Nightwatch

[DaForce]

So I got a chance to see this flick at a sneak preview Mon. night. All I knew about it was the same trailer that I've been seeing for about a year now, and that the movie was made in Russia.

You know what? This movie was pretty damned good.

It's about a group of people that are more than human called 'the Others'. They all have different powers (shape change, seer, etc.). There's a dark side (kind of like vampires) and a light side. Their fight started and came to a truce hundreds of years ago. Flash to modern day...

There is a prophecy that says the truce will end when an 'Other' is born that is more powerful than the rest. The final battle will then be fought between the dark and the light, with the world hanging in the balance.


That's about as much synopsis as I'm willing to give without saying more about the movie. Suffice to say, the movie's in Russian (with English subtitles..and the subtitles are animated in some of the scenes in very cool ways), it starts off fairly slow, and the pieces of the story don't come together until about halfway through the movie, BUT it's well worth the wait.

This movie is the first in a set trilogy (the second of which, Daywatch, is already in theaters in Russia) of books.

It's refreshing to see something in an American theater that a) isn't a remake, b) isn't a sequel, and c) has original storytelling.

Definitely worth the full price admission ticket.

[PotatoFamine]

So I got a chance to see this flick at a sneak preview Mon. night. All I knew about it was the same trailer that I've been seeing for about a year now, and that the movie was made in Russia.

You know what? This movie was pretty damned good.

It's about a group of people that are more than human called 'the Others'. They all have different powers (shape change, seer, etc.). There's a dark side (kind of like vampires) and a light side. Their fight started and came to a truce hundreds of years ago. Flash to modern day...

There is a prophecy that says the truce will end when an 'Other' is born that is more powerful than the rest. The final battle will then be fought between the dark and the light, with the world hanging in the balance.

That's about as much synopsis as I'm willing to give without saying more about the movie. Suffice to say, the movie's in Russian (with English subtitles..and the subtitles are animated in some of the scenes in very cool ways), it starts off fairly slow, and the pieces of the story don't come together until about halfway through the movie, BUT it's well worth the wait.

This movie is the first in a set trilogy (the second of which, Daywatch, is already in theaters in Russia) of books.

It's refreshing to see something in an American theater that a) isn't a remake, b) isn't a sequel, and c) has original storytelling.

Definitely worth the full price admission ticket. I have been curious about this film that is finally reaching American shores on its debut on Feb. 17th and am cautiously optimisitic. I am praying and hoping the makers of this film do not borrow ANYTHING at all from Hollywood, in regards to story telling, or sensibilities. I hope its far and away from the Hollywood influence. I will look forward to my Friday for this!

[KingVoyeur]

I'm psyched about it too, but how many theaters are going to be showing it?

[DaForce]

I'm psyched about it too, but how many theaters are going to be showing it?


It looks like it's a limited release. It's being released by Fox Searchlight Pictures (Fox's 'indie' label), so it's going to be a much smaller release than normal. My guess would be around 1600 theaters.


It's only playing at one theater here in the SF bay area that I can find.

[sickness]

Hopefully people will go search it out. Fox Searchlight has a decent track record with the quality of the indie flicks they pick up. Super Troopers springs to mind. Word of mouth got out and ST ended up making $80M in the theaters.

[SinisterPryde]

I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, but I will probably have to wait for the DVD release since my city seems to avoid anything small, artistic, and/or worth merit.

[Nu Soard Graphite]

I heard about this movie last year and have been waiting for it to come out.

I found out today that I has just released but it doesn't seem to be playing anywhere in the San Diego area. I hope it comes here soon. We've only got 1 Indie theatre left in the area so I don't know if it will ever come here...

[livewiremaxx]

Anyone hae a link to a trailer?

[KingVoyeur]

Anyone hae a link to a trailer?

Night Watch (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/night_watch/)

[pgmatg]

"Night watch" is in theaters now, and is a very good Russian Sci-Fi / Fantasy movie ("Lord of the Rings" meets "Prophecy"). The film has very nice special effects (CGI & not) considering the budget for them was somewhere around 2 mil. The move is also influenced somewhat by "Blade" & Matrix". It's been out on DVD for some time, but since Fox bought all American distribution rights, the disk has been slowly disappearing from even Russian stores in America. And Fox kept postponing the release until limited release on friday, while sequel "Day Watch" is already out in Russia, both beat American movies in Russia. And the studio is insisting on filming the 3rd part in English, which definetly will be wierd.

[tstone]

Saw the trailer in a theater in Mannheim. I'm so there, guys.

[Quasar]

I've been waiting for this baby since I saw the trailer all the way back with Kung Fu Hustle. And the wait continues. :romy:

[Deacon]

Resurrecting this thread for two reasons.

One, because even though clearly hardly anyone caught it during its release (unsurprising, given how limited it was), the DVD comes out next month (it just got released here). And it's well worth catching. I saw the original Russian cut about a year ago, and whilst I still think it's a little too flashy for its own good, as well as relying on well-worn fantasy cliches (the 'chosen one' again?), it's still got a lot of imagination, pace and verve.

But, mainly - two - because the more people see "Night Watch" on DVD, the better the chance is of Fox releasing the sequel, "Day Watch".

Which I just saw. And it's excellent.

It's about twenty minutes overlong, which causes a few slow patches in the middle, and it'll make absolutely zero sense to anyone who hasn't seen the first one, but it's got dynamite set-pieces (a sports car racing along the side of a hotel, a ferris wheel rolling through the streets of Moscow, not mention the destruction of... well, that'd be spoiler territory), great character developments, and an incredibly exciting last twenty minutes.

Which is actually kind of a problem. Since everything is kind of wrapped up, and the proposed third film is allgedly going to be set and filmed in the States, unconnnected with the first two. Doesn't seem right.

But just make sure you catch the first one on DVD. Fox needs the encouragement.

[Metuzalem]

Dude, is Daywatch in the cinemas already? Or did you see it via more illegal means? I bought the DVD of Nightwatch the other day but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. From what I hear Duskwatch is going to be insane. That's if the rumours about $200M of Hollywood money are true........

[Deacon]

I bought a Russian Region 0 DVD. The subtitles leave a fair bit to be desired.

[Metuzalem]

That's what impresses me about the first DVD, you can watch 3 different versions with the subtitles. Hmmmmm, I'm definitely going to have to make time to watch it.