Blestyashchie	...	Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Nikolay Drozdov	...	Animal World's host (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers (archive footage) (uncredited)
Yuliya Kovalchuk	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Rudolf Martin	...	Dracula (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kseniya Novikova	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Anna Semenovich	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Georgiy Vitsin	...	Kuzjka (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Timur Bekmambetov

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

Produced by
Varvara Avdyushko	....	executive producer (as Varvara Avdiushko)
Igor Bondarenko	....	executive producer
Konstantin Ernst	....	producer
Arthur Gorson	....	executive producer: post-production
Aleksei Kublitsky	....	executive producer
Aleksei Kulibin	....	supervising producer
Anatoly Maximov	....	producer

Original Music by
Yuriy Poteenko

Cinematography by
Sergey Trofimov

Film Editing by
Dmitriy Kiselev

Casting by
Tamara Odintsova

Production Design by
Mukhtar Mirzakeyev
Valeri Viktorov

Art Direction by
Valeri Viktorov		(as Valera Viktorov)

Costume Design by
Varvara Avdyushko		(as Varvara Avdiushko)

Production Management
Larry Ewing	....	post-production supervisor

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
Jon Mete	....	supervising sound editor
Jon Title	....	sound editor
Karen Vassar	....	sound editor

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

Visual Effects by
Denis Alymov	....	animator
Evgeny Barulin	....	visual effects supervisor
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
Eugene Gittsigrat	....	animator
Aleksandr Gorokhov	....	visual effects producer
Max Kirienko	....	visual effects supervisor
Vadim Kirillin	....	computer graphics artist
Viktor Lakisov	....	animation supervisor
Vladimir Leschinski	....	visual effects supervisor
Dan Lopez	....	visual effects
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
Sergei Vorobyov	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Yelena Ivanova	....	director of photography: second unit
Nikolai Litvinov	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Dan Aguilar	....	digital intermediate editor
Jonathan Slater	....	on-line editor

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

Other crew
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 Home Entertainment España S.A. (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Italia (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• 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)
• Channel One Russia (TV)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (all media)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Fox-Warner (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Gemini Film (2004) (Russia) (theatrical)

Special Effects

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

Other Companies

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

Also Known As:

Night Watch: Nochnoi Dozor (International: English title) (UK)
Ночной дозор (Russia)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

In the International version of the film Yegor is watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy vs. Dracula (#5.1)" (2000).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the vortex, when the family that is eating dinner is supposed to be frozen, the man holding the fork to his mouth can be seen blinking in several shots.

Quotes:

[Geser and Zvalun sit talking in a darkened bedroom. Anton enters]
Zavulon: Ah, the Light mage with a Dark past has come... just the one I'm looking for...

Movie Connections:

Version of Nochnoy bazar (2005)

Soundtrack:

Fearless

Night Watch is better watched at night

I was reluctant to see this film for so long.

It was mainly in defiance towards that frantic promotion campaign positioning it as the first ever "unrivalled Russian blockbuster" and "a groundbreaking achievement of the decade".

The soundtrack is annoyingly offered for the cell phones: you saw the movie - now set your ringtone to the Night Watch terrific score!

Now it is allegedly considered as the most possible nominee for the Academy Award, while American either remake or sequel is underway.

A real misfortune of the contemporary Russian cinema is that hardly concealed inferiority complex. Some filmmakers no longer shoot movies just to entertain the moviegoers. They strive with their last bit of strength in pursuit of the ultimate goal: TO MAKE AN EXCEPTIONAL FILM THAT WOULD BLOW UP THE Hollywood.

I don't really much incline to the idea that we are somehow aesthetically and culturally above the rest of the world and that we should obligatory go our own way.

But I'm afraid that the efforts to prove, at any cost, that WE ALSO CAN DO A COOL STUFF with bells and whistles, (at least not worse than the "big guys") may be not exactly the right path to the top.

Well, it's a way better than the arms race, but a work of art falls into somewhat self-sufficient category and shouldn't be an object of that sort of competition.

I believe a film doesn't have to bear a specific nationality. Once it is considered irrespective of the country of origin, and could be valued purely as is, just for it's inner virtues, it may look much more appealing.

To be honest, all that my reasoning, however, refers to the hysteria around the Night Watch, rather than to the film itself.

Unexpectedly to myself, I've bought an occasional (licensed) DivX with the Night Watch just to test MPEG4 capabilities of a DVD player.

And I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I found it rather atmospheric, gripping and engaging as well as neatly produced. I may say I liked it.

The cast was great, acting - almost impeccable and not over the top (what frequently degrades modern Russian fantasy, sci-fi or action movies). Some dialogues, nevertheless, could have been a bit more articulate.

The cinematography was equally nice - I liked that fancy shooting angles and professional camera-work. Effects were descent and balanced.

The closing titles background song was pretty cool. Frankly I'm not so much enthusiastic about that sort of tiresome music. What is really awesome about the song is its humorous lyrics embracing the entire movie plot.

The idea of the film/book is quite interesting (though not brand new). Numerous dark forces lurk somewhere in a parallel world unseen to unsophisticated humans. Until the time when some of their most villainous representatives would be eager to play with their unsuspecting victims. It is, however, contrary to a certain pact between the good and the evil specifying that both good and evil doings should be controlled and approved by both parties that have established for that reason the respective teams of guardians, the Night Watch and the Day Watch.

Entirely new for the movies with such kind of a pleasant premise is that none has ever got killed, except for a handful of malefactors (like that stoned bloodsucker). Just some pinpoint accurate destructions here and there, minor violence and mild torture. A close-up shot of the finger pinned for a blood sample was the only scene that made my temporal vein twitch of disgust. Menshov's healer-like manipulations with Khabensky's entrails were impressively staged.

A serious drawback of the film is the lack of explanation on some principle points. It's not that the philosophy was too complex for my convolutions. But the coherency of the storytelling was impaired at times. Like certain chunks of the film have been lost among leftovers on the cutting room's floor.

My son, familiar with the Lukyanenko's novel, was giving brief tips in the course of the action, which were conducive to the overall comprehensibility.

Final verdict: not for all tastes, but refreshing and worth watching, at least once.

P.S. Amazingly, the majority of the IMDb positive reviews comes from overseas audience, while the Russian reviewers lash the Night Watch with a scathing sarcasm.