Day Watch (Nochnoy Dozor 2) DVD Review

In 2004, Timur Bekmambetov revitalized the Russian film industry with his breakout hit “Night Watch,” a fantasy action thriller based on the series of books written by Sergei Lukyanenko, “Night Watch,” “Day Watch,” “Twilight Watch,” and “Final Watch.” NIGHT WATCH was the first in the trilogy, NIGHT WATCH, DAY WATCH and the yet to be named third film. NIGHT WATCH was first noticed and gained momentum for its remarkable visuals and MATRIX-like computer animation.

Living among us, the “Others” are a group of people who possess supernatural abilities. These “Others” are divided into the two groups of Light and Dark, good and evil, including witches, seers, vampires and other fantastical creatures. These warring factions have held a fragile truce for centuries, but as time has passed, tensions have risen and any sign of aggression could send them back into battle. To help maintain the peace, the Night Watch was created. It is their job to monitor and limit the amount of evil doing that the forces of Dark are allowed to get away with. In NIGHT WATCH a prophecy is told of a Great Other, whose strength would stack the odds in the favor of whichever side successfully woos him into their guild.

DAY WATCH, the second film in the trilogy, picks up a year after it left off in NIGHT WATCH. Yegor, the Great Other, is a member of the Dark, unsettling the balance and a new war seems imminent, as Anton Gorodetsky, Yegor’s father, begins searching for the Chalk of Fate, a mystical chalk of the time of world conqueror Tamerlane. It is said that the Chalk of Fate can be used to rewrite history, and Anton hopes to use it to right his previous mistake of summoning the powers of a witch to kill then unborn Yegor. As each side scrambles to control the Chalk of Fate, Yegor is accidentally wounded, spilling a drop of his blood, thus putting an end to the treaty and all hell breaks loose.

DAY WATCH is an amazing film on its own accord, and feels less like a sequel and more a continuation of the original film. The only major difference between the two films is that as time has passed, computer graphics have become more and more advanced, making the special effects in DAY WATCH that much more amazing and entertaining. Fans of action films and fantasy will not be disappointed with either NIGHT WATCH or DAY WATCH. Both films are gripping and entertaining and the amazing visuals will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The film is in Russian, with comprehensive English and Spanish subtitles, as well as an English dubbed version of the film, but as it goes with any dubbing, the dialog and mouth movements will not match and the performances while often admirable, never quite compare to the actual dialog from the film in its original form. The film is engaging enough on its own that after 5 minutes you will forget that you are reading the subtitles, but if necessary, there is a 5.1 surround English dubbed version as well.

Presented in Widescreen, with a 5.1 Stereo Surround mix in both Russian and an English dubbed Version.

The special features include several Russian TV spots, the Russian film trailers as well as a feature length commentary by director Timur Bekmambetov and a Making of DAY WATCH featurette. While these somewhat limited special features may not compare to a lot of the jam packed DVDs usually released from Hollywood, it should be noted that it is one of the most comprehensive Special Features sections for a foreign film.