Russian Rarity

Finally. Finally, Bloomington residents have an opportunity to see the movie that shattered every major box office record in Russia. Finally, we get to see the film that has become a sort of underground cult hit as it hopped around through film festivals and art houses until finally gaining enough support to receive a wide release (but not wide enough to make it to Bloomington). Two years after its initial release in Russia, finally "Night Watch" has come to DVD.\n"Night Watch," is the first installment in a Russian horror trilogy about the eternal battle between the supernatural forces of good and evil. Powerful supernatural beings called Others are all around us. Some have chosen to fight for the forces of light, and some have chosen to fight for the forces of darkness. The two sides are too evenly matched for a direct fight, so they formed a truce to maintain a delicate balance between the two sides. The forces of light formed the Night Watch and the forces of darkness formed the Day Watch to make sure that each side lives up to its end of the bargain. One day a very powerful Other is born who will supposedly alter the balance depending on which side he chooses. \nI know what you are thinking, that is basically the plot for the Star Wars prequels. While watching "Night Watch" I began to realize that this is what the Star Wars Trilogy could have been, or should have been if George Lucas still had an ounce of talent in his body. It is dark, well written, well acted, brilliantly conceived and actually entertaining... and no Jar Jar.\nThe DVD is, for some reason, two sided. One side (side A) has only dubbed versions of the movie (English and Spanish), while the second side has the original Russian version that was released in the theaters. Watching the dubbed version of this movie is like looking at Dali's "Persistence of Memory" while wearing 3D glasses, pointless and disruptive. One of the best parts about this movie was the clever way which they used subtitles. They don't just sit at the bottom of the screen, they interact with the characters and moods of the film in a way which I have simply never seen before. \nThere are some worthwhile special features on the DVD. There is an alternate ending, two commentary tracks and then a bunch of previews, but that is all. It may be a bit meager but the commentary provides some good insight about how the film was conceived and the direction that the series will be taking in the future.\nAll things considered, this DVD is well worth buying or at the very least renting. The sequel "Day Watch," is already out on DVD in Russia, lord only knows when it will finally make it here. All I know is that after seeing "Night Watch" I will be first in line at the theaters if it ever makes it here.