Day Watch (Дневной дозор) is the 2005 sequel to the incredibly popular 2004 Night Watch (Ночной дозор). Both are Russian fantasy films. Day Watch is also based on the series of novels by Sergei Lukyanenko (Сергей Лукьяненко), but it is based less on the second novel, also titled Day Watch, and more on the second and third sections of the first book, Night Watch.
The plot of the film again focuses again on Night Watch member Anton Gorodetskiy, who is in simplified terms a good wizard who lives in a Moscow that is parallel to the one we know and love. He is involved in not exactly the fight of good over evil, but more the fight for good and evil to remain in balance, which the Night and Day Watches see as crucial for the continued existence of their world. The film follows the adventures of Anton, his comrade Svetlana, and others in the city of Others—quasi-humans with magical powers.
The film got slightly worse reviews than its predecessor, but did even better at the box office—quite a feat when the first film broke box-office records and was proclaimed “Russia’s first blockbuster.” The special effects were lauded, but, again, the plot was seen as lacking (or, rather, there was too much of it—it was very hard to follow). This film did win a Golden Eagle award, though, for Best Editing, and was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Eagles. It also won a full six MTV Russia film awards, and won the Georges (a Russian film award bestowed by people’s voting) for Best Film from Russia and the CIS.
Another film in the franchise, Twilight Watch (Сумеречный дозор), has been in the works for some time, and it is not clear when it will be released.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov (Тимур Бекмамбетов)
Stars: Konstantin Khabenskiy (Константин Хабенский), Maria Poroshina (Мария Порошина), Vladimir Menshov (Владимир Меньшов), Galina Tyunina (Галина Тюнина), Viktor Verzhbitskiy (Виктор Вержбицкий), Zhanna Friske (Жанна Фриске)
Production company: Bazelevs Produtions, Perviy Kanal, Tabbak
Box office take: $31.97 worldwide in Russia, $38.86 million worldwide
Official trailer:
