After the crash of a spaceship on an apparently desolated planet, the only surviving crew members are captured by a group of highly evolved Apes. They act like humans, are dominant on the planet, and have reduced humans to an almost-animal state. The fact that the newly-arrived humans are able to talk and reason will shock the Apes and create confrontation within the group of leading members of the tribe.
Planet of the Apes has
plenty of action, thrill and mystery, and it is very entertaining.
However, the dialogues and atmosphere of the film are permeated by a
subtle restlessness that unsettles the viewer from the beginning to the
very end. Planet of the Apes is not only an entertaining science-fiction film, but a mesmerising reflection on Human and Animal Nature, the position of Humans within the animal world, and racial superiority and segregation theories. The script is very philosophical and poignant and presents many difficult subjects, which were very relevant at the time, in a very light, unconventional non-confrontational way. In a way, Planet of the Apes is a social and political parable. The script is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Pierre Boulle.
The actors are all terrific in their respective roles. Charlton Heston is good and believable in his role of George Taylor, while Linda Harrison is pretty as the pretty Nova. However, the actors playing the main Apes Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius (Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans, respectively) really steal the show, not because of their masks and dresses, but because of their performances are so good that the viewer soon forgets about the make-up and sees them as real characters.
The film is visually impacting, still today, despite the lack of computerised special effects. The make-up and dresses are unbelievable. The ending offers us one of the most iconic stunning surprising endings and images in Film History, and that is a lot to say.
Although some of the issues implicitly discussed in the film are out of date, the films is still terrific. One wonders why a remake was necessary, the original being so good.
An unforgettable classic.
An elegant retro-futuristic science-fiction film that explores the ethical and social dangers of eugenics. The title Gattaca comes from the initials of the four essential chemicals of the DNA: GTCA.
Gattaca is the story of Vincent, who was conceived the natural way and born with a heart defect in a world that gives social and professional prominence to genetically-perfect humans. Vincent's dream of entering Gattaca -a futuristic NASA- is impossible due to his genetics so he will try to trick the system with the help of crippled but genetic-master-piece Jerome.
Gattaca is set in a retro-future that uses the elements of both noir films and science fiction to offer an allegory on the superiority of willpower and strength of the human spirit over genetic perfection to overcome difficulties and pursue your dreams. Gattaca is also a story about the need of the individuals to remain such, with their virtues and defects, to avoid creating meaningless amorphous societies based on measurements.
A world like Gattaca is not only possible - it is already happening. When the movie was shot, the mapping of the Human Genome was still an unfinished project, and many of the scientific developments that are now a reality were unknown or just fiction at the time. However, the film explores with philosophical depth and creative inventive the possible effects of human genetic selection and improvement. In fact, it posed (and poses) questions that we are already asking ourselves, +10 years later, regarding genetics and its use in medicine and conception. Where is the limit? What is ethical? What is sensible? Does genetic perfection equal personal achievement?
Visually speaking, the film has a terrific cinematography, with a great photo framing, great hues, and a 1950s-60s ambience, architecture, interiors, and wardrobe. Minimal clean lines and metallic textures create a sophisticated atmosphere and mood. The music by Michael Nyman is subtly enveloping, very classy, and creates a perfect mood for the film. Gattica's style is still modern and chic despite the pass of time.
The acting is good, especially by Jude Law as the sarcastic heavy-drinker good-natured Jerome, and Ethan Hawke as dreamer calculating impostor Vincent. Alan Arkin is very classy as Detective Hugo. Umma Thurman is OK as the shy, clever and elegant Irene; she and Hawke had a great chemistry on camera, which really reaches the viewer. There are cameos by the always terrific Gore Vidal, as Gattaca's director Josef, and Ernest Borgnine, as Gattaca's head janitor Caesar.
On the negative side, the investigation and suspense part of the film is somewhat predictable, there are a few flaws in the storyline, and there are a few lacunas regarding the life of some of the characters that I would have liked developed or hinted.
A sci-fic suspenseful film that will both entertain you and make your think. A modern classic of the science-fiction
I am a fan of Ridley Scott, since ever. Some of his movies are among my all-times favourites, so I was looking forward to watching the much anticipated "Prometheus".
PLOT - It is year 2089. Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, a couple of archaeologists, discover a star map connected to the signs present in many archaeological artefacts of ancient cultures. They seem to match a group of planets that have LV-233 as a moon. There are indications that life on Earth might have had an exogenous origin and that the engineers of it could come from that moon. The leading couple, teamed up with a a group of scientists and funded by the dying CEO of the Weyland Corporation, start a trip of exploration to LV-223 on the spaceship Prometheus trying to discover whether the Engineers hypothesis is true, and if true, why they created the human species.
THE MOVIE - Prometheus wants to be a prequel (or at least connect) to the "Alien" saga, including the stories narrated in the two "Alien vs Predator" movies, so the story, in a way, has to fit the bill.
Prometheus also wants to move away and go beyond those movies to create a saga and mythological world in which all the stories are included and embedded, but it has its own autonomy.
Prometheus also wants to pose some philosophical, theological and ethical queries about human nature, the soul of androids, and the origin of life, very much in connection with many of the themes explored in "Blade Runner".
To put in simple terms... Prometheus wants to provide the viewer with a science-fiction teleological mythology infused with philosophical and metaphysical queries... it sounds pretentious, no? Well, it is pretentious.
The start of the
movie is very promising and intriguing and subject to interpretation, a
promise that, however, is never fulfilled. I love action movies, but if you want to mix action with metaphysics, you better work hard on putting together a story that links well all the elements, and creates engaging characters that have an emotional background, are well connected, and have a purpose within the story. Most importantly, show respect to the viewer who is willing to believe anything if that something has an inner logic and makes sense.
The film is very sleek, and some of the scenes are wonderful, grandiose and spectacular, as well as the special effects, especially those filmed inside the departure chamber, which are utterly gorgeous, if that can be said. The blue, golden brown and white-ish tones of the film are perfect for the story and create and convey the right mood, both physical and emotional, of the different scenes. The cinematography, mostly shot in Iceland and Spain, is beautiful, and the landscapes chosen really look prehistoric, raw, beautiful and out-this-world. On the contrary, I did not find Marc Streitenfeld's original soundtrack especially inspired, and it sounds like hundred of other science fiction movies' soundtracks.
THE ACTING - The male and female characters are unevenly treated by the script and the result is that the actors who play them shine or not depending on it. Naomi Rapace is completely wasted as Elizabeth Shaw. She does her best at doing what is requested of her naive passionate and a-scientific scientist character - no acting would have saved it. The same can be said of Charlize Theron, whose talent is wasted in her role of Meredith Vickers, the intriguing ice-cold beautiful manager of the expedition; not much is demanded of her, beyond wearing stylish super-tight clothes and moving like a supermodel on a catwalk.
On the contrary, Michael Fassbender is brilliant as the quirky witty android David. David is the best drawn character in the movie because it has a sense of purpose, a background, an inner logic, and a well-defined "psyche" and a soul that is missing from the other characters. Fassbender really brings his character to life, and gives him both mechanical and human colour in movement, facial expression and performance. What a great actor he is.
Guy Pearce is good and almost unrecognisable in his role as Peter Weylan, the patron and sponsor of the expedition. The rest of the supporting actors are just OK in their respective roles. They do what is requested from their roles, which is not much at times.
THE WHOLE THING - Prometheus is a super-production that does not deliver what it promises. This is an action movie with amazing visuals and interesting premises that gets lost in itself. It is hedonistic at times, superficial and preposterous most of the times. The movie feels like a blockbuster made to utter wows; yet, the wows are never uttered because there was no previous thinking, the story and characters are just sketched, and the viewer is expected to disregard ridiculous events, completely unscientific behaviour by scientists, and even the laws of Physics. Furthermore, Prometheus seems anchored in old philosophical queries that, despite still being valid. are presented as if the world had not changed much since the 1980s, science and technology were far less developed, their impact on Society was less profound, and new queries were needed for the film to feel contemporary in that regard. There is a lack of focus in the project, and the result is a chaotic film that is enjoyable at times, ridiculous and annoying others. Visuals and style are never enough to make of a movie a good one, even though they can be wow.
The movie ends with unanswered questions, on purpose, as a sequel has to follow. Oh dear. We just can hope that the sequel supersedes the original and we utter, finally, a sincere wow. What a task.
A brilliant Sci-Fic movie. Something that makes the genre proud, but explores new ideas and narrative, and offers a story that is clever, thrilling and entertaining. It had to be a non-Hollywood director, a South African (and some "Kiwis" too) to come up with such a good story and cast.
The narrative of the film is great as the film is presented as a documentary that tells the story of the leading character in the past, with the colours and realistic use of the camera of documentaries, but still developing a fictional story that is presented as real. The use of the faded ochre colours it helps to convey realism and past tense, and gives credibility to the whole setting.
The main character is superbly played by an unknown (at least to me) Shartlo Copley, who has done a tremendous job playing with credibility a demanding character that goes from being a naive a little bit jerky soft-mannered public officer to an action fighter. He has later on being part of the remake of the A-Team for the big screen.
If you want stunning star special effects this is not your movie. This is a movie in which those effects are powerfully developed but subtly and realistically integrated in the story, which is what matters here. The aliens are greatly designed, especially their language, character, social structure and biology, points that are all relevant to the story, never self-indulgent.
The director has done a super-job in directing a movie that could have been cheesy or comic (in the bad sense) irrelevant and unsubstantial, but is nothing of that. We cannot forget Peter Jackson's production and the creative team in New Zealand either, who deserve a great praise for supporting such a great project!
My main problem with the movie was the setting, the fact that the spaceship stops over South Africa and the relationship that the locals establish with the newly arrived. Don't take me wrong, I think it is great that a country that is not the USA or an Anglo-Saxon country is chosen as a set of a movie; that's great! It is also true that the setting is perfect to explain many of the social reactions that we see happening in the story. My concern has to do with the fact that the movie, involuntary demonizes South African society and black people in general, and Nigerians in particular, who are portrayed as a despicable subhuman group. All of this was unnecessary, truly. Imagine how much verisimilar the storyline would have been if the setting was an invented country in which the social groups are not from a certain known country, just humans. Unintentionally, the script has done something that I usually hate in Hollywood movies - that is, that the bad guys are most of the time black, mixed race or dark colour, and/or non-Anglo-Saxon people, while the hero is usually a white Anglo-Saxon person.
The personal relationship between the leading human and alien characters vaguely reminded me of the one shown in "Enemy Mine", although both movies are quite different in story and narrative.
I loved the last scene of the movie, really tender and full of hope. I would say that the movie was left open to a sequel, which I would definitely welcome.
Sci-Fi fans will love the movie, and lovers of good movies in general, too.
N. B.: Oh, I've just realised that I forgot to write the synopsis of the film... well, in cases like this, please visit IMdb. :)
Code 46 is Michael Winterbottom's allegory about a our near future, a world where human relationships and society are damned by the power of eugenics and the extensive use of in-vitro genetically-designed pregnancies.
Tim Robbins is William Geld, a Government official on a trip to Shanghai to investigate a case of document forgery in a Government security plant. There, he finds worker Maria Gonzalez (Samantha Morton), to whom he feels immediately attracted despite his conviction that she is the forger. Their love story, however, is cursed from the beginning as, under Code 46, they must not enter in a relationship, get married or have a baby as they share at least 46% of their genetic code, being, therefore, family related.
The movie is an allegoric projection into the future of the technological, scientific and cultural trends and issues predominant in our modern world. Being so, Code 46 is set in a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic society. The characters in the movie use an hybrid English mixed with words from different languages, mostly Spanish, but also Italian, French, Mandarin, Arabic, and Basque among others. A pigeon-language similar to Spanglish. Winterbottom's future is strictly compartmented and structured, with a controlled individual freedom, and limited freedom of movement between world areas unless you have "papelles" [= from the Spanish papeles, i.e. papers/documents), which are only granted depending on your health state and genetic disposition to certain maladies and weaknesses. A believable situation in which Private Health Insurance and Government are almost the same.
The premises of the film are brilliant, thought-provoking and original, although connected with themes already presented in Gattaca. The high-tech future world is perfectly drawn and showed, and uses a mix of Shanghai, Dubai and Kuala-Lumpur futuristic urban settings and architecture, which provide a very sleek urban, metallic imagery and a cold feeling. In contrast, the outcast areas are wilder, more rural and underdeveloped, but warmer from a human point of view; they were shot in the desert area near Dubai and in India. The music (with a cameo performance by Mick Jones singing "Should I stay or should I go?) is also great, and gives a great mood to the movie.
Despite the undeniable style and good premises of the movie, the whole gets washed out by the poor script. The movie is supposedly a love story, but the leading characters' personalities and emotions are poorly drawn, explored and portrayed, and the love story feels more like a lust story than anything else; moreover, Robbins and Morton don't have a great chemistry on camera, so the movie ends lacking emotion and when the film finishes, you wonder: where is the love? On the other hand, the outcast society and the outcasts are barely introduced, so it is difficult to understand the sort of world we are dealing with, as we are just presented with the developed part of it. In other words, while the future society feels like real future, the outcast society looks more like the underdeveloped rural areas of our modern world, not the underdeveloped areas of the future.
A thought-provoking film with sleek visuals and music that is wasted by a drafted script and mediocre performances
Two young biologists, Clive (Adrien Brody) and his girlfriend Elsa (Sarah Polley) are leading a research project specialised in splicing and combining the DNA of different animals to create new creatures to be used for pharmacological and medicinal purposes. The problem starts when they decide to introduce human DNA in the experiment, and a new creature, Dren, is born.
Vincenzo Natali always has great and original ideas regarding the near future and humans' relation and interaction with modern technical and scientific advances. He has shown in his previous low-budget films that an idea is worth more than the means to carry it out. Unfortunately, Splice exemplifies the contrary as this is Natali's biggest budget movie and the most messed up of them all.
The best thing about the film is the concept - His questioning on the convenience and ethics of genetic experimentation from a familiar, personal and emotional point of view. Are we ready to deal with the nasty consequences of silly experimentation in our daily lives? Is experimentation justified per se? Is a Frankenstein-sort-of-genetic monster guilty of its actions? The interesting questions are washed away by a poor over-pretentious script that wants to be a psychological thriller, a horror movie, and a sci-fic movie at the same time.
The script should have focused on building up the characters, so we understand why they act in a certain way. The script forgets to explain, and just hints, Elsa's troubled childhood, which would have served to understand better why Elsa acts how she does, and why she is so ready to nurture a freak child. We do not know why Clive would do some of the foolish things he does, when, at the beginning of the story, he seems to be a very sensible scientist and guy. Only the supporting characters seem to make sense and have an internal logic in their behaviour.
The script gets distracted by the thriller/horror approach, which is destined to fail from the very beginning. The mood and tempo are not right for a thriller, even less for a horror film, and if you don't get that right, the rest does not make any sense. On the other hand, the predictability of the film makes the suspense "suspensefulnessless". After the confrontation between Ginger and Fred the viewer knows what is coming; in fact, any non-scientist would have known immediately what was going to happen to Dren, so I considered a lack of respect towards any scientist to think that they would have acted in such a naive way as the two characters act.
Regarding the acting, Sarah Polley is always very natural in front of the camera, and she is fresh and warm as scientist and Dren's putative mother Elsa. On the contrary, I did not believe for a second Adrian Brody in his role of scientist and forced parent, probably because he did not believe it either. Delphine Chaneac's physique has a mix of beauty, vulnerability, awkwardness and harshness that is perfect to portray the freak nature of mute Dren, so she does well in doing what she was asked for. Finally, we find one of Natali's staple actors - his friend David Hewlett, who convincingly plays the very serious and sensible lab director William Barlow. The rest of the cast are OK in their respective roles.
I was very disappointed with the movie, perhaps because I have always loved Natali's movies and ideas and expected more from this. The worst thing of all is that the movie is pretentious and preposterous at times, so one does not feel sorry rating it low.
Animatrix is a collection of nine animated shorts related to different aspects of Matrix produced directly for video release. The stories are directly or indirectly related to what happens in the movie, filling-in some unexplained facts, and exploring the matrix from an outsider-insider point of view.
"Final Flight of the Osiris" (Andy Jones) is a literal transcription of an episode in the movie. The animation itself is amazing, and the opening scene extremely sexy, but the virtuosity of the video-game animation is not paired with a creative approach. I suspect, it was included in the compilation to catch the eye of those video-gamers who might end buying the Matrix's video-game.
"Program" (Yoshiaki Kawajiri) is an Akira-style short animation piece. The use of basic colours (white, red, black and grey, traditional Japanese elements (castles, samurai, swords, bamboo, silhouettes), and an edgy Manga action creates a visually astonishing piece of animation. It re-creates Cypher's betrayal of his crew of renegades, but giving it a medieval-Japan-Samurai twist.
"World Record" (Takeshi Koike) is an original piece that uses the matrix concept to expand it on its own, unconnected to any direct episode in the movie. It is about the awakening to the reality of the matrix by the main character, a famous Afro-American runner. The piece is shot in a mix of grays, blacks, beige and yellow colours, and uses shading brilliantly. The backgrounds are very artsy, according to Koike they were inspired by Gaudi's architecture. I found the piece, despite being made by a Japanese, very American in its vibe and energy, in the drawing of the characters and their personalities; still, there is a powerful unique narrative that is very Japanese, that tries to tell a story without forgetting technical innovation. Terrific is the way the movement of the athlete is captured, slowed and micro-analysed, and also the fact that the Afro-Americans are not drawn in brown colours but in different shades of grey. Supercool.
"The Second Renaissance 1 and 2" (Mahiro Maeda) fill in the missing story of what happened to the Human Race until they became dominated by the machines. In another words, it offers a mythology of the Matrix that was only hinted in the movie. It uses colourful Mandalas (with a mix of Buddhist and Brahman elements) attached to the female goddess-narrator, but has subdued colours when the documentary-like piece fill the viewer with the details of the war between humans and machines. It has a terrific story-telling, and it is very universal in a way. It uses elements of all religions, shows humans from different religions and cultures, depicts the violent acts of the humans using embedded references to tragic events happened in recent wars (WWII, Vietnam, Iraq) and offers an unadorned, still entertaining, view of the sins of the modern human race.
"Beyond" (Koji Morimoto) is a beautiful naturalistic short, Ghibli-Studio-like in the use of colours, shadows and lighting, the magic realism of daily life, and the virtuosity of the drawing. The episode has a connection to the Matrix, the cat appearing from another dimension in the movie, is the one here. But that is it. Morimoto creates for us an error in the matrix program affecting a house visited for the characters in this movie. The house is sort of enchanted, and visitors can levitate. It replies with verisimilitude to the question, how would humans notice a loop in the program? How would affect them? Simply wonderful.
"Kid's Story" (Shinichiro Watanabe) tells about the awakening to the reality of an American teen student who has been contacted by Neo. It has a lucid dream approach and has some lyric moments. However, this is mostly an escape story, full of action and angst. The animation style is a bit weird, as it the movie was constantly blur. This is intentional, and it is used to tell the viewer that our character is in a reality that is not dream, still not completely awake. The piece is extremely dynamic, with a great music, and some poetic moments, but not as engaging as the others.
"A Detective Story" (Shinichiro Watanabe) is a masterpiece of animation, drawn in a grainy BW that mimics ink-drawing, but adding some cut-out colours, typical of some American comics for adults. It also replicates the mood and style of the detective B-movies of the 50s, but mixed with a retro-futuristic Chinatown approach the matrix (very Dark-City in a way). It is super-stylish and engaging, linked to the movie by the search of Trinity. The music is very jazzy, perfect for a 1950s sort of film. I would have liked to be longer and a bit more daring, so much I enjoyed it!
"Matriculated" (Peter Chung) is a very psychedelic, hallucinogenic, colourful and philosophical piece of animation, and the most daring, from a narrative point of view, of the lot. It does reverse the matrix principles of the machines using a program mimicking human reality and subconscious world to put them at their service. In this short, the renegades reprogram the captured machines and connect them to their consciousness so it tricks the machine thinking that is a program and that they are also machines. It explores the concept of universal consciousness, and how machines could be fooled. It is a very Asimov approach to the story.
Animatrix is funky, artistic, and very entertaining. Not for small kids, though. The main problem with the compilation is that the quality of the pieces varies enormously, and that you need to watch it after the Matrix (the movie), and understand the intricacies of the matrix itself to comprehend the stories in the shorts. It is not rocket-science, but if you haven't done that, the movie won't work for you. Animatrix is a companion to the film; therefore, watching it on its own could be disappointing, unless you are interested in animation per se.
Renaissance is a French-UK-Luxembourg motion-capture animation movie whose story revolves about Detective Karas' investigation to find a kidnapped young scientist working for the Avalon Corporation. It is Paris, year 2054.
Renaissance is a detective sci-fi thriller, with a visual style strongly based on classic detective comics, film-noir and German expressionist movies. The film is very artistic, with great dynamic action scenes, and superb lighting, shadowing and texturing. The atmosphere is great, as well as the music. The recreation of Paris in the future is completely believable, as the city still looks like modern Paris, but projected and transformed according to urban development and organization of the space that have futuristic verisimilitude. The emotional drawing of the characters is good, and it has depth, and the story is intriguing enough. What is more, it poses some interesting questions to the viewer: Is life meaningless without death? Is murder excusable if, by murdering someone, you save humanity from an uncertain future? If the answer is yes, who decides that the future is already written and a person is responsible for it?
Despite everything, the movie never lifts up and, despite being a thriller, it is never thrilling enough. All the characters seem lot lack human warmth, despite the story having warmth in it, and that's the result of the poor performances of the actors lending their voices to the characters, especially Daniel Craig, who destroys Karas's character with his dull lazy dubbing. On the other hand, there are too many clichés in the story, from the cigarettes to the femme-fatale/cop affair, to the evil-good approach, while the interesting philosophical questions are never truly explored with seriousness or the challenges of the near future either. Being so, the viewer finds difficult connecting with the characters, despite enjoying the animation or being intrigued about the fate of the kidnapped girl.
Renaissance is marvellous from the animation point of view, but the story struggles to grab the viewer's attention. Still has wonderful elements, and is worth watching, even if it is only for its visuals.
The movie is an allegory about what a world without books and culture would be, an ode against ignorance and simple minds, a reminder that burning books is a sign of human degradation and typical of tyrannical regimes. It is also an homage to Literature, in this case to Truffaut's fav books, as most of the books burnt are French titles and authors.
The movie honours Bradbury's visionary novel. Think about our modern world, dominated by big plasma screens hanging from the walls in which reading and culture are each time less valued and appreciated. Think about those reality shows in which our opinion is asked as a way of creating a false sense of community and participation, when our answers are, indeed, irrelevant. Think about a world in which the information is manipulated by the media to support the political regime in vogue... It sounds familiar, no? These themes are fantastically presented in the film.
All the actors are great in their roles. Cyril Cusak is truly convincing as the fire brigade captain, completely sure about his Mission and about the danger of books for Society. Oskar Werner is also great as fireman Montag, going from a hieratic starting to a soulful mood when his character starts to change and read books. Julie Christie is great in her double role as Montag's wife Linda and neighbour book-reader Clarisse. I loved that while Linda is very feminine and sensual on the exterior, she's emotionally frigid, while her counterpart Clarisse, who is dressed boyishly and has short hair, has a special warmth and sensuality that comes from her cultivated inner world.
The colours of the movie are not randomly chosen. The movie offers subdued grey and pastel tones that are constantly highlighted by two main colour, dark grey (as the society that represents, especially clear in the children school uniforms), and a beautiful intense deep red (associated to fire).
The OST by Bernard Herrmann is magnificent, dramatically neurotic sometimes, lyric some others, while the tune that accompanies the fire squad's outings is very Ravel-ish and anticipative (and catchy) and sets the pace of the movie. Most of the time the music is unsettling. I thought it was overwhelming sometimes, too, and I did not like that.
The end of the movie is just magnificent, so lyric, so full of hope. The whole snow scene and recitation of the old man with his grandson is pure beauty, and so moving.
I watched this movie for the first time on TV when I was about 13y.o., many years ago!, and it had a huge impact on me. In fact, I forgot the title but not the movie. and the message The reviewing of the movie proofs that there is a reason for that impact, as the movie stands the past of time as all the themes discussed are still relevant for our world.
The only think that does not stand the pass of time are the fashion and, above all, the special effects, which are very much outdated and made me laugh when re-watching it recently. However, the movie has a lot of experimental things that are still daring today. For example, the opening credits, all spoken, no word written until we see The End at the end of the movie, or the scene in which half the screen goes black.
A movie that will move immensely to all of us who have thrived on books and still think that written culture and knowledge highlight more our spirit than any religion.
This is the sequel to Night Watch, a movie that I haven't watched and, after watching this film, I will never do.
Day Watch is a moronic senseless and pretentious film, with pedestrian acting, and good special effects. The movie is boring since the beginning, a long agony to watch through til the end. It is badly edited, with a poor direction of actors, a stupid script and clichéd images. Day Watch is a collection of film sinners that cannot be ignored, and that should be used in film schools to demonstrate what not to do when directing.
The movie, and the director, could be excused if the movie was a low budget film with amateur actors, but this is, instead, a Russian super-production with some good actors. Some bad movies really make you laugh, or at least they are entertaining, so at least you get something out of them. But this is not the case here, as the movie is pretentious and serious beyond belief even in those scenes that are supposed to be funny.
One of the worse films I have seen for a long time. It is difficult to understand why such a stupid bad film has a rating of 6.5. It is beyond belief.
The best thing about the film? The poster and special effects.
After the crash of a spaceship on an apparently desolated planet, the only surviving crew members are captured by a group of highly evolved Apes. They act like humans, are dominant on the planet, and have reduced humans to an almost-animal state. The fact that the newly-arrived humans are able to talk and reason will shock the Apes and create confrontation within the group of leading members of the tribe. 
