NIGHT WATCH aka NOCHNOI DOZOR
Year: 2004
USA: Fox Searchlight Pictures
UK: Twentieth Century Fox
Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Mariya Poroshina, Galina Tunina, Alexei Chadov, Zhanna Friske, Ilia Lagutenko, Victor Verzhbitsky, Rimma Markova, Maria Mironova, Alexei Maklakov, Alexander Samoilenko, Dima Martynov, Anna Sliu, Anna Dubrovskaya, Sergei Prikhodko, Igor Savochkin, Yegor Dronov, Nikolai Olyalin
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Country: Russia
Language: Russian (English subtitles)
USA & UK: 116 mins
USA Rated: R for strong violence, disturbing images and language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong violence, horror and language
USA Release Date: 17 February 2006 (Limited Release - New York and Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 7 October 2005 (Limited Release)
Synopsis
From Russia, with horror, comes the stylish horror fantasy film that has revolutionized post-Soviet cinema: NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR). The film brings to the fore the cutting-edge vision of director/writer Timur Bekmambetov (whom Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov called "our Tarantino") and is the first instalment of a trilogy based on the best-selling Russian sci-fi novels of Sergei Lukyanenko (which also include DAY WATCH and DUSK WATCH). Featuring a dazzling mix of state-of-the-art visual effects, adrenaline-fuelled action sequences and nail-biting terror, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) was an instant smash hit in its native Russia when it was released in July 2004 shattering all previous box office records. Made for a mere $4 million, the film surpassed both LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING and SPIDER-MAN 2 at the Russian box office. In a country that had not seen a native film make more than $2 million, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) went on to gross eight times that number. Internationally acclaimed, it was also Russia's contender for the 2004 foreign language Oscar®.
Set in contemporary Moscow, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) uncovers the other-world battle that upholds a 1000-year-old truce between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness. For centuries, the undercover members of the Night Watch have policed the world's Dark Ones -the vampires, witches, shape-shifters and sorcerers that wage treachery in the night -- while the Dark Ones have a Day Watch that in turn polices the forces of Light. The fate of humanity rests in this delicate balance between good and evil but that fate is in jeopardy ...
Ancient prophecy foretells that one day a "Great One" will arrive who can end the apocalyptic battle between Light and Dark conclusively. That time has arrived in Moscow - but which side will the Great One choose?
NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) stars Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Valery Zolotukhin, Maria Poroshina, Galina Tunina, Victor Verzhbitsky and Dima Martynov. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov from a screenplay by Bekmambetov and Sergei Lukyanenko, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) is produced by Anatoly Maximov and Konstantin Ernst. The behind-the-scenes creative team includes Director of Photography Sergei Trofimov, Art Directors Valery Victorov and Mukhtar Mirzakeyev, Editor Dmitri Kiselev and Costume Designer Varya Avdyushko. The score is composed by Yuri Poteyenko.
Fox Searchlight has acquired international distribution rights to both NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR) and its sequel, DAY WATCH. The third part of the trilogy will be filmed in English and will be produced by Fox and the Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia, which produced the first two films.