Day Watch Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
A man (Konstantin Khabensky) who serves in the war between the forces of Light and Dark
comes into possession of a device that can restore life to Moscow, which was nearly destroyed
by an apocalyptic event. The second installment of a trilogy based on the best-selling sci-fi
novels of Sergei Lukyanenko, entitled Night Watch, Day Watch and Dusk Watch.
This review of Day Watch contains spoilers for both Night Watch and
Day Watch.
You were warned.
After enjoying Night Watch,
finding myself drawn into the world it created, and eager to see the resolution to that film's
cliffhanger, it was with high expectations that I screened Day Watch.
Pardon the pun, but the experiences were, literally, like night and day, except with a reversal of
the meaning usually therein understood. Night Watch
created a gritty, enthralling world of opposing supernatural beings struggling to maintain an
uneasy
peace amongst themselves, introduced a myriad of good characters with whom we became
emotionally invested, and wove a story of high intrigue and fascination, replete with plenty of
scrumptious violence and action. Day Watch returns these characters, introduces some
new ones, and builds on the foundation laid in the first film, but is never as riveting as the first.
Frankly, it's not even all that interesting, and the film features an ending that is one of the bigger
letdowns I've seen, rivaled only by the 140 or so minutes that precede it.
Can I make it so that I never saw 'The Love Guru?'
In Day Watch, Anton (Konstantin Khabensky), his new trainee Sveta (Mariya Poroshina),
and other members of the Night Watch, seek to keep the peace between the factions of Others.
Anton's son, Yegor (Dmitry Martynov), now a member of the Day Watch, is days away from his
birthday and therefore close to becoming a Great Other, a being powerful enough to disrupt the
peace and, ultimately, claim victory for the Dark Others. Anton's only hope of preventing
Armageddon is to acquire an ancient piece of chalk -- known as the Chalk of Fate -- that allows its
user to undo one mistake form his or her past, in Anton's case the decision to seek the services
of the witch at the beginning Night Watch that led him to discover his talents as a seer,
join the Light Others, and ultimately, lose his son to the Day Watch. Anton must not only find
the chalk, but also discover exactly how it works, all the while keeping it out of the hands of the
Day Watch and thereby preventing a calamity the likes of which the world has never seen.
The best word I can come up with to describe Day Watch is "bloated." At nearly two and
one-half hours in length, there is plenty of superfluous storytelling here that yanks audiences
straight out of the movie. The plot is far too intricate for what is ultimately a rather simple story.
It's hard to follow, and not just because of the language barrier. The premise of the story
takes no time to grasp, but there are so many odds and ends tossed about that it becomes a
chore to sift through it. As you'll read in a moment, the plot is so simple that we know exactly
where
the movie will go within the opening minutes, and that is never a good sign. There is also an
almost cartoonish atmosphere to the movie, conveyed more by the music than by the on-screen
action, which, in my estimation, did not lend itself well to the overall story arc of the film, and
now
the series. Day Watch never feels serious or tense, again perhaps because any drama
has been sucked
out of the movie after the first few minutes.
Day Watch, and the ending in particular, feels like a cop-out, and is a major let-down
compared to
the exciting final act and cliffhanger ending of Night Watch. Have you ever seen those
commercials featuring the "Easy Button?" Perhaps you are a fan of the "Star Trek" universe and
have heard the term "Reset Button" floated about, particularly with regards to "Star Trek:
Voyager." Both of these devices fit right in with the plot line of Day Watch. The problem
is that we see it coming from the opening minutes of the movie and know that everything in the
movie, as well as everything from its predecessor, will be
for naught. Granted, the movie does leave its ending somewhat open-ended, and without
spoiling it completely, the ending would require too much history to be re-written and too many
character arcs, affiliations, and advancements to be recreated with both major and minor details
revised to build on this ending, again leaving everything from the
first two films for naught.
Day Watch arrives on Blu-ray with a 2.35:1-framed, 1080p high definition transfer. I
find
it odd that a sequel tied so closely to the original would be presented with a drastically differing
aspect ratio (though Alien and Aliens puled it off), but since the two films take
on radically differing tones, I suppose it only makes sense,
in that regard. Nevertheless, Day Watch offers a fine looking transfer, one that is slightly
superior to its
predecessor. Detail remains strong in this release, and is perhaps slightly improved over what we
saw in Night Watch. Colors also appears a bit stronger, and blacks come across as
somewhat deeper. One scene that stands out occurs in chapter five as Anton and Sveta are in a
restaurant, one of the pivotal locales in the film. Anton's woven sweater looks absolutely
amazing,
with a wonderful texture and realism, not to mention depth, and facial details are remarkable as
well. Indeed, fine details, in both close-ups and in distance shots, look very good throughout
Day Watch. Flesh tones remain accurate in the film, too. Day Watch, like
Night Watch, is a grainy film. It's presence is always visible, and some scenes sport more
than others. The transfer does lose sharpness here and there, resulting in some inconsistent soft
shots that creep up now and again, but on the whole this transfer is a superior one.
Day Watch is presented with a Russian language DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack (as
well as a lossy DTS English dub and English subtitles), and proves to be quite the sonic experience.
The
lossless track features an incredibly powerful sound design with a fantastic use of each and every
speaker to create a wholly immersive sound field. Just as robust if not more so than the previous
outing, Day Watch features a nonstop assault of intense sound effects and music that
sounds wonderful in every regard. Bass is deep and tight with some awesome rumbles, chapter 10
offering a prime example of subtle lows used to great effect. The film's famed car-in-a-building
scene (you'll know it when you see it) sounds amazing, with excellent fidelity, dynamics, and
precision as the squealing of the tires and the revving of the engine are so precise and exciting, not
to mention the myriad of other effects that accompany the scene. Dialogue reproduction is
consistently strong throughout. Day Watch is quite the listen with an impressive sound
design sure to please.
Day Watch contains significantly fewer supplements than did its predecessor. First up is
a
commentary track with director Timur Bekmambetov. This begins as more of a question and
answer
session where Bekmambetov responds to queries about what's going on in the film, the
inspirations
to create the films, the absence of firearms in the films, and plenty of other worthwhile
information
and interesting tidbits, such as a scene with a roomful of famous real-life Russian Science Fiction
and fantasy writers.
There are some very long gaps in the comments, however. The Making of 'Day Watch'
(480p, 26:08), like the making-of feature found on Night Watch, is a Russian-language
piece with English subtitles. The piece examines various aspects of the production, ranging from
the exciting opening sequence of the film to an examination of the film's climactic action
sequence.
Plenty of interviews with the cast and crew take us through the piece. Concluding the
supplemental materials are 16 television spots (480p, 6:02), a 1080p English language trailer
(2:32), and 6 Russian language trailers (480p, 6:18). This
feature is also D-Box enabled.
Day Watch proved to be most disappointing as a follow-up to the engaging Night
Watch. Silly, predictable, meandering, and oftentimes boring, Day Watch is an
uninspired sequel to a movie that deserved better. Although I found the story line not sufficiently
compelling, particularly following a screening of Night Watch, 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray
release certainly comes up to the standards expected of the format. Featuring stellar audio and
video transfers and a few
supplemental materials, fans won't be disappointed with this film's presentation on Blu-ray. As
much as I would have liked to, I cannot recommend Day Watch. It's predecessor,
Night Watch, is definitely worth checking out, and if you enjoy that one, your curiosity will
be piqued and watching Day Watch will be inevitable. Who knows, perhaps you'll enjoy it
more than I did.
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