Nightwatch is a 1997 American horror thriller film directed by Ole Bornedal and starring Ewan McGregor , Patricia Arquette , Josh Brolin and Nick Nolte . It was written by Bornedal and Steven Soderbergh . It is a remake of the 1994 Danish film of the same name , which was also directed by Bornedal.
59-499: (Redirected from Nightwatcher ) [REDACTED] Look up night watch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night [ edit ] The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) Watchman (law enforcement) , organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement One of
118-459: A security guard (night watchman) Watchman (law enforcement) , organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement One of the watches stood by sailors who are watchkeeping Books [ edit ] The Night Watch , a 1977 memoir by Central Intelligence Agency officer David Atlee Phillips Novels [ edit ] Night Watch , a 1972 play by American dramatist Lucille Fletcher , later adapted into
177-475: A 1992 novel by Icelandic author Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir The Night Watch , a 1997 novel by American-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author Sean Stewart Night Watch (Lukyanenko novel) , a 1998 fantasy novel by Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko Nightwatch , a 1999 novel by American novelist and screenwriter Richard P. Henrick Night Watch ( Discworld ) , a 2002 fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett The Night Watch (Waters novel) ,
236-453: A 1999 novel by American novelist and screenwriter Richard P. Henrick Night Watch ( Discworld ) , a 2002 fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett The Night Watch (Waters novel) , a 2006 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters Night Watch , a 2012 novel by American author, attorney, and former New York City prosecutor Linda Fairstein Night Watch (Phillips novel) ,
295-527: A 2005 film by Argentinian writer and filmmaker Edgardo Cozarinsky Nightwatching , a 2007 film directed by Peter Greenaway The Night Watch , a 2010 film adaptation of Sarah Waters' 2006 historical fiction novel The Night Watch Music [ edit ] The Night Watch (album) , a live album by the English rock band King Crimson "The Night Watch", the fourth track from King Crimson's 1974 album Starless and Bible Black "Night Watch",
354-426: A 2006 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters Night Watch , a 2012 novel by American author, attorney, and former New York City prosecutor Linda Fairstein Night Watch (Phillips novel) , a 2023 novel by American author Jayne Anne Phillips Fictional elements [ edit ] Night's Watch, a group of characters from the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels Nightwatch (comics) ,
413-481: A 2023 novel by American author Jayne Anne Phillips Fictional elements [ edit ] Night's Watch, a group of characters from the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels Nightwatch (comics) , a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics Raphael ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ) (also Nightwatcher), a fictional superhero A paramilitary group in
472-515: A British-American suspense-thriller film directed by Brian G. Hutton Nightwatch (1994 film) , a Danish thriller film directed and written by Danish director Ole Bornedal Night Watch (1995 film) , an American television spy film directed by David Jackson Nightwatch (1997 film) , an American horror thriller film directed by Ole Bornedal Night Watch (2004 film) , a Russian urban fantasy supernatural thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov Rond Nocturna (English: Night Watch ),
531-512: A Dutch electronic music trio Television [ edit ] CBS Overnight News (also CBS News Nightwatch ), an American overnight news broadcast Nightwatch with Steve Scott , a weekday late-night documentary series in the UK on ITV Nightwatch (TV series) , an unscripted television series broadcast by A&E Other uses [ edit ] The Night Watch , a 1642 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn Night Watch (video game) ,
590-434: A Japan-only LaserDisc release in 1999, shortly before the discontinuation of the format. A hi-res master of the film was later created, being used on several Europe-only Blu-ray releases and streaming services. Two separate workprint versions exist, both made prior to Dimension's heavy editing. A significantly longer 139 minute version which has surfaced on the internet includes numerous cut scenes taking place outside
649-432: A Russian urban fantasy supernatural thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov Rond Nocturna (English: Night Watch ), a 2005 film by Argentinian writer and filmmaker Edgardo Cozarinsky Nightwatching , a 2007 film directed by Peter Greenaway The Night Watch , a 2010 film adaptation of Sarah Waters' 2006 historical fiction novel The Night Watch Music [ edit ] The Night Watch (album) ,
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#1732790126611708-402: A September 1997 interview, Josh Brolin reflected on his role as Martin's best friend James, saying "my character has interior problems. He's dealing with lost identity, almost like an adolescent would in later life. He's constantly going outside himself, trying to fix that with alcohol, drugs, prostitution, whatever." Lauren Graham's character Marie, the girlfriend of James, works as a minister at
767-418: A church, although all of these scenes depicting her in this job would end up being removed in the final cut. In an interview on the set of the film, Graham said, "it was interesting because when I interviewed a woman who's a minister at the episcopal church , I said 'you know I don't want to be representing the church here because it's a character who uses foul language, it's a person who's in a relationship with
826-525: A completely different ending, where Martin and James have a double wedding with Katherine and Marie. These alternate cuts have never been released in any official capacity, unlike with the alternate cut of Dimension's Mimic , a film made around the same time which shared several of the same cast and crew members. The director's cut version of Mimic was released in 2011, and later became the standard version used on home video and streaming services. Nightwatch received mostly negative reviews from critics. On
885-608: A fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics Raphael ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ) (also Nightwatcher), a fictional superhero A paramilitary group in the Babylon 5 universe Films [ edit ] The Night Watch (1925 film) , a French drama film directed by Marcel Silver The Night Watch (1926 film) , a lost silent film directed by Fred Caldwell Night Watch (1928 film) , an American drama film directed by Alexander Korda The Hole (1960 film) (also The Night Watch in
944-489: A film that ultimately bored me." Roger Ebert's review for the Chicago Sun-Times states that "this film depends so heavily on horror effects, blind alleys, false leads and red herrings that eventually watching it stops being an experience and becomes an exercise". In a review for Variety , Leonard Klady claimed: "It’s not ideas that are lacking, but the connective tissue to give them life. The absence of even
1003-551: A group of mostly Russophone political activists living in Estonia Operation Nightwatch, a mission undertaken by Boeing E-4 and previously by Boeing EC-135s Gender neutral term for Nightwatchman (cricket) See also [ edit ] Nightwatchman Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Night Watch . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
1062-432: A guy who's doing terrible things', and she sort of said to me 'well especially as a young person involved in the church, the idealism is that you want to save everybody, the hope is that you can bring a community together', so it actually helps make sense the difficulties of their relationship and why she stays with him." Around the time Nightwatch was being made, Brolin and fellow cast member Alix Koromzay both got roles in
1121-418: A live album by the English rock band King Crimson "The Night Watch", the fourth track from King Crimson's 1974 album Starless and Bible Black "Night Watch", the eighth track from Tegan and Sara's 2009 album Sainthood Nightwatch (album) , the second solo album from Kenny Loggins Nightwatch a 2003 album by Norwegian jazz vocalist and songwriter Silje Nergaard Noisia (also Nightwatch),
1180-401: A photo montage of women with their eyes scratched out; as the killer's trademark in the film was to remove the eyes of his victims. Cooper then shot these images submerged in water, to give them an added layer of distance and make them ripple spectrally on the screen. Nightwatch' s background score was written by Danish composer Joachim Holbek, who, like many of the crew, was also involved in
1239-423: A tactical role-playing game developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive Nochnoy Dozor (group) (English: Night Watch ), a group of mostly Russophone political activists living in Estonia Operation Nightwatch, a mission undertaken by Boeing E-4 and previously by Boeing EC-135s Gender neutral term for Nightwatchman (cricket) See also [ edit ] Nightwatchman Topics referred to by
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#17327901266111298-684: A vague unifying spirit reduces Nightwatch almost to the level of an intellectual 'snuff' film ". Klady stated that he believed the film's cast had been underutilized, going on to write that "Patricia Arquette is squandered in the girlfriend role, and Brolin has more energy than focus in a badly conceived part". In spite of this, he praised Alix Koromzay's minor role as "a vulnerable and tragic teenage hooker". Marc Savlov from The Austin Chronicle commented that "Arquette and Brolin seem as though they're off in their own private universe". Los Angeles Times writer Jack Matthews compared Nightwatch to
1357-403: A weekday late-night documentary series in the UK on ITV Nightwatch (TV series) , an unscripted television series broadcast by A&E Other uses [ edit ] The Night Watch , a 1642 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn Night Watch (video game) , a tactical role-playing game developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive Nochnoy Dozor (group) (English: Night Watch ),
1416-403: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages night watch (Redirected from Night watch ) [REDACTED] Look up night watch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night [ edit ] The nighttime shift worked by
1475-417: Is hired as a night watchman at a hospital morgue. A string of gruesome prostitute murders committed by a necrophiliac serial killer quickly point to him as the lead suspect in the investigation carried out by Inspector Thomas Cray. At the same time, Martin slowly discovers clues that point to the real perpetrator. After the original Nattevagten found critical acclaim in 1994, Danish director Ole Bornedal
1534-447: Is working at the morgue, there are sequences where he listens to licensed songs from alternative rock / electronic artists The Chemical Brothers , R.E.M. and Transister . The closing credits featured the song "Pain" by Super 8 , an alternative rock band briefly signed to Hollywood Records in the mid-90s. Originally, songs by the band Garbage also appeared throughout, but they were later removed in post-production. To coincide with
1593-491: The Babylon 5 universe Films [ edit ] The Night Watch (1925 film) , a French drama film directed by Marcel Silver The Night Watch (1926 film) , a lost silent film directed by Fred Caldwell Night Watch (1928 film) , an American drama film directed by Alexander Korda The Hole (1960 film) (also The Night Watch in the US), a French crime film directed by Jacques Becker Night Watch (1973 film) ,
1652-463: The USA Network , the hero sees something weird and no one will believe him". In another scene, James suggests to a thug at a bar that he could get him on a daytime talk show, and proceeds to reference Oprah , Phil Donahue , Ricki Lake and Sally Jessy Raphael . Soderbergh himself noted his frustrations at being forced to provide new script pages for reshoots that were going to be detrimental to
1711-620: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 27% of 30 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's consensus reads: " Nightwatch loses much of what made its inspiration inspiring - and proves that when remaking a foreign film, hiring the original director is no guarantee of success." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. In June 1997, Playboy film critic Bruce Williamson gave Nightwatch three out of four stars, calling it an "eerie shocker", and remarking that "thrill seekers will be scared stiff before
1770-541: The 1973 film) Night Watch , a 1989 UNACO novel by Alastair MacNeill Night Watch , a 1990 novel by American writer Robin Wayne Bailey Night Watch (Sigurðardóttir novel) , a 1992 novel by Icelandic author Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir The Night Watch , a 1997 novel by American-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author Sean Stewart Night Watch (Lukyanenko novel) , a 1998 fantasy novel by Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko Nightwatch ,
1829-420: The 1990s , with Muir writing that it "didn't really need an American remake. The original didn't suffer in any sense (visually or narratively) from a lack of funds, so throwing money at the property doesn't really enhance the film to any great degree." He added, "Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette and [Josh] Brolin do a good job with their characters, but they are playing people more formulaic and less intriguing than
Night Watch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1888-480: The 1995 thriller Seven , mentioning that "like Seven , it mixes the styles of suspense, horror and film noir , using murky lighting, odd angles and deliberately paced camera movements to create an atmosphere of constant dread". But he went on to write that "at least [ Seven' s] villain was on a mission--to punish violators of the Seven Deadly Sins --that would be personally threatening to most members of
1947-558: The Dimension/Miramax sci-fi horror film Mimic . Bornedal and cinematographer Dan Laustsen (from the original Nattevagten crew) also worked on Mimic . Nightwatch took much longer to complete than originally expected, due to a series of test screenings and reshoots Miramax ordered. According to McGregor, one of these reshoots forced him to fly back to Los Angeles and cancel a two day holiday he had set aside for his wife and baby daughter. Changes made by Dimension to
2006-522: The Transister song "House to Myself" replaces "Only Happy When It Rains", while R.E.M.'s "The Wake-Up Bomb" replaces "Supervixen". R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" originally played as Martin is entering the morgue at night following a scene at his university with James, and in the final cut this song is replaced by a more frantic piece of instrumental music composed by Marco Beltrami. The other workprint includes
2065-475: The US), a French crime film directed by Jacques Becker Night Watch (1973 film) , a British-American suspense-thriller film directed by Brian G. Hutton Nightwatch (1994 film) , a Danish thriller film directed and written by Danish director Ole Bornedal Night Watch (1995 film) , an American television spy film directed by David Jackson Nightwatch (1997 film) , an American horror thriller film directed by Ole Bornedal Night Watch (2004 film) ,
2124-463: The audience. The psycho in Nightwatch is a necrophiliac, the scourge of the county morgue, with the peculiar habit of killing and mutilating prostitutes before having sex with them". A more positive review at the time came from Paul Clinton of CNN . He said that " Nightwatch is a fairly good effort" and that "the cinematography by Dan Laustsen and the lighting are excellent and add immensely to
2183-421: The business. And I thought, ‘F— off. No, you don’t. You do every film because you want to do good work. Because you’re interested in making good movies and working with good people.’ To do a crappy event movie for a lot of money, like Independence Day — I would never taint my soul with that crap." In another interview from this period, McGregor claimed, "I went to L.A. to make Nightwatch because I wanted to have
2242-486: The differences in tone between Nattevagten and Nightwatch , Tommy Gustafsson notes in his 2015 book Nordic Film Genre that "while the Hollywood remake opens immediately with a gratuitously gruesome murder, the 1994 Danish version builds a eerie mood much more slowly and is only a pure thriller in its last third". AllMovie claim "artistic elements of the original gave way to name actors, slicker production values, and
2301-444: The eighth track from Tegan and Sara's 2009 album Sainthood Nightwatch (album) , the second solo album from Kenny Loggins Nightwatch a 2003 album by Norwegian jazz vocalist and songwriter Silje Nergaard Noisia (also Nightwatch), a Dutch electronic music trio Television [ edit ] CBS Overnight News (also CBS News Nightwatch ), an American overnight news broadcast Nightwatch with Steve Scott ,
2360-487: The film then received an American theatrical run in April 1998, where it underperformed. Nightwatch was meant to build off the success of the Dimension/Miramax slasher film Scream , and was mainly promoted as a horror picture, with trailers for Nightwatch appearing on the original 1997 Scream VHS. In 1998, Dimension and Buena Vista Home Entertainment released it to VHS, and then to DVD in 2000. It also received
2419-627: The film's debut, an accompanying soundtrack album was going to be released by Hollywood Records. However, plans for the soundtrack album were ultimately abandoned. Nightwatch was first shown at film festivals, premiering at the 1997 Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema in Spain, where Bornedal won the Best Director prize. It was also screened at the 1997 American Film Market in Santa Monica, California . After several delays,
Night Watch - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-431: The finished cut included reducing the role of Marie, and adding a "more satisfying final scene". Bornedal went on to state that "the actual shooting of Nightwatch was terrific, everything was totally wonderful, and I was free to do as I pleased, but everything suddenly became extremely complicated during the post-production phase". The co-writer of the film's script, Steven Soderbergh, is described as having "sanitized"
2537-526: The first place. I had massive strands of the character removed, which is insulting". In 2019, McGregor again spoke out against Dimension's post-production interference on Nightwatch , claiming Harvey Weinstein "ruined that film" and that Weinstein "made us reshoot everything — everything that was interesting about the film he replaced". Both the original Danish version and the remake were profiled in John Kenneth Muir's 2011 book Horror Films of
2596-583: The killer even starts desecrating corpses in a diabolical spree." In his September 1997 review, James Kaplan of New York Magazine called Nightwatch a "subpar effort", writing, "instead, go see Ewan in full form as a disgruntled janitor who kidnaps his boss's daughter ( Cameron Diaz ) in A Life Less Ordinary ." In an April 1998 review, Stephen Holden of The New York Times criticized Nightwatch for "spending so much time churning up eerie atmospheric effects that it doesn't have time to develop its preposterous story in which Martin finds himself accused of
2655-513: The kind of exposure that would allow me to pick and choose my films. You can't do that if you just make little independent British features." McGregor's initial impression of Los Angeles upon flying to the city was that It "looked like the world's biggest caravan park." McGregor said he started to miss the "plants and birds and rocks" of the Scottish countryside while making Nightwatch , which led to him frequently watching golf on television. In
2714-514: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_Watch&oldid=1253520038 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Nightwatch (1997 film) Law student Martin Bells
2773-456: The more conventional grindhouse genre approach, opening with a brutal prostitute murder in a pre-credit sequence". Michael Obel, who worked as a producer on both the original and the remake, remarked in 2002: "The Danish version is better, we can surely agree on that. Several test screenings and re-editing ended up in a version that is less than optimum". In a 1999 interview, actor Nick Nolte revealed he had never seen Nightwatch , stating: "As
2832-407: The morgue. It also includes a scene where Katherine has sex with Martin while visiting him at the morgue, and notably omits the opening scene with the prostitute, and the ending scene of the final cut. Several songs that were removed from the final cut, such as R.E.M. 's " Man on the Moon " and Garbage 's " Only Happy When It Rains " and " Supervixen ", also appear in this workprint. In the final cut,
2891-430: The murders". Holden also called the film's climax "clumsily prolonged". On an episode of Siskel & Ebert , it received two thumbs down from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert . Siskel commented that, " Nightwatch really offers the morgue as the only reason to watch. Some of the mayhem, like a blood spattered corpse of a teenage girl, is just disgusting. But no character is fully developed; just repetitive cheap thrills in
2950-466: The original 1994 script. For example, in the Danish version, there is a scene at a restaurant where the character Jens orders a prostitute to give Martin a blowjob . In the remake, Jens (now known as James) instead orders the prostitute to give Martin a handjob . Also added by Soderbergh were American pop culture references, including a scene where Martin mutters: "It's just like one of those movies on
3009-484: The original cast did in 1994." In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked all 56 films Ewan McGregor had starred in at that point, placing Nightwatch 49th, and writing, "the whole thing alternates between campy grotesque and chilly humorlessness, and while McGregor brings conviction to his part, he’s seems to exist only in relation to the other characters in the film." In 2022, Looper ranked all 58 Ewan McGregor films, also placing Nightwatch at 49th. They state that, "McGregor
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#17327901266113068-474: The original version. When Nightwatch was in the process of being re-edited by Dimension, Mimic and Scream composer Marco Beltrami was brought in to rescore several scenes. He also composed the score for a newly shot scene at the beginning of the film, involving the killer and a prostitute. Beltrami went on to score several of Bornedal's Danish films once he left the United States. While Martin
3127-473: The overall tension of the piece". However, he too criticized the climax of the film, referring to it as "cartoonish". Like Clinton, Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant commented on the lighting of the film in his review, writing: "True to his Scandinavian background, Bornedal has shot Nightwatch largely in semi-darkness, beginning with a violent murder in a prostitute's bedroom". Comparing
3186-533: The quality of the film. Bornedal said he, Soderbergh and David Bowie all saw the original cut of Nightwatch together and enjoyed it. Bornedal adds that the final version was the "fourth cut" of the film, and that "the American Nightwatch I did was not the Nightwatch that was released". An opening credit sequence was designed by Kyle Cooper , who had also worked on the opening credits for other films, such as Mimic and Seven . It contained
3245-483: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Night Watch . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_Watch&oldid=1253520038 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text Short description
3304-403: The studio got it, they realized that they had a European-paced film, and they kept hacking at it and hacking at it". Ewan McGregor similarly remarked at the time that "this was the perfect example of a film they would not leave alone. There were constant reshoots, including the ending, and they took all the interesting stuff out, making it bland. The original concept was the reason I accepted it in
3363-490: The watches stood by sailors who are watchkeeping Books [ edit ] The Night Watch , a 1977 memoir by Central Intelligence Agency officer David Atlee Phillips Novels [ edit ] Night Watch , a 1972 play by American dramatist Lucille Fletcher , later adapted into the 1973 film) Night Watch , a 1989 UNACO novel by Alastair MacNeill Night Watch , a 1990 novel by American writer Robin Wayne Bailey Night Watch (Sigurðardóttir novel) ,
3422-470: Was hired by Dimension Films (who had recently purchased the distribution rights for Nattevagten ) to come to the United States and remake the film. The remake was intended to be the first of three films Bornedal would direct for Miramax , the parent company of Dimension. Principal photography for the remake took place in Los Angeles , California , in the localities of Culver City and UCLA . It
3481-517: Was the first American film made by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who used a fake American accent for the role of Martin Bells. At the time, he wanted to appear in off-beat, modestly budgeted American films, rather than typical Hollywood blockbusters, with McGregor even openly criticizing American films such as Independence Day in a June 1997 Entertainment Weekly interview. He told the publication, "when I met with agents in L.A., they would tell me you had to do two movies for yourself and then two for
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