MovieChat Forums > Nochnoy dozor (2006) Discussion > Why so much hate going around for this f...

Why so much hate going around for this film?

posted 16 years ago by YnEoS
63 replies | jump to latest

I see a lot of people bashing this movie and it seems a bit unnecessary to me. People call it the same old action film we've seen a bunch of times, but I really don't see it that way at all.

It had pretty dark atmosphere overall, but at the same time the movie only has 2 deaths (aside from the battle in the beginning thats used as background) the male vampire, and the death of maxim's mother, which both seem to have pretty dire consequences. For me this was an interesting and more realistic breath of fresh air from the formulaic good guy running in with guns blazing killing every badguy in sight.

Now it's not like this is a groundbreaking concept, and there's certainly nothing too groundbreaking about this movie. And there are plenty of hollywood films out there that measure up to this film in terms of providing an action film that doesn't follow the formula that gets re-used in lots of movies. But some people are just over obsessed with hollywood bashing it seems that anything with special effects is instantly attacked as being unimaginative and bland.

I watch movies to be entertained, and I'm entertained by a wide variety of films from films that make me think, to films that have awe inspiring cinematography, to films that are quirky and fun, to cheesy B films that I can laugh at with obscene levels of gore, and films that are just cool to watch.

For me nightwatch was a fun action film, based on a very imaginative universe, that was visually represented in a very cool (although maybe pointless) way. The plot wasn't anything spectacular, nor was it predictable to the point where you can say the lines before the characters do, which happens with a lot of action films.

I just really enjoyed watching this film.

[–] bigbadbazza28 16 years ago

The english Redub version killed the film russian language gives it spice

[–] Appleangel 16 years ago

I agree. I've never seen the russian version although I would have preferred it. The DVD I got only has the english track, which was disappointing. I prefer to watch the films with the original language, whatever it may be. Dubbing just doesn't do it.

[–] orioncali 15 years ago

which version? The one I have has both English and Russian on separate sides of the disc

[–] TheEmoHunter 15 years ago

Haha, i got that version, but i was freaking out because on both sides, the intro was in english, and i thought i'd been ripped off. but then i watched and it went to russian. yay

Jesus Lol'd.

[–] shadrack 15 years ago

Just watched this on cable (IFC) and I really liked it. I thought it was a little quirky -- definitely not your standard Hollywood cookie-cutter action crapfest -- although some of that may be due to cultural differences.

The version I saw was subtitled in English, and I do not hesitate to say they are the best subtitles I have ever seen (keep in mind, I'm talking strictly about the execution -- I have no idea how good the translation was). The subtitles didn't just pop on and off like they normally do, they reacted to the action on screen in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. I have never seen subtitles done this way before, and I must say it was a pleasure to watch. They definitely add to the movie -- I can't even imagine seeing this dubbed.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] bdonkalonk 15 years ago

How about a spoiler warning people, come on.

[–] aleka_oakland 14 years ago

I have never seen it in english, but i think it really rocks in russian, in fact foreigner won't be able to understand every aspect of the movie, as it's not only about funky effects.

[–] MerovingianGoddess 10 years ago

The version of both Night Watch & Day Watch currently on Netflix is done in the Russian Language with the unusual subtitles with character in Night Watch but non-creative subtitles in Day Watch. However, I saw the matinee opening weekend for Day Watch in St. Louis at the Tivoli, and it was Russian language with the creative English subtitles.

I suppose they have tried to compensate for and tried to please everyone many times over.

Merovingian Goddess
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

[–] scottlebowski 8 years ago

NETFLIX has Day Watch in HD with the animated Subs.
VUDU has Night Watch in HD with the animated Subs.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] russellsolomon 16 years ago

They just don't "get it" perhaps?

[–] violababy 16 years ago

I've seen both films, and I really liked them.
All those who can only appreciate shootings and car-racing when they sit in a cinema, are surely bored by this kind of products.
I's too clever, too high to reach...
I can only imagine all that HATE can come from this. Because we can dislike, but hate is something stupid, I think it can only come from ignorance.

[–] vittoib 16 years ago

I feel that this film, and the sequel, have so many great things going on. Just the whole artistic way they represented everything was incredible! Yes, it's not the most original movie plotwise, but they gave it so much character and style. I flipped when I saw it in the theaters and saw what they did with the subtitles (oh, and if you didn't like the movie for the subtitles alone...you need to get over it and learn how to tolerate great foreign films)!

[–] violababy 16 years ago

ok, not the most original plot, but you should read the book... try and tell... ;)

[–] varialectio 16 years ago

I flipped when I saw it in the theaters and saw what they did with the subtitles (oh, and if you didn't like the movie for the subtitles alone...you need to get over it and learn how to tolerate great foreign films)!

Agree. I've studied graphic design and I loved the subtitles. It was so creative and just visually interesting. I especially loved the "NO!" rushing out and expanding like a speeding freight train.

[–] lenny_nero-1 16 years ago

I always seem to see it the same way, when something goes over the top of peoples heads they have to put it down in some way. If I dont see, or get something the first time, I will try again and do a bit more learning about it.

But then I dont bother with most of the so called 'big films', a car chase and a shoot out ...a film does not make.

I have next to no understanding of Russian, so I can only see the dubbed, or subbed (if there is such that works) versions and expect that something can/will get lost in the translation.

[–] reservourdogg 16 years ago

Just because someone doesn't like the movie doesn't mean they're ignorant. The movie wasn't original, sorry. It just wasn't that good and there wasn't much to "get" either.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Rg56 16 years ago

i think a lot of people dont like it, so thats why so much hate
I didnt like it either, I didnt understand it
oh well
I think Im gonna watch daywatch though

[–] motley_moth 16 years ago

Some people have put up a detailed synopsis of "Nochnoy dozor": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/synopsis.
Read it, and see if it doesn't answer your questions.

[–] geebeezee 16 years ago

this guy is right. there is nothing to "get" about this movie. or its sequel. in fact the makers of the film made such an effort to leave out everything one could "get" that instead of protagonists and antagonists with some sort of agenda or motive they made the opposing sides "light" and "dark". and that is it. its the most basic thing and it boggles my mind that this is what flies as plot.

take away all the fancy computer generated crap and bad acting and bad writing and what is left is "those guys are bad. why? because! they are..uh...dark. but its ok, cause we are light and we're gonna watch 'em. hear that? we're watchin you!"

im not dumb or ignorant. ive seen many non-american films and ive liked some of them. its not "oh, we have a hard time understanding because its in another language and was written by russians." its bad acting. you want a good russian movie? try "stalker" by tarkovsky. be careful though, if you think you are cultured and smart because you liked day watch and think it has something to "get" because you "got" something out of it, you might hurt your head.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/

im being too mean. this movie is the epitome of all form no substance. and if that is what you like in a movie, more power to you. just dont over estimate what you are watching.

[–] ManMadeHell 16 years ago

take away all the fancy computer generated crap and bad acting and bad writing and what is left is "those guys are bad. why? because! they are..uh...dark. but its ok, cause we are light and we're gonna watch 'em. hear that? we're watchin you!"

Stupid... That is why many "european trash movies" never hit the big screen.You're just too obsessed with yourself and your country.Anything beyond it is stupid,lame and insignificant.The movie is actually pretty good and there's much to get-you're just too small minded to get it.

try "stalker" by tarkovsky. be careful though, if you think you are cultured and smart because you liked day watch and think it has something to "get" because you "got" something out of it, you might hurt your head.

yeah,right...what is about?...The movie,I mean.

its bad acting

yes,and we've seen bad acting only in foreign movies...

[–] conor-downey4 16 years ago

Im Irish and i completely agree with the geebeezee. It was an awfull movie. I did see the dubbed version, but the plot was abysmal, the acting was horrible, i can find nothing good to say about it other than some of the effects were alright. Was gonna watch Daywatch aswell, but have zero interest in doing so now. Think ill just read the plot on wikipedia instead of wasting 2 hours on the film

[–] Sweet_Aya 16 years ago

To be fair, watching the dubbed version isn't the best way to assess how good the acting is, is it?

The night is darkest just before the dawn. And the dawn is coming - 25 July 2008

[–] PacoDeth 16 years ago

I may be going against the trend, but I truly enjoyed the English Dubbed version alot better than the Russian. It just made more sense to me, as the subtitles weren't always up to par (and they never are in just about any movie). I originally ordered the Russian Channel One version off a russian DVD site, long before it came to the states. Liked the film, but didn't love it as much as I did once the US DVD came over and was in English overdubs and just made more sense to me as a whole.

Obviously the english overdubs are lacking in the acting department, that kinda comes with the territory (you should see Iron Man in korean overdubs!), but I can look past that. At the same time, I enjoy watching the flipside of the US DVD as it has the Russian version as well. Anyways, just wanted to say my piece that I enjoyed the movie more after watching the English Dubbed DVD, but that could have to do with the fact that I saw the Russian version with subtitles a few times previous.

After watching Day Watch, I really grew to love both movies even more, and yes, there is ALOT to get with these films, and you don't realize even half of it the first sit through. Each time I watch the films again, I see more things I missed and more genious in the plot and dialogue and general physical acting (if watching the english dubs as you can't count for vocal acting). They are truly movies that you can watch back to back, then go back and watch again a few more times and like them even more each time.

All the same, I totally see why a fair amount of people do not like this film, as I think it just goes over their head. Not to say they are stupid, ignorant, simple minded, or anything like that, it just goes over their field of attention and interest. It's the same reason I like movies like Donnie Darko and Memento and Equilibrium, yet handfuls of people don't. It's just not their style of movie, it has a very unique and cultish feeling to it, that isn't easy to pick up on with casual viewing.

So like it or not, who cares, I still know I love both films and rate them in the 7-8's out of 10. And alot of critics are starting to say Timur is on his way to be one of the next great Directors (probably no Speilberg or Lucas, but maybe a shadow of Raimi or Nolan)

[–] Saintsheild 16 years ago

Well actually the reason being that the book is awesome and this movie is a way for the 'visionary' director to go off and change the drama with action in order to achieve his 'artistic' vision. It truly is from no substance, the book creates a far better world and really makes the characters more ... "human." The movies and books are different in their own ways, so I assume that although the film will find an audience, it won't be the readers of the book.

[–] lantzn 15 years ago

That being the case are there English translations of the books? If not, then the movies is all I'll be able to understand. I watched the Russian versions with subtitles one after the other awhile back and actually enjoyed both films.

I just saw them on iTunes for rent. They had both the Russian versions with subtitles and the second one in English dubbed which I thought odd. Why don't they have the first one in English dubbed also? I thought I might watched them again in the English dubbed version but would only do so in sequence.

[–] activista 8 years ago

@dogg

The film was actually pretty good---is was the old story of vampires vs darkness and light done from a Russian viewpoint. I actually it was pretty different and kind of unique the way it was done. There have been virtually no Russian horror films ever released in the U.S., so this was a rare opportunity to check one out.

[–] OrionKnight 12 years ago

And what about those of us that appreciate both car-racing, shooting, and the smart stuff like this?

[–] mistycara13 15 years ago

I respect others opinions but I dont get all the bashing either?? I loved this movie. I thought it was fresh and original. I prefer watching the Russian version with subtitles. Had to watch the dubbed version once and didn't like it. I perfer to hear the actors speak with their own voices. I also love Day Watch. This movie has introduced me to an actor I would never have know about, Konstantin Khabensky. I've now become enamored of his other movies because of these films.

Cara

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Syndicateman 15 years ago

You can't tell someone their opinions are wrong and then make up stuff about "content" and "execution". The "cool visuals" were purposely placed there as an art style, not as a crutch to the narrative.

Also, HOW IN THE WORLD does "cheesy" and "nerdy" equal poor execution. You do know that the film is based off a novel? The films plot is only nonsensical because the director didn't feel like spoon feeding you explanations like Hollywood filmmakers when you can read the book. Night Watch was not poorly developed, especially when you consider the fact they made it on a budget of 4.2 million.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tim-2421 15 years ago

You really are a self righteous little prick aren't you. You can't handle that other people have their opinions so you result to throwing insults at them and simple bullying tactics to shout them down. You use the same tactics on most of the threads you have argued within.

It is very apparent that you use the internet to substitute to your real life inadequacies with people.

Some PEOPLE like Night Watch, SOME don't... as you WOULD say... GET OVER IT.
---------------------------------
"Oh I see, so basically I have to READ THE BOOK in order to UNDERSTAND THE MOVIE. Right, so basically the film's director was such a *beep* lazy *beep* he couldn't be bothered making a complete, well-rounded, well-written, self-enclosed movie? He has to lean on the book and use the hard work put into the BOOK in order to make his movie work?

What kind of lazy *beep* does that? "

SOMEONE WHO REALISES THAT A FILM WON'T CAPTURE AN AUDIENCE FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE OF HOURS OR SO.
----------------------------------
"Um...I just did. And I didn't make it up, I've supplied a point. "
NO YOU DIDN'T, YOU'VE CREATED A CONCEPT.
----------------------------------
"Well done, your debating skills are truly phenomenal."
I WOULD SAY THAT MOST PEOPLE'S DEBATING SKILLS ARE AT LEAST MARGINALLY BETTER THAN YOURS. YOUR SKILLS RESULT AROUND, "IF THEY DISAGREE WITH ME, REPEAT WHAT I SAID BEFORE AND THROW SOME INSULTS IN." YOU MENTION DEBATE BUT A HEALTHY DEBATE DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND BULLYING.

[–] mistycara13 15 years ago

The last time I checked a personal opinion was just that! I don't have to justify to you why I like this movie!!!! So get off your soapbox with your CONTENT AND EXECUTION bs!!!!

Thanks Syndicateman!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] knaveman 15 years ago

It's all opinion. Get over yourselves.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Chilly_Flamingo 15 years ago

Dang man, you're one angry mofo!

Maybe people would respond a little better to your arguments and points (a lot of which are valid and worth discussion - where do we draw the line between stylistic excess and content?) if you chilled out a bit with the freaking out.

[–] FCA1975 15 years ago

FAQ those folks who disrespect this masterpiece. I own Nochnoy dozor and Dnevnoy dozor. I can't wait for Twilight Watch; if it is made. I loved both films. I hate watching subtitles if I understand the (language already) and I loathe dubbed audio. A lot of the time the actors/actresses voice sounds stupid and doesn't fit the character in some way. What's worse is they put other words that make the film sound dumb, usually completely different from the subtitles or the original dialogue.

[–] lantzn 15 years ago

Will they be making all 4 novels into separate movies or are they going to combine the last 2 books into one, making the movies a trilogy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(Russian_novel)

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] daja_ace 15 years ago

I can understand why some people would hate both this film and its sequel Day Watch.

For me personally, I thought the movies were "ok" but not the end-all, be-all of this genre that the previews tried to make it out to be. I would have liked to have seen more fight sequences but the point of the movie was that the Night Watch often was supposed to keep that to a minimum.

My biggest problem with both Night Watch and Day Watch was the editing or direction of both films. It seemed to me like the direction of this film was done by someone on crack cocaine or something. I understood the plot of both films and the message (at least I think so), but the constant jumping and jerking into different scenes at various camera angles became pretty annoying after awhile. Also, the noise level of the films jumps all over the place.

It seems that directors and producers in the 21st century think shaky cameras, abrupt cuts into another scene in an attempt to make a movie confusing, and overuse of loud sounds and music solely for unnecessary overdramatic effect make a movie better, but in my opinion it doesn't.

Having that said, these movies presented an interesting idea/concept. I've seen both Night Watch and Day Watch twice now. I just thought the execution could have been better and flowed a lot more smoothly. I was surprised to hear that the budget for this movie was less than $10 million.

I am also surprised that the third installment of this series has not been released yet.

Overall, I'd give them both anywhere from 6.5 to 7.5 out of 10 stars at best.

[–] PlutoNashFan 15 years ago

"Why so much hate going around for this film?"
because its awful

Paul W.S. Anderson raping franchises since 1994

[–] BarstowBabe 14 years ago

No it's not. You just have to enjoy hearing the language and actually be able to read English. Three glasses of wine makes it fun as well. It's out there. But just didn't have the huuuuge budget that American films have so production values suffer.

[–] NineInchNailed 14 years ago

Okay, here are my two cents:

I've lived in Canada for over 8 years and I immigrated here as a young teen from Ukraine. So I speak and read Russian and English pretty fluently.

I read all of the books in Russian and checked out the English translations of them - they were very good.

Now, I was super excited about Night Watch the movie. But as I was watching it (I saw it in Russian, seeing that I understand it)...I was thinking, "WTF," nonstop. Please do not dismiss me as a book purist...even though I kind of am. But this was a bad adaptation and I dislike it. They changed so many things, they raped Anton's character (he really sucked in the movie even though he was a cool badass in the books), Svetlana wasn't as hot and awesome as she was in the novel, and etc. Also, the whole thing just seemed really disjoint to me - I felt like it was jumping from one scene to the other without much coherency and smooth flow. Twilight/Gloom looked weird - what was that with those bugs?

I did like a few things such as the visual look, the actor who played Anton (even though the character sucked) and the CGI. The movie looked pretty cool...but that's it.

Lastly, I totally understand why people would love this movie (without reading the books, I'd imagine). It's (sort of) original, it's cool-looking, it's foreign and it's got magic and vampires in the modern and grown-up setting. However, compared to what this movie could have been and had it followed the book more closely (instead of taking out/replacing some parts with sillier parts that didn't make sense)...then it would have been a real masterpiece and not just a "cult" movie. I know that not all books can translate to screen but still. A bit more effort on the part of the filmmakers on this book series would have been more appreciated.

Flash! I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the world!

[–] noblefreak 14 years ago

It does sound like you're comparing it to what you pictured from the book.

It seems like most haters:
1. Are the over-analyzing type who can't just sit back and enjoy the movie.
2. Are stupid. Like, I could figure out the main plot and what was going on pretty easily, why can't you.
3. Are people who don't like movies with sub-titles, then talk trash about dubbed movies.

I've encountered at least one person who fits the first two categories.

If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it copy this and make your signature!

[–] psdhart 13 years ago

Good points

[–] ReasonlsOutToLunch 13 years ago

I can't imagine why people hate this film. I thought the acting was very good. I saw it with subtitles, they weren't hammy actors or terribly subtle you know like real people not over the top or too understated to understand. Anyway, I liked it, it seemed very American to me just with the Russian language and location.

Perhaps I will understand someday why some people will dislike a film in the first couple of minutes, suffer through it, then complain on IMDB to no one that cares, but today is not that day.

If you love Cheezits and are 100% proud of it make this your signature!

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] john-periv 13 years ago

Really, people dislike Nightwatch? It's awesome!

Well, it's not as good as Twilight though but even so(Irony).

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] senua 13 years ago

You were watching a film about wizards and vampires and were bothered by the plot being implausible? ^_^