Talk:Night Watch (2004 film)

Untitled
The info box says that the budget was $3 000 000, while the article talks about $5 million. Which one is it?

This film was originally listed as being released on 29 July. Today is 3 August and still I don't see it in theaters, and Fox Searchlight has changed their website from 'coming 29 july' to 'coming soon'. Anyone know what's up with this? I really want to see this in the damn theater!

First major Russian sci-fi movie?
Hmm... What about Aelita and Stalker (film)? --Ghirlandajo 13:00, 28 August 2005 (UTC)


 * Well, technically those were Soviet, not Russian movies. Ausir 20:04, 5 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Technically, Russian Federation is successor to the SU. And don't forget that Aelita was filmed before the USSR came into being. --Ghirlandajo 17:09, 19 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Russian Sci-fi movies must see for every sci-fi fan: Solaris, Stalker, Kin-Dza-Dza sci-fi comedy Alexandre Koriakine 22:03, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, this is all about post-Soviet movies. So after collapse of USSR this is the one.

What language is it in?
I can't tell from the article. Is the film in Russian or English? (If it's in Russian, is it dubbed to English?) Is the version described in this article the same version that is showing in Russia, or is this a Western remake? It says it was released over a year ago in Russia and has already been aired on TV by now - that makes me think that the version that is hitting Europe now is a West remake. But I can't tell. Also, it says that 20th Century Fox is financing the third installment. Is this the third installment? Or is this the first installment and 20th Century Fox have committed to finance a third film, but will not finance the second film? I'm quite confused by the article. Thanks for any clarity. Gronky 05:51, 29 October 2005 (UTC)


 * The film itself is in Russian though at the very beginning the narrator speaks English (at least in the version shown in Poland). I don't know if it was dubbed in the US. Halibutt 05:57, 17 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Thanks for sharing what you've seen. It would be useful to have information from more people. Gronky 13:21, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * There is a DVD region 2 available with English overdubs. The voice actors seem to have a "russian accent". Also the music in the credits features the song "Fearless" by The Bravery.--92.224.55.3 (talk) 06:29, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

When the film debuted in the United Kingdom, BBC and other media outlets made quite a fuzz about its stylish subtitles. "Even the English subtitles are unique, appearing in odd places around the screen, and often animated to emphasise or complement the action." --Ghirlandajo 17:11, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Looking for authors!
We're looking for the authors of this article and people who have a very good knowledge of Nightwatch and the books it is based upon. We are a company working on a commercial website about this movie. Please write to nightwatch.site@googlemail.com Thanks!


 * Any chance we can find out what the company in question is? I, for one, am not terribly eager to give out my personal information to a mysterious party with an e-mail address from a free service provider. --Strannik 03:15, 21 December 2005 (UTC)


 * We're PSM&W new media http://psmw-nm.de/ located in Frankfurt, Germany. Book and movie have already been released over here. We're looking for contributors with good background information for a project promoting the trilogy / DVD. Thanks! (as a freelance assignment / job) 07:15, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Does that mean the book is in an English translation? ThePeg 23:52, 29 October 2006 (UTC)


 * As far as I know, the novel has been translated into English and released some time ago. Chronolegion 14:49, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Fantasy and not Science Fiction
i don't think this movie is properly characterized as science fiction. Streamless 13:37, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
 * If you feel something isn't right, be bold, correct it. - Sikon 14:24, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
 * thanks for the vote of confidence, but i prefer to discuss before editing. Streamless 18:03, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Thange it. Vjasper 21:11, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I had the same problem, and can be bold. --Our Bold Hero 02:45, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Well... To be honest, for some defintions of Science-fiction, it's both. Science Fiction and Fantasy are really the same genre, with the name 'Fantasy' used more often when magic is involved and 'Science Fiction' more often when technology is more prevalent.


 * Actually, this movie is more properly catagorized as "supernatural",

since Fantasy is more J.J.R Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) middevial-style with RP and not Fallen,/Constantine or Night Watch.

so Supernatural thriller film would and is the only category appropriate to this movie then "fantasy action". I allsow found it in that category list (note i didn't edit it in, see it's history) so i've change it accordingly.

--Byzantios (talk) 13:09, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

How you become light or dark
The diffrences section has this:

While I can see some support for this in the book the book also says that when you first enter the gloom it reveals who you really are, and you leave the rest behind. There are a number if insances where it indicates that how you enter the gloom first does matter, my impression is that this is only a issue for people who coudl go either way. Maxim for example who did not even enter the gloom was clearly a light other and could not have been any other way. I think this section shoudl be re-written. Dalf | Talk 06:43, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Maxim entered the Gloom several times. He just wasn't aware of it. Remember how he referred to his private place where he could slay Dark Others? --Strannik 21:30, 27 July 2006 (UTC)


 * No, he didn't. Shortly before their fight Anton mentioned that it was almost like Gloom, but with few differences —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.6.81.194 (talk) 15:15, 3 April 2010 (UTC)


 * He slayed them with an enchanted wooden dagger given to him by a childhood friend. It is unknown who enchanted the dagger. --Chronolegion September 20, 2006.

Zavulon/Zabulon
"In the book the leader of the daywatch was Zabulon, although all descriptions on the internet talk of him as Zavulon, no matter referring to the book or the film. This is probably due to the fact that the Cyrillic character B is pronounced 'v'." This is due to his name in Russian is Zavulon (Завулон), both in film and novel. And the english versions of such names are Zabulon or Zebulun. Chamieiniibet 15:27, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Product placement
Is any of it referenced at all? I'm aware of something to do with Nescafe but the simple viewing of a Nokia is not really product placement to me Alastairward 11:49, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Try counting how many times Nokia products are shown on screen. Then, look carefully at the scene when the entire city looses power. If that's not product placement, I don't know what is --Strannik 16:52, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
 * It's only product placement if they were paid (in cash or advertising) to put the product in the film. Otherwise it's production design.  I'm 99% sure that money changed hands (the director can come across as very mercenary in interviews that I've read), but I agree that there really ought to be an actual cite. - Richfife 21:45, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Comparisons.
I hope noone minds I extended the "differences between book and movie" and "differences between Russian and worldwide cuts" sections. I am a fan of the Watches and I assure you I wrote only the things I was 100% sure were true. By the way, the last difference between the movie and the book, if you notice: In the Russian version of the movie, Ignat is engaged to a girl, while in the book he is single and either gay (as he rants about having to charm a woman) or bisexual. It may come out as something for purists (as I was talking about the Russian cut here), but this is not the point: it's not me who wasn't sure either Ignat was gay or bi in the book, it was ambiguously stated in the book itself. I hope you'll keep my contributions ;). And sorry about a dozen of updates, I couldn't think of everything when I was writing it :/ . I'll be more careful in the future. Cheers. SaniOKh (talk) 13:24, 26 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't doubt that the updates are true, but... it's really way too much.  Note the section heading:  Major differences.  I'll take a look at it later on and cut it back.  Thanks though! - Richfife (talk) 16:33, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Major diff - Anton and the Witch
I won't edit straight away since I lent my copy of The Night Watch to a friend, but I'm quite certain that this point was in the book:
 * The opening scene of the movie wasn't in the book (it's taken from Day Watch), nor was it ever mentioned or alluded to. In the movie, Anton Gorodetskiy visited a witch in hopes that she would use magic to get his wife back. In the book, this incident took place in the beginning of Day Watch, the second installment of the tetralogy, and also the witch's customer was not Anton, but a woman called Natasha who wanted to get her husband back.

I'm not 100% certain where it was, but I do remember going "Huh, interesting parallel!" when I started reading The Day Watch, especially since in that case, the witch did clap her hands (instead of being stopped just in time). Anybody with a copy handy to verify? (I guess there is the minor chance that this is just in my edition of the book, but I extremely doubt this. And if it were, the existence of such an altered copy should be noted in the article about the book) --Sid 3050 (talk) 01:38, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Big Budget?
The first section is kind of confusing and/or unclear, as it makes no comparisons to other films. For a film to be considered "big budget" to me, I'd only consider upwards of $10 million US Dollars. $4.5mil is tiny compared to many movies, and the SFX that are included are pretty awesome considering. The "Production" section says "part of the challenge..." but has just stated that the film is big budget... which surely should make it easy, not a challenge to put those VFX in??

I think it should state that the film is perhaps big budget for Russia and perhaps one of the most expensive since the fall of the soviet film-industry, but still tiny $$$ when compared to hollywood, hence the challenge to attain high quality effects that cinema-goers will appreciate.

Examples: Night Watch $4.5 mil US Day Watch $4.2 mil US Goldeneye $58 mil US Casino Royale $150 mil US Quantum of Solace $230 mil US Batman Begins $150 mil US The Bourne Identity $60 mil US Children of Men $76 mil US E.T. $10.5 mil US Independance Day $75 mil US —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.98.10.67 (talk) 00:25, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Can We Link This Page To The Japanese Wikipedia Page?
There is a page on the Japanese Wikipedia called ナイト・ウォッチ which deals with this movie. How do we add it to the language links on the left of screen?Zaqwsxcderfvbgtyhnmjuik, (talk) 10:33, 22 April 2009 (UTC)