Night Watch is a bit like the Russian version of The Lord Of The Rings with a twist of The Matrix. Western critics heaped praise on up-and-coming writer/director Timur Bekmambetov who tells a classic story of Light versus Dark with "frenzied flair". Although not quite the blockbuster it was on its home turf, this has all the makings of cult classic with two more instalments already in the offing.

Night And Day

You can watch the film in its original Russian (with or without the funky subtitles), or else there's the rather drab English dub version. It's accompanied by a couple of intriguing flash animation shorts from the Broken Saints series on disc one, which tackles similar themes of life, death and spirituality. The centrepiece of the extras menu on disc two is a lively 40-minute Making Of documentary, which finds Bekmambetov on location and keeping his actors very much on their toes. Initially, Konstantin Khabensky (who plays the hero Anton) is a little disorientated by the director's bleak sense of humour. "Right from the start I had my doubts," he says, "That was until I saw some of the footage and the rough cut." As for references to Hollywood fantasy flicks, Bekmambetov insists, "We began making this movie at a time when no one else had done anything of the kind."

The remaining featurettes on characters, themes and the concept of the trilogy are really just glorified trailers using clips from the film between soundbites. Bekmambetov sums up the onscreen conflict, saying, "The Dark Ones represent freedom and The Light Ones represent responsibility." That's boiling the trilogy down to its bare essence, but in a look ahead to the sequel Day Watch, producer Anatoli Maksimov is even less edifying. "The second film", he explains, "is just a direct continuation of the first one." Thanks...

Into The Night

For an in-depth analysis of the film, check out the commentaries. Bekmambetov explains the genesis of the project, starting with the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko that neatly addressed his fascination with Hollywood fantasy movies. "We never had movies about vampires and witches in Russia because there was another culture," he says - alluding to the Communist regime. "Then in the last ten or fifteen years, Russian audiences began watching American movies." In the end, he describes the film as "a reflection of American culture with Russian art". In a text track novelist Lukyanenko adds that he married these fantasy elements with real life, because it was the only way he could believe in the story. "It's easier for me to imagine the wizard who is using the mobile phone", he says, "rather than the elf who rides a flying dragon."

Bekmambetov also provides optional commentary for seven deleted/alternate scenes. Among them is a wry skit that sees Semyon (Aleksei Maklakov) pluck an ornamental star from the top of the Kremlin and lovingly polish it on his jacket. "It is a symbol of the Soviet era," explains Bekmambetov, so, "He takes care of the stars." At the other end of the tonal spectrum is a harrowing scene where Anton undergoes a brutal surgery while awake - "It was just too scary," muses the director. A gallery of comicbook stills and poster art completes the extras, which all together shed plenty of light on the ideas behind Night Watch. Strangely though, there's very little on the use of CGI and other visual effects that obviously played a big part. Still, fantasy horror fans who are looking for something a little bit different should watch out for this DVD.

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