Day Watch – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Director

Timur Bekmambetov

Cast

Konstantin Khabensky ………. Anton
Mariya Poroshina ………. Svetlana
Vladimir Menshov ………. Geser
Galina Tyunina ………. Olga
Viktor Verzhbitsky ………. Zavulon

The Movie

Fantasy films in the last decade have taken off in both their commercial and their critical success. The Lord of the Rings trilogy set plenty of box office records en route to winning an armful of Oscars, opening the door for the genre to come out en masse in multiplexes. And while poorly received films like Eragon end up with large-scale releases, it’s telling that two of the best films in the genre since the first Chronicles of Narnia film never received a release on nearly the same level. Night Watch and its sequel Day Watch, products of post-Communist Russian thought, set box office records in the land after the book series captivated worldwide audiences. And it’s a shame, really, as the summer release of Day Watch to a handful of art-house theatres in the same manner as Night Watch did a year earlier would put one of the year’s more under-rated films in a position to find its audience on DVD.

Day Watch, better known as Dnevnoy dozor, follows the events of the first film. For those unfamiliar with the “Night Watch” universe, the world is filled with being called “Others.” Some are good, some are bad, but they are held together by a truce formed many moons ago. The Night Watch monitor the Dark Others (evil) while the Day Watch monitors the Light Others (good). It is an uneasy truce and both sides seemingly are angling to break it. Set in Russia, mainly Moscow, the series of books by Sergei Lukyanenko focus on a handful of main characters. Both films have focused on Anton (Konstantin Khabensky), a man who discovers the hidden world of the Others and becomes a member of the Night Watch. The events of the first film have left him in a precarious position.

Anton is now training Sveta (Mariya Poroshina) to be an Other. His son is now on the side of Dark, and Anton has had to do some cleanup to prevent the destruction of his son for the crimes he’s committed. Meanwhile the Dark is conspiring to break the truce via a mysterious object called the “Chalk of Fate,” which allows one to go back and alter their own destiny as they see fit. Trying to acquire this object, both sides walk the line on the brink of Armageddon. And while it only shares the same name with the second book of the series, as Day Watch is based on the latter third of the book “Night Watch” and not the book “Day Watch,” it’s a remarkable fantasy film that explores good and evil on a highly intellectual level.

And that’s the one thing that Day Watch does that has endeared the first film in the series to audiences. This isn’t generic “good vs. evil” that tends to leave the genre a bit flat. Rather this is a clash of two types of viewpoints. Shown through the viewpoint of Anton, torn between both sides, it’s a remarkably intelligent film in terms of how it understands the nature of good and evil. Both sides aren’t reduced to archetypes; we’re given complex characters in extraordinary situations. Much like how at this time last year Night Watch gained a bigger following because of the national exposure DVD allowed it to have, Day Watch seemingly has been given the same trajectory outside of Russia.

A/V QUALITY CONTROL

Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and in an anamorphic widescreen format, the film has a terrific audio/visual presence. Presented with subtitles for those not fluent in Russian, as well as an English soundtrack for those who don’t want to read and would rather hear a good English dubbing can do that as well. It’s not a very good dub, mind you, but it’s not meant to be watched with the English on the audio. Just the visual.

The Extras

The Making Of Day Watch follows all aspects of the film’s production. In Russian with English subtitles, it’s a fairly cursory look as not much is covered in depth. It does provide, however, that Russian EPK units can be just as useless and long-winded as their American counterparts.

The film’s American Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as the six Russian Trailers. TV spots from Russia are also included. Trailers for Hills Have Eyes 2, Lake Placid 2, Mr. Brooks, Perfect Creature, The Trippers and Wrong Turn 2 complete the package of advertisements.

Timur Bekmambetov also contributes a Commentary.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Day Watch
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9.0
THE VIDEO

8.5
THE AUDIO

8.5
THE EXTRAS

5.0
REPLAY VALUE

7.5
OVERALL
9.0
(NOT AN AVERAGE)