The Mist The Mist
Mar
07
2006

Day Watch Review

Posted by Todd Brown at 7:50am.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Continental Europe & Russia.

dozorpostersmall.jpg

Big thanks to regular Twitch reader Jarrett for sending this in ...

“Why the wind is coming?”

Like a lot of you, I found myself looking at the Fox Searchlight Logo, expecting a story about a girl learning the ways of the world, a sweeping drama by Jane Austin, or any other sort of Indy Fluff Piece the FSL puts out on a regular basis. Instead what we got was a gripping, visually stunning trailer to a film that was described as an “Epic Horror Trilogy.” Needless to say I was sold.

Of course I’m talking about Night Watch. Director Timur Bekmambetov’s magnum opus, caught the world by surprise, annihilating all previous box office records in Russia. An epic blend of fantasy, horror, and science
fiction, the film weaved a world of heroes of good and evil, populated by shape-shifters, vampires, witches, and warlocks. Leaving any major spoilers out, we followed the lead Anton, as he faced the end of the world as we know it.

So far, the reviews for Night Watch have been somewhat mixed, but I for one was entranced by the film. The solid direction, the interesting characters, and the amazingly fresh mythos that was established, all enveloped me. I honestly enjoyed each and every frame. I felt like I was discovering Star Wars or Lord of the Rings for the first time. I loved it just that much.

Now you can understand my frustration at the cliffhanger ending. The tension all built up to a somewhat less than solid conclusion, leaving me wanting more.

Much to my surprise I got the chance for just that. You see I was given the opportunity to see the next film in the trilogy, Day Watch.

**To properly discuss this film, we may have to delve into spoilers, just warning you ahead of time**

Day Watch begins much like Night Watch. An ancient land and an ancient battle. This time we’re told the tale of a noble warrior who must run an impossible maze of death for....wait for it.....a piece of chalk. Not just any chalk though, no this little white stick can alter time.

We then flash forward to modern day Moscow, one year after the events of Night Watch. The Light Others are in deep, as the prophecy of their destruction has played out before them. Anton, the film’s lead, must face the consequences of his actions from the first film, and erase those mistakes by finding the elusive Chalk of Fate.

But the Dark Others have other plans. Including a frame-job that could eradicate the fragile peace that has held so long.

Needless to say, there’s a lot more to that, but getting too descriptive might ruin all the twists and turns the movie has in store for us.

While the first film seemed large in scale, Day Watch is utterly epic. It encompasses all unanswered questions, then changes the way we seemed to perceive the original answers we had in the first place. It manages to take
advantage of every facet of the Night Watch world and magnify it ten fold.

One of the main differences from Night Watch is the tone of the film. This feels far more like an epic fantasy story told in current times. While Night Watch had a darker tone, Day Watch actually uses comedy to liven the situations that seemed so dire before hand. This, in part, is a very funny movie. The use of a certain trick****SPOILER: Anton must switch bodies with Olga**** allows moments of levity that the earlier film did not.

Day Watch is also very much a bright film. It uses brighter tones and colors, even in some of the more dark moments. One great example is a weapon that originally was a Russian version of a Yo-Yo. It’s almost like a
Christmas Ornament, but is used in a very deadly manner.

I think that people will be able to understand Day Watch better than Night Watch. While the film is more epic, the main story thread is very easy to understand. At no point do you feel lost in what the character motives are.
One of the main problems with Night Watch, was a sense of confusion to what Anton’s mission really was. That never occures in Day Watch. You know what he needs to do, even if you can’t even fathom how he will accomplish it.

Needless to say I loved this film just as much as Night Watch. I found it utterly incredible. It was entertaining (watch for the red car), exciting, and spell-binding. I became entranced in the mythology of this world, and can’t wait to enjoy it time and time again.

Review by Jarrett Dobson.

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Reader Comments

  1. Madison 03/07/2006 @ 9:08am

    What I am dying to know is: where did you see this? Because the legit Russian DVD that came out has no English subtitles and I assume that you don’t speak Russian right? Just like you I liked the first one quite a lot and am dying to see what happens in the second one.

  2. Jarrett Dobson 03/07/2006 @ 9:23am

    A short answer to your question would be:

    Russian-speaking friend

    +

    Subtitler

    +

    Virtual Dub

    =

    Day Watch with English Subtitles.

    I’m sure there are sub files on the web somewhere.

  3. Tyler Foster 03/07/2006 @ 12:07pm

    Or he caught a press screening or was sent a DVD screener, which seems more likely.

  4. Bruce Moyle 03/07/2006 @ 1:31pm

    We watched this last night. My lord is it a fun and epic film. Total agreement with this review.

    We will be reviewing it on our next podcast (this Sunday) for our 1 year celebration. We reviewed Night Watch almost a year ago in episode 8.

    I find it funny that the USA are only just getting a theatrical release of Night Watch where Australia is getting it on DVD in the next couple of weeks and we had a fairly big run of it in the cinemas last September.

    Anyway, checkout the reviews over at http://www.coolshite.net

  5. iamNataku 03/07/2006 @ 1:53pm

    Where is the legit Russian DVD available to purchase?

  6. Jarrett Dobson 03/07/2006 @ 2:01pm

    Hey Bruce, thanks for the positive comment(love the podcast btw). Yeah, it does suck that we have to go overseas(or OTHER methods) to see films like this. Fox’s handling of this film has been horrendous. From taking too long to release it, to butchering the movie altogether, it make me fear of what they’ll do to THIS film(expect Red Car in trailer).

    Something I didn’t elaborate on in the review: There is no way they can do a trilogy after Day Watch. The film closed up all loose ends, and the finale of Day Watch made it so(that if there WAS a third part) it would be a stand-alone feature. Wikipedia’s site on this film stated that it was an adaptation of the second AND THIRD part of the Night Watch book, so it makes sense that it’s the final chapter.

    So “Epic Horror Double Feature” would be more fitting for the series.

  7. DarkmanPoe 03/07/2006 @ 2:08pm

    The first one was terrible, so...I don’t care.

  8. crazybee 03/07/2006 @ 2:11pm

    Love the first, have the Russian DVD of the second. I’ve got a sub file, but they seem pretty poorly translated, so I’m holding off for better ones.

  9. madison 03/07/2006 @ 2:34pm

    for user: ‘iamNataku’ try: http://www.alldvd.ca grin they have it.

  10. Todd 03/07/2006 @ 3:55pm

    Bee: is your sub file a one shot deal for the entire DVD or the split one for the CD sized rips floating around? I want to watch it off the DVD both for max quality and to support the film but I’m too lazy (and all the subbing software I’ve ever tried seems way too over complicated) to combine and re-time the two part sub file ...

    And, yeah ... after Fox got involved they altered the ending of this to include the story of both sequel novels and now the third film will be an English language stand alone entry rather than following the third book as originally planned ...

  11. HKMOVIESAREBEST 03/07/2006 @ 4:28pm

    Todd: The subs are split in to 2 parts. I tried combining the 2 files and made my own version with subs (I’m not good with timing and all that stuff as well) The first hours the subs are perfect timing and all the second hours there off by 1/2 second but still very watchable.

  12. Todd 03/07/2006 @ 4:44pm

    And where might I find these wondrous things?

  13. HKMOVIESAREBEST 03/07/2006 @ 6:32pm

    Here you go todd.

    http://subscene.com/64594/SubtitleFilm.aspx

  14. HKMOVIESAREBEST 03/07/2006 @ 6:33pm

    Here you go Todd:

    http://subscene.com/64594/SubtitleFilm.aspx

  15. Blah 03/08/2006 @ 8:22am

    Chalk...of fate?

    Oh dear.

  16. Horrorshow 03/08/2006 @ 10:10pm

    I loved Day Watch immensely (American Dozor fan, here). What I loved about it the most is that it managed to retain the Night Watch style, while conveying a style all its own.

    What kind of irked me (but not too much) is that Anton found the chalk rather easily, in my opinion. I imagined that there’d be a stronger focus on the chalk story-wise, but then again, it’s a rather large story.

    We have a good thing going over at http://www.intothegloom.com/, an American-based Dozor fan forum. We welcome all Watch fans to come over and check us out!

  17. Phillip 03/29/2006 @ 12:50pm

    Is the version on ALLDVD.CA offical or a bootleg?

  18. crazybee 03/29/2006 @ 3:52pm

    ALLDVD.CA doesn’t sell bootlegs.

  19. crazybee 03/29/2006 @ 4:22pm

    Well, now I’m confused, because ALLDVD is listing Day Watch as being NTSC with English subtitles. I’ve emailed them about it, and if it’s legit, I’ll be double dipping on this one a lot sooner than I was hoping to.

  20. Todd 03/29/2006 @ 6:55pm

    Hot diggity! There were multiple legit editions of Night Watch - the PAL edition intended for the local market plus a subtitled NTSC version for export - so I’m betting that’s what happened here. Now if only Bumer 2 included subs ... gar ...

  21. crazybee 03/29/2006 @ 7:06pm

    I only recall PAL editions of Night Watch.

  22. Todd 03/29/2006 @ 7:11pm

    They appeared and disappeared quickly, but there was a legit NTSC as well. That’s how I saw it ... anyway, time for bed ...

  23. crazybee 03/29/2006 @ 9:19pm

    Just to confirm, I recieved an email from ALLDVD’s people, and they are now stocking a legitimate Russian Day Watch DVD that is NTSC and English subtitled. I ordered mine, so get it while it’s hot!

  24. dreamer 04/15/2006 @ 10:14am

    I liked it but at the same time I totally didn’t. It was just TOO compact/squished. There’s enough story for two entire films (possibly more). So it was all simplified to make it all fit. From what you guys say this was all Fox’s fault. Now imagine what they could have done if they’d split it in 2 full movies…

  25. bear001 05/20/2007 @ 12:19am

    What Jarret said about Day Watch being pretty tied up at the end is true. The 3rd and final film Dusk Watch will not b set in Russia. It is not in fact anything to do with the first 2. It will b set in the USA around the same time as the events are happening in Moscow. Will b in English instead of Russian and can almost guarantee it will have nothing on its 2 predecessors. Dont mean to b shooting the film down before its even finished, but its obvivious wot is to become of the final in an epic trilogy. It will be nothing more than ur typical hollywood blockbuster, containing none of the originality we saw in Day Watch and especcially Night Watch. Anton possibly will make a cameo in he 3rd film, but that is the most we will see of him.

    Oh, and Jarret is so right, watch for the red car. That bit is awesome.
    -----

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