Product Description

Like The Matrix, Day Watch combines cutting-edge digital effects and mind-blowing action to create a stunningly original world. This Unrated Edition takes you on an even wilder ride with more intense thrills and incredible effects.

Only one thing stands between peace and Armageddon: the supernatural agents of Day Watch, who fight to control the armies of light and darkness. When the son of a senior Day Watch officer turns to the darkness, forces beyond the imagination are unleashed and the fate of the world hangs in the balance!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3859 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Russian
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com
The dizzying supernatural Russian epic started in Night Watch continues with Day Watch, in which once again the battle between the forces of Light (the Night Watch) and Dark (the Day Watch) threatens to crack open the world as we know it. The plot centers around Anton (Russian superstar Konstantin Khabensky), an Other (one of many beings with varied supernatural powers) whose son, Yegor, has joined the Day Watch, who are grooming him to be their superpowerful savior. Anton's protoge, Svetlana, also has high-capacity power, and if Yegor and Svetlana come into conflict, the resulting devastation could shatter everything. The key to success seems to lie with the Chalk of Fate, a simple piece of chalk that can rewrite reality. Day Watch is full of plotholes and underdeveloped story points (at one point, to keep him safe, Anton's consciousness is switched into the body of his Night Watch colleague Olga--but mere moments later the Day Watch knows what's happened, before any suspense could be mined from it; as a result, this promising plot twist seems only to exist to allow for some girl-on-girl action), but it's forgivable. As with the first film, Day Watch bubbles over with its wildly imaginative world, its ravishing style, and its fantastic visual effects. If a Hollywood blockbuster had half as much creativity, it would be praised to the skies and be the hit of the year. Don't let the subtitles put you off (particularly since even the subtitles reflect the movie's wit and imagination)--Day Watch is a cinematic feast that any movie fan should devour. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable sci-fi flick-great action and tension
This was a highly enjoyable movie. Now, mind you, it has little to do with the book series outside of the same characters - it was (very, extremely) loosely adapted from the latter part of the "Night Watch" novel, so don't expect it to at all relate to "Day Watch" the book. Like the first movie, there was a lot of great action and watching Anton get his butt kicked all over the place - which hey, that's why we love him, right? Not to mention the whole scene at Yegor's party. But you'll have to watch it to see that - it's just a good thing the old witch wasn't holding a grudge after her 12 years in the zoo as a toad (definitely HAVE to WATCH IT *grin*).

We watched it in Russian with the subtitles. They weren't as much a part of the movie as the original - but they still occasionally were created so be a part of the scenery.

(EDIT): After watching the added features, I am even more impressed with this movie. The birthday party scene was filmed in a most unique manner. The director simply rounded up a bunch of people (if I recall correctly, it was a business conference) and gave them free food and drink. After a couple of hours, when everyone was nice and buzzed, they started filtering in the actors and filming. This sort of off-the-cuff manner of filming was an enormous risk but it paid off brilliantly - most of the people in that scene, in the background, are really just people at a party, doing what people at a party do. I was VERY impressed! (/EDIT)

Fans of good sci-fi/action/thrillers will enjoy this, as will people who enjoyed the first movie. If you haven't yet read the books, do watch the movies FIRST; which is pretty much good advice for any movie adapted from a book. But still a high rating from me for this movie!

Great Story, Good Movie, Bad DVD
I loved Night Watch and I think this film is a great wrap up to everyone's story arc. I saw both in the theater and bought the DVDs as soon as they came out. However, for me, the animated subtitles are about 1/4 of the fun. It makes it feel like a comic book and just gives it that edge. So why oh why did Fox not release that version for the DVD? I find it baffling that someone made the decision to not include them even as an option. Fox DVDs have been a mixed bag as of late and I think I will stop buying them sight unseen and rather rent them first to see if the DVD is good. It is unfortunate that Fox is so inconsistent in the quality of their releases.

DVD Flaws
As it's already been mentioned many times before, I felt that Fox made a huge mistake releasing this movie with the plain white subtitles. One of the first draws to Night Watch for me was the subtitle play. The fact that they were actively incorporated in the film itself was really cool. I saw the sequel in the theaters in the first week and walked away feeling that it was even better than Night Watch. For one thing, it developed many of the background characters much more thoroughly. For another thing, the subtitles again were really fun to watch...almost advancing the plot themselves.

Then...I saw the DVD. Had I seen this on DVD first, there is no question about it...I would have probably HATED this movie. The plain white subtitles really took a LOT from the movie quality. I may also be mistaken that other things were removed (though I can't think of any example).

That said...wait to buy this version. Eventually Fox will want to suck more money from people by releasing the "original theater release" version. Wait for that before buying.