Day Watch on DVD (2006)

A customer from Newcastle, UK , 10/10/2007

This film was so absorbing, I was gripped by it from start to finish. It was beautifully shot, even the subtitles were done really well. Occasionally the subtitle words changed colour and vibrated and dripped blood depending on what was happening on-screen and they integrated really well with the movie, it wasn't like they had just been slapped on there with no thought. The storyline wasn't exactly the same as the book, but I guess they had to adapt it this way to make it into a good movie. All of the actors were excellent, the cast was the same as the first movie but this time they seemed much more into their characters. I'll be buying this on dvd when it's released, there were so many cool little touches in the movie that I'm bound to have missed some of them.

  17 out of 17 people found this review helpful

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JJTimothy from Chilton, County Durham [Highly rated reviewer] , 22/10/2007

The supernatural Others, divided into Light and Dark factions, have an uneasy truce that has lasted for centuries the end of which would mean apocalyptic war. That truce looked unsteady by the end of Night Watch and reaches breaking point in this sequel.

First the review for anyone who hasn't seen Night Watch: Forget it. Seriously. If you like the sound of an hyper-kinetic Russian language supernatural thriller with enough action, visual flair, cock-eyed details and rock music for an entire series of Buffy- right franchise, wrong film. See Night Watch, if you enjoy it see this and you'll have a better idea of what's going on though, admittedly, story isn't a major selling point and Day Watch starts with a just about adequate précis.

If you have seen Night Watch this is just as good... or bad depending on your point of view. Once again subtlety and story-telling finesse are absent as is any serious attempt at character development though a couple of romantic sub-plots are thrown in, one effective the other a convenience. Once again Director Timur Bekmambetov makes his meagre (by western standards) budget go an extraordinarily long way. He trowels on the music-video style, amps up the action and thickens the atmosphere with original staging and those cock-eyed details. One novelty is the subtitles- rather than loafing at the bottom of the screen their animation compliments the film which sounds insignificant but is very effective.

Bekmambetov never stops for breath perhaps trying to disguise what is, at heart, a fairly standard good v. evil fantasy plot albeit with an unusual grimy urban setting. The original plan to make three films seems to have been shelved (the franchise is based on a fix-up novel comprising three novellas) which makes things more frantic if possible. Still- it certainly avoids any tendency to mark time which often afflicts middle entries in trilogies.

If you saw and enjoyed Night Watch... well you're probably back from the cinema already. If not Day Watch is hard to discuss in any detail without spoilers and impossible to recommend on its own, instead I suggest you give Night Watch a try. Flashy and more style than substance this franchise is not for everyone but I found it an entertaining contemporary-urban-fantasy-thriller.

  16 out of 19 people found this review helpful

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Daniel Janczak from Shoeburyness, England , 02/03/2008

I love the books - I have them all.

I liked the first film - it was interesting, although much, much worse than the book.

But this one... it's RUBBISH! It's MUCH worse even than the first film. Screenplay is non-existing, directing is... was there any?

It takes a skill to make such a bad film out of such a a great novel. And they managed to do it. The skills of a few good actors have been completely wasted.

I want to cry. Let's hope that someone, someday, will make this film again. Properly. It can't be worse than this...

  13 out of 13 people found this review helpful

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DarkAngel69 from Pontefract [Highly rated reviewer] , 31/01/2008

In the immortal words of comic book guy.. Worst let down everrrr! For anyone who has seen the trailer and thought, wow, that looks like a great film.. a mix of Blade and Matrix perhaps... Well sadly, the trailer is a montage of all the best bits (great short film) but as a feature very, very disappointing.

  11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

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Daniel Janczak from Shoeburyness, England , 02/03/2008

I love the books - I have them all.

I liked the first film - it was interesting, although much, much worse than the book.

But this one... it's RUBBISH! It's MUCH worse even than the first film. Screenplay is non-existing, directing is... was there any?

It takes a skill to make such a bad film out of such a a great novel. And they managed to do it. The skills of a few good actors have been completely wasted.

I want to cry. Let's hope that someone, someday, will make this film again. Properly. It can't be worse than this...

  13 out of 13 people found this review helpful

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A customer from London , 07/08/2008

Just like many of the other reviewers have said - loved Night Watch, and was extremely disappointed with Day Watch. Turned it off after about 30 minutes - total rubbish.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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