Enemy at the Gates (2001) User Reviews

A fascinating film about the strategy of two great snipers

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 20 September 2008]

In "Enemy at the Gates," the future of the greatest battle of World War II, would be decided between a young Russian sniper and an aristocratic sharpshooter from Germany sent to kill him… Jude Law and Ed Harris sit for hours waiting for the right moment… It was a duel set in the siege of Stalingrad… Stalingrad was one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of World War II, and in the midst of this huge battle, these two soldiers were hunting each other down…

The film opens with the harrowing transport of thousand of Russian soldiers across the Volga River to Stalingrad… The recruits were packed onto steamers, barges, whatever they could find to ferry them across the river… All that under a deluge of shells, bombs and explosions…

By the time Vassili arrives to Stalingrad, the Nazis have a distinct edge, and Soviet morale is at an all-time low…

Leading the Russians in their seemingly futile defense is Nikita Kruschev, played by Bob Hoskins… The Germans, at that time, were overrunning the place and the Russians were in an appalling state… It was the most awful battle of the war…

Joseph Fiennes plays Danilov, an idealistic Russian officer who passionately speaks about his belief in getting the troops to turn the grave situation in Stalingrad around… He finds the perfect inspiration in Vassili…

Rachel Weisz plays a young woman who volunteers to help in the war effort… She's literally protecting the people she grew up with… When she meets Vassili, he just has a natural intelligence, a natural instinct…

Jude Law is remarkable as the young sharpshooter Vassili Zaitsev who conveyed both humanity and intensity… There's such a fierce intelligence and liveliness in his eyes… He can also be very quiet and internal… Vassili found the complexity within the silence and stillness… In fact to be a sniper is very much about a man of action through stillness… Vassili represented the ultimate hero, the symbol of someone who could instill hope and belief in victory amongst the troops, because his skills as a sniper were unparalleled…

Ed Harris played Major Konig, the German sharpshooter sent to hunt down Vassili… He knows that Vassili was picking off German officers with some regularity, and was becoming a folk hero for the Russian soldiers as well as the Russian populace... He decided to eliminate him…

The casting of Ed Harris opposite Jude Law resulted in a striking visual link between their characters… They both have these unbelievably penetrating blue eyes… And director Jean-Jacques Annaud began to see the duel through their eyes… And one of the first shots of Ed Harris was a close-up of his blue eyes…

Annaud painted the tensions very clearly and concentrated purely on the eyes of the Jude Law and Harris and, of course, on their rifles and how they were hidden and what they were doing… Basically, the core of his camera is the duel of their eyes, duel of men, duel of snipers, therefore a confrontation of people that scan the surrounding buildings, and try to decipher what they see

brilliantly flawed ... is still brilliant

[A_Different_Drummer · 8/10 · 16 February 2017]

In the grand tradition of Old Hollywood, this international co-production seeks to frame the key battle of WW2 (the REAL key battle, not the ones from the John Wayne movies) as a morality tale involving a love triangle.

It is a bold idea, and beautifully executed.

In fact an argument could be made -- and I will make it -- that any flaws in the execution (it lags a bit here and there) are the result of the film-makers' "reach exceeding their grasp" and they attempted too much, more than one film could ever accomplish.

But what a film it is! You viewer feel as though you are there, making history. The four stars involved have, each of them, never given a bad performance in their careers and they surely maintain their records here.

Ed Harris in particular -- although he has less screen time -- will always to this reviewer seem a vastly under-rated actor. (This review written in 2017 where an older Harris still uses his charisma in a defining role for HBOs Westworld .... and nails it.) Recommended? Absolutely! In the Metacritic data that IMDb so helpfully provides I could not help but notice one reviewer commenting that, well, it sure isn't in the same class as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

Which is the irony of doing film reviews. I have never not once thought of wanting to see SAVING PRIVATE RYAN again, but this film is one I like to revisit every few years. Magnificent.

Easily the best thing that has come out all year...

[mentalcritic · 10/10 · 28 July 2001]

It would be all too easy to dismiss Enemy At The Gates as being an attempt to cash in on Saving Private Ryan's success, but in my opinion, it is a very worthy competitor. In fact, it is a better film. I say that primarily because I am sick to death of Americans using World War II as a basis for films that generally amount to little more than propaganda. Of course, Enemy At The Gates comes off as being somewhat fantastic due to its attempt to balance entertainment with historical fact, and it came as a surprise to me to learn that Sergeant Vassili Zaitsev was a real person (whose sniper rifle is still an exhibit in a Russian museum), but this makes it all the more entertaining to watch.

A lot of historians have it that the battle of Stalingrad was the most unpleasant one fought during the second World War, and this film's set design and cinematography capture that impeccably. When the Russians are battling the Nazis, you get the idea that if the Nazis didn't kill them, malnutrition, tetanus, scurvy, bubonic plague, or a million other things would. Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes lend authenticity to their roles that makes it even easier to follow them on their personal journey through hell, and Ed Harris is scarily convincing as a high-ranking Nazi. The real surprise here, however, is Rachel Weisz as Sergeant Tania Chernova, and the very heart and soul of the film. When she describes the reasons why she decided to take up a gun and battle the Germans, it all makes so much sense that you just want to buy the poor girl a beer and give her a good warm embrace. Not that such things would erase the scars that her character bears, but one would feel obligated to try.

Writer/Director Jean-Jacques Annaud, writer Alain Goddard, and cinematographer Robert Fraisse treat the subject matter with great care towards authenticity and entertainment value. It's very tricky to get these two things in proper sync, but they more than manage here. They also don't rely on any hokey photographic effects to tell the story, simply letting you see everything as clearly as possible, letting your imagination do the rest. Anyone who's read anything credible about the inhuman suffering the Russian soldiers endured during this battle will have no trouble filling in the gaps that the narrative leaves about their living conditions. The blood and gore shown during the battles is also very conducive to the atmosphere. Rather than just expecting you to believe that a solider gets his stomach spread all over half a kilometer of pavement by enemy bullets, they show you so you can get a feel for how bloodthirsty both sides in the confrontation were. Even the sex scene doesn't look out of place here.

To make a long story short, this is the first film I've seen in a long, long time that I haven't been able to come up with a list of criticisms for. It is simply excellent, and the 7.1 rating it is currently stuck with does not do it justice. It is easily superior to the likes of Platoon, the equal of more esoteric war films such as Three Kings, and it is miles above the likes of Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbour. Vassili Zaitsev would be very happy that his struggle has inspired such a commendable piece of art - it is exactly the sort of thing he and millions of others like him (on both sides of the planet) were fighting for.

compelling war movie

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 7 March 2015]

It's the fall of 1942. Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) grew up hunting with his father in the woods. He, Tania (Rachel Weisz) and countless other untrained recruits are brought up to the front at Stalingrad. He and Commisar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) survive a suicidal charge. Vassili kills 5 Germans in the aftermath and Danilov writes about him. Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) seizes the opportunity to make him a star. Opposing him is the aristocratic German sniper Major König (Ed Harris).

The opening is an amazing opera of mass destruction. Then it's a matter of a chess game. It's a fascinating cat and mouse game in the ruins of the city. I'm glad that nobody decided to talk in a fake Russian accent. That would be too distracting. This is a rare good American war movie not about Americans.

A Taut, Gritty War Movie Screaming to Come Out of a Drekky Melodrama

[noralee · 6/10 · 22 December 2005]

I went to see "Enemy at the Gates" with my husband, as I knew it was about his favorite battle of his favorite war that he watched continually on the Military Channel. After having to endure a harangue the whole way to the screen about how we would be seeing the real battle that won the war, not that inconsequential D-Day that "Saving Private Ryan" made such a big deal about as the U.S. didn't come in until the Russians already had turned the tide, I asked could he please be quiet during the movie and refrain from commenting on inaccuracies, etc. until after.

But other than the clarification I needed between the Battle of Leningrad and the Siege of Stalingrad which I always mix up (whoops, I think I just did it again), and Hitler's and Stalin's fallacies as military leaders in relation to the symbolic importance of the Volga (and the movie could have used more strategic explanations), he and I pretty much agreed about the movie.

There's a taut, gritty war movie screaming to come out of a drekky melodrama. The best parts are the battles, of troops and individuals. The opening sequence of soldiers thrown from trains to boats to the front line is terrific and frightening.

The one-on-one between Ed Harris's Nazi sharpshooter and Jude Law's hunter (though he doesn't do working class too convincingly) is exciting.

The most captivating surprising is Bob Hoskins as Krushchev. He completely inhabits the character and brings him completely to blood and guts life - showing just what it takes to survive as a top man to Stalin.

There was also more potential in Joseph Fiennes' political officer as insight into propaganda that is only occasionally effective (after all, "Ryan" was similarly about a PR stunt).

I thankfully dozed off during most of the ridiculous sub-plot of the love triangle. There appears to be only a couple of women living in this city, and they sure do get in the way, as these few can themselves provide multi-lingual translations, sex, food, lousy child care and brave sharpshooting.

The music by James Horner is atrociously bombastic, wincibly so.

(originally written 3/31/2001)

An extrordinary work of raw skill and imagination.

[mhasheider · 10/10 · 21 August 2001]

A gut-wrenching and impressive hide-and-seek thriller that uses the bloody battle of Stalingrad (during the second World War) as the clever disguise here for a real battle of courage and determination. The film follows a young and highly talented Russian sniper from the Urals, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law - "eXistenZ", "The Talented Mr. Ripley"), who gains national fame from the help of Danilov (Joesph Fiennes - "Shakespeare in Love"), a propoganda officer and his true love and fellow sniper, Tania (Rachael Weisz), who is also flirting with Danilov.

However, the Germans have an ace sniper of their own in Erwin Koning (Ed Harris - "Pollock"), a seasoned and out-spoken Major who comes to Stalingrad only to pick off Vassili. And before Koning leaves, his superior officer asks how he'll find Vassili. Koning says, " I'll fix it so he finds me."

The love triangle that director Jean-Jacques Annaud and co-writer Alain Godard put in the story shows that the pair took a chance and I'll give them credit for doing it. Plus, the love scene that Law and Weisz have is one of the strangest (no offense to either one) that I've seen.

The film's best moments come when Vassili tries to catch Koning off guard, but the problem is Koning is aware of what Vassili is capable of. I won't say how it's done, but the final confrontation is a genuine nail-bitter.

All of the performances here are powerhouse and that includes Bob Hoskins as Nikita Kruschev, a snarling and impatient man and Ron Perlman, who portrays Koulikov, a lieutenant whose teeth are all metal and serves as a guide for Vassili.

Robert Frassie ("Ronin") handles the movie's photography with care and the appearrence of Stalingrad itself reminded me heavily of the war-torn cities shown in Spielsburg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". Also, James Horner conducts a tender and extremely mournful score that leaves a quiet yet important reminder of how awful war is.

"ENEMY AT THE GATES" is an extrodinary work of raw skill and imagination.

Takes a few wrong turns, but ends up effective for people in which it sounds interesting. Good performances. *** (out of four)

[Movie-12 · 7/10 · 14 April 2001]

ENEMY AT THE GATES / (2001) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

"Enemy At The Gates" takes place in 1942 and details a cat and mouse chase between two snipers. The mouse is a young Russian named Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), who arrives on the shores of the Volga River to defend Stalingrad, an important city in which the German's are attempting to capture. Zaitsev soon finds himself befriending a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), who is impressed by the soldiers quick skills and decides to glorify him through the local press. Zaitsev becomes a political icon for the locals, giving them encouragement and increasing their hope for victory.

The cat is an opposing sniper named Major Koenig (Ed Harris), a famous sharpshooter called upon to kill Zaitsev. Koulikov (Ron Perlman), another talented sniper, is assigned to help Zaitsev in killing Koenig before the Major takes a victory shot. To further complicate matters, Zaitsev falls in love with another soldier, Tania (Rachel Weisz), whose parents were killed by the enemies, and wants to redeem their honor.

"Enemy At The Gates" certainly paints a vivid, graphic depiction of war. The atmosphere is unsettling and bleak, the characters are almost always dirty and sleepless, the fighting scenes consist of brief, short, instantaneous shots, but the sequences are fast-paced, genuine, and disturbing. The city looks battered and tormented. The dialogue goes hand and hand with the character's actions; the plot is challenging and the movie is focused, about something solid. In the sequences where Koenig and Zaitsev challenge one another, the tension is very effective. The movie tends to realize that, and concentrates a great deal of effort in making those scenes suspenseful and taut.

Joseph Fiennes plays a meek, nervous character and does a good job at bringing him to life believably. Jude Law, whose last work in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" provides a tough act to follow, accomplishes great things with a determined and assiduous character. Ed Harris is the standout actor here, in a harrowing, steadfast, juicy performance. Rachel Weisz cannot do a whole lot with her character, however. She often feels strained and contrived.

"Enemy At The Gates" tries hard to express the subject of the media's influence in our culture. If the film, co-written and directed by Jean-Jaques Annaud ("Seven Years in Tibet"), would have stayed on that concept, it would have been a whole lot better. The romance between Zaitsev and Tania is kind of unnecessary, and I am not sure if the sex scene is obligatory or advances their relationship. This love side story lacks passion; a lot of it feels mechanical and routine. "Enemy At The Gates" is still a consistently intriguing war film-rare because it does not involve Americans. While we are never really concerned about the outcome of the actual war, nor do we entirely care about several aspects of the main characters, there are many good scenes of suspense, and the overall mood of the movie is effective. "Enemy at the Gates" is worth seeing if it sounds interesting to you.

Opening the gates of my mind

[alan_ashcroft · 9/10 · 28 March 2001]

At first glance I must admit I thought "Oh no!" not another war movie trying to cash in on the success that Saving Private Ryan had. However when I viewed this film it turned out to be a great surprise in my mind. Its the story of a man brought to fame in a form of propaganda to help the disintegrating Russian forces keep faith. The boy (Law) was obviously talented however nearly lost his own faith when poised against his greatest challenge, the prized German sniper. The story line throughout kept me glued to the screen leading up to a wonderful climax.

The wonder of friendship and love also have a great deal in the plot and realistically portrays both in those times of chaos and death. I urge any reader who is doubting this films credentials to swallow their pride and sit down to watch this film. You will not be disapointed in the least.

In saying this I would like to just add that I feel there could have been improvement in the accents as sometimes I was finding it hard to grasp that the Germans were fighting the Russians and not the English, but otherwise 10 out of 10.

Tense war drama that centers the viewer in the German invasion of Stalingrad

[geopat2004 · 8/10 · 5 February 2005]

I simply want to weigh in with a very positive response to Enemy at the Gates. Taken as a historical drama rather than an attempt to flawlessly depict an historical incident, this is topnotch entertainment. "Enemy" portrays the conflict between a young Russian sniper played by Law and the German sniper (Harris) who is sent to kill him during the German attack on Stalingrad during WWII. Apart from a scene which awkwardly caricatures the Russian field commanders and the occasionally distracting accents, the film successfully immerses the viewer in this tense war drama. Appreciate it it for its tight focus, uncompromising realism, and fine characterizations by the main actors. Research the historical accuracy later, if you must, but don't let it spoil the film.

Should Have Been Much Better

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 3 May 2006]

This was a pretty solid World War II story but wasn'tas good as I hoped. It's still definitely worth a look and worth collecting if you like Word War II movies. Speaking of looks, this film got panned for its cinematography by some national reviewers because it was "too bland," but that was deliberate. It's a bland topography and a somber story.

To me, it was refreshing to see a modern-day war movie with little profanity. It was supposed to be a true-life account of a Russian and German sniper going after each other. With that premise, it sounded like a taut thriller.

Something was missing with this film, even though it had it's tense moments. Most of the story, not just the scenery, is drab and it takes a toll on the viewer after awhile. Perhaps it's the believability of the characters. There was no attempt by the filmmakers to have their actors sound plausible. For instance, Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz all play Russians.....with a British accent! Ed Harris plays a German with an American accent! Come on! Everyone sounded so phony it took away from the story.

The futility of war, and what causes it.

[David-240 · 10/10 · 24 November 2001]

I really loved this film. It is one of the best movies about war - what it is like, and what causes it. I know some people find the love story hard to take, but it is there to illustrate how jealousy and envy can lead to irrational acts, hate, and even war.

At a time when the world is racing toward armed conflict yet again, this film is a timely reminder of the ultimate futility of war. The opening sequence is one of the most horrific I have ever seen - comparable to that incredible opening scene in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. But unlike "Ryan", this film does not become a flag-waving one-sided analysis of war. Instead we get an in depth, and very moving, look at the reality of being human in a war situation - whether male or female, German or Russian. And Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Ed Harris all give superb performances. I was a bit hard-pressed, though, to believe Bob Hoskins as Krushchev.

Jean-Jacques Annaud is a remarkable director, with a strong visual style, and deserves to be recognised as one of the contemporary masters of cinema. Ten out of Ten.

Best Sex Scene Ever

[ctelrap · 8/10 · 25 February 2022]

When Jude Law and Rachel Weisz finally hook up its in a very crowded bunker full of sleeping soldiers so they have to keep their clothes on and be very quiet. Surprisingly erotic.

Good Film But No Classic Epic

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 26 October 2002]

I liked ENEMY AT THE GATES , but its flaws are very obvious . First of all is Rachel Weisz who makes a very unconvincing Soviet heroine with a very distracting upper class English accent , I guess this is to make the film more marketable to a potential female audience along with the inclusion of a love triangle which is slightly unnecessary and underdeveloped ( Witness the scene where it looks like Danilov is going to have the hero arrested as an enemy of the state and this is never followed up ? ) and did we really need to have the inclusion of a sex scene ? These small problems spoil the film somewhat and stops it becoming a classic epic

Not to be negative I really did like this film for two reasons . First up is the portrayal of snipers . Once upon a time snipers were considered as being amongst an army`s bravest most competant warriors . This is still true today of course but media attention via such conflicts in Northern Ireland , the Balkans and the middle east and even recent events in America means " Sniper " is a word people associate with cold hearted murdering thugs and EATG rightly dispells this modern day myth. Secondly EATG shows us all something that is rarely seen to a western audience and that is the horror of the Eastern front during the Second world war . Hollywood would have us believe America won the second world war single handed but it was mainly the courage and sacrifice of the citizens of the USSR that was the major factor in the defeat of Hitler . The Soviet Union lost 30 million people during the war ( One in six of its citizens ) and just as many died through Stalin as through Hitler , something that is not forgotten by this film.

All in all a good film but one that is inferior to CROSS OF IRON a film that I absolutely adore and consider to be the best film to feature the second world war as its backdrop

Hugely efficient war movie, with thorough authenticity

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 7 July 2016]

This effective movie has a great, epic background over which to play the story - the battle of Stalingrad in World War II, which left the city in smouldering ruins and hundreds of soldiers (on both sides) dead. Like with most modern blockbusters, the budget is big (the biggest in Europe, it has been said), and there are plenty of authentic bombing raids and gun battles in this action-packed movie which only slightly drags towards the end. CGI fighters spit bombs down on to the ruined streets and the smoke from dozens of explosions fills the sky to great effect in some truly breath-taking battle sequences. The film doesn't shy away from the violence either, preferring to show in graphic detail the sight of bullets erupting through bodies and exploding heads, blood everywhere, particularly in a disturbingly realistic scene showing enemy fire peppering a group of soldiers huddled together on a boat.

Over this intense background plays a story that is in parts a thriller, a tragedy, and a romance. The various plot strands are mingled perfectly to make one smooth-running film as a whole with well-drawn characters you can really care about. In particular, Jude Law gives a convincing portrayal of an innocent farmer boy, initially terrified out of his life when he is thrown headlong into battle, and gradually turning into a war hero through the propaganda of his friend Danilov (an understated and effective turn from Joseph Fiennes).

The initial sequence in which Law proves his worth as a sniper is an excellently-shot piece of action. Into the story comes Rachel Weisz, as the love interest, a female Russian soldier, and there's even a love triangle thrown in there too for good measure between her, Law and Fiennes. However, most scenes are stolen by Ed Harris (looking very much like Anton Diffring) as Major Konig, a German war hero and top-notch sniper who engages in some tense and suspenseful cat-and-mouse games in the rubble of Stalingrad, sequences which are the best in the movie. Good support comes from a near-unrecognisable Bob Hoskins as Khrushchev, and Ron Perlman as a fellow sniper with a mouth full of metal teeth.

ENEMY AT THE GATES is a well-made and intelligent blockbuster, convincingly portraying the realism of the war, peppered with many memorable scenes such as the macabre image of a young boy hanging from ruins on the horizon. Although the outcome is to be expected, the journey there is an eventful and often surprising one and never less than watchable. A shame that all modern blockbusters aren't often as intelligently scripted or acted as this film is.

The bloody battle of Stalingrado between two nations became a conflict between two men well played by Jude Law and Ed Harris

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 1 September 2020]

The film is a love story and death set in 1942-1943 during the Battle of Stalingrad, into the six month battle that caused nearly 2,000,000 total casualties (wounded, killed, captured) for the two opponents, including hundreds of thousands of Russian civilians. Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) arrives in Stalingrad to coordinate defense of the city and demands ideas from his subordinates on how to improve morale. Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) , a senior lieutenant, suggests that the people need "an example, but an example to follow" and give them hope.Danilov recommends Zaitzev. Soon after, Danilov begins publishing tales of Vasily's exploits in the army's newspaper that paint him as a national hero and propaganda icon. Vasily (Jude Law) is transferred to the sniper division and becomes friends with Danilov. Both also become romantically interested in Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz) , a citizen of Stalingrad who has become a private in the local milit a.With the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König (EdHarris) is deployed to Stalingrad to kill Vasily to crush Soviet morale. A renowned marksman and head of the German Army sniper school at Zossen, he lures Vasily into a trap and kills two of his fellow snipers, but Vasily manages to escape, but the confrontation goes on and on. Some Men Are Born To Be Heroes.A single bullet can change history.A hero never chooses his destiny. His destiny chooses him.

The movie follows a World War II soldier transferred by boat crossing the river Volga , where ultimately finds himself fighting in the famous Battle of Stalingrad. The story follows soldiers from both sides as they fight to survive while saving the lives of their loves, and struggle with retaining their humanity in the face of certain death and the unspeakable horrors of war. It displays a good cast giving nice interpretations , including Jude Law as Zaytsev, Rachel Weisz as Tania Chernova, and Ed Harris as König, with Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Ron Perlman, Eva Mattes, Gabriel Marshall Thomson, and Matthias Habich .The screenwriter studied diaries of the participants of the Battle of Stalingrad and also used museum archives, documents and recorded stories of its participants. It contains a rousing and evocative musical score by James Horner . It packs a colorful and adequate cinematograhy by Robert Fraisse whose shooting took place in Germany and the crossing of the Volga River was done on the Altdöberner See, a man-made lake near the village of Pritzen, in the south of Brandenburg. A derelict factory in the village of Rüdersdorf was used to recreate the ruins of Stalingrad's tractor factory. The massive outdoor set of Stalingrad's Red Square was built at Krampnitz, near Potsdam. The film was well directed, co-written and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.The magnificent filmmaker Annaud creates yet another picture excellently directed and stunningly produced . Annaud directed particular films with almost no human dialogue such as ¨Quest for fire¨ and was an expert on animal movies as proved in ¨The bear¨ , ¨Running Free¨ about horses and ¨Two brothers¨ dealing with tigers . His most successful pictures were ¨The lover¨ , ¨Enemy of the gates¨,¨Seven years in Tibet¨ and of course ¨The name of the rose¨.

Other films about this battle are as follows : Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? a 1959 West German film, directed by Frank Wisbar with Joachim Hansen as Wisse , Wilhelm Borchert as Friedrich Paulus , Wolfgang Preiss as Linkmann , Carl Lange as General von Seydlitz , Horst Frank as Feldwebel Böse , Peter Carsten as Obergefreiter and Sonja Ziemann .Stalingrad (1993) by Director Joseph Vilsmaier with Dominique Horwitz as Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser , Thomas Kretschmann as Leutnant Hans von Witzland , Jochen Nickel as Unteroffizier Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder , Sebastian Rudolph .Stalingrad (2013) with Pyotr Fyodorov as Capt. Gromov , Alexey Barabash , Andrey Smolyakov , Sergey Bondarchuk Jr.

Sniper Warfare at its finest

[DanTheMan2150AD · 8/10 · 7 August 2023]

An exercise in the brutality within the bloody ruins of Stalingrad, Enemy at the Gates is a taut and highly atmospheric game of cat and mouse between Major König and legendary sniper, Vasily Zaitsev. Gripping from the get-go with its barbaric depiction of its opposing armies coming to blows, with not one step back, Director Jean-Jacques Annaud delivers a film that simultaneously has you squirming in your seat and right on the edge. The handheld and sweeping camera motions only help to heighten the sense of fear and scale Stalingrad itself possess, with James Horner's hauntingly unnerving and beautiful score to compliment it. All this with the addition of a great cast consisting of Jude Law, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins and a criminally underused Ron Perlman, Enemy at the Gates is a top-notch depiction of sniper warfare and the power of propaganda. You just have to forgive a few historical inaccuracies, British-speaking Soviets, American-speaking Nazis and the pointless addition of a Hollywood love triangle that really drag the picture down.

It's better than I remembered it being

[connornoiles · 7/10 · 17 December 2021]

The film has a truly amazing opening, and it remains interesting whenever it focus's on the sniper conflict.. Skip most of the romance, unless you like that kinda thing. Stay on the interesting parts..

Must watch movie of all time.

[utsavdhar-35976 · 10/10 · 16 May 2020]

This movie depicts the hard reality of World War 2. Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law) a Russian sniper kill numerous Nazi solders during the battle of Stalingard. Both Jude and Rachel portrait a fantastic and most realistic characters of war. A master piece characterization by director Jean-Jacques Annaud. A must watch movie of all time.

Don't believe Hollywood.

[sharpjohn · 6/10 · 19 March 2019]

So by now everyone should know that Hollywood takes liberty's with the truth and this film is no exception. Yes there are some true parts to the film but it can be best described as a good remake of an old Soviet propaganda film.

Should be taught in film class.

[oscarnestell · 9/10 · 18 August 2003]

Imagine the pitch:

A game of cat-and-mouse = great! A game of cat-and-mouse between two snipers = even better! Make it a true story = whoa! Make it a war story = WHOA! Shoot it on rarely seen actual locations = hubba hubba! Cast it with an international A-list = excellent! Include perennial Academy-Award nominee Ed Harris = superb! Make the antagonist a Nazi = should be no problem for an audience to want to see HIS comeuppance!

And now ... make the protagonists a Communist sniper and a Communist propaganda officer (Law and Fiennes, respectively)!

This is exactly the task that director Jean-Jacques Annaud faced with ENEMY AT THE GATES. How does one make a movie where the GOOD guys work for Stalin, one of the most hideous human beings ever to walk the earth?

Answer: Start with the script. By making the decision to give Mr. Fiennes and Mr. Law's characters dimensionality through love and friendships, the script is creating characters the audience can relate to. By the simple act of withholding the same information about Mr. Harris' Nazi, the script makes him a more dangerous antagonist who is already cold hearted and cunning (he uses a child to his advantage in a much more effective way than your standard movie villain). Throw in a woman who is unwilling to sit on the sidelines as war threatens to determine her fate (Weisz), and you have four compelling characters to lead your story.

Next comes casting. Casting an actor that the audience inherently has come to trust over the years - Ed Harris - as a Nazi sniper antagonist, adds dimension to the film. All of a sudden, the audience is asked to take sides, not merely shoved one way or the other.

Next comes the setting. By choosing to set the film in a place that is cold, unforgiving, and unrelenting on its best days (not to mention war) adds necessary tension and desperation. Then throw in utterly graphic and realistic war violence. Take all this and wrap it around a true story and you have a combination that should make an audience's stomach tie itself in to knots.

Finally, hire a director. Who better for this hard-to-sell story than a man who has made a career out of untellable stories such as THE BEAR and QUEST FOR FIRE?

Finally, then ... an undeservingly overlooked film that is certainly better than most everything else on the shelves of your local video store.

Tried to be too much.

[barberoux · 7/10 · 27 August 2001]

This wasn't a bad movie. I enjoyed much of it. I thought it captured some of war's grit and horror and the performances by Jude Law and Ed Harris were good. Bob Hoskins was great. I thought Rachel Weisz was also good but the rather sappy love story placed inside of this movie slowed the action and disrupted the flow. The story for me was about the duel between the two snipers. The love interest could have been introduced and used as in a minor way, such as giving Vassili a reason to want to live, but it took up too much of the screen time thus confusing the main point of the movie. Was it a war movie or a love story? It tried to be both and failed to gel into a whole movie. Still it was worth watching. War movie fans will have to suffer through the sap while love story fans have to endure the gore.

The best war movie I've ever watched!

[diane-34 · 10/10 · 4 May 2003]

All future war films that I watch will be forced through the sieve of Enemy at the Gates and I will be surprised if anything from America will even remotely touch the power of this film.

I freely admit that I know nothing about the production except that it could not possibly have been made with American money-too many foreigners acting, too few swipes at the Russians and far too many positive comments about the hated Soviets.

The opening war shots of the barges across the river ferrying fresh troops to the besieged Stalingrad was as harrowing as any war sequence that I've ever seen and to think that the reality of the Stalingrad meat grinder was vastly worse gives you chills-the landing on the shore with its inevitable battles shows reasons for the revolvers that officers carry.

The second, but major section of the script, with the development of the mini-war between the German sent to Stallingrad to kill the now famous young Russian sniper provides as good a background for the remainder of the film as is possible to see in a cinema. The drama of the characters trying to play out some semblance of reality against the horrors of Stalingrad would tax the best of the best and the entire cast and crew deserve the highest accolades for their success in bringing this amazing story to the cinema.

If you, as I did, miss this movie in the theatre then make every effort to rent it on video-it is brilliant!

Often overlooked WW2 film

[Movie_Beta · 7/10 · 30 July 2023]

Enemy at the Gates with a strong cast of Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins and Ed Harris was released in 2001 after a resurgence in interest in war movies following the success of 'Saving Private Ryan'. Filmed with a similar budget, 'Enemy at the Gates' was though nowhere near as successful upon its release.

This is not a bad movie, the story of the competing snipers of the two sides battling it out while the bigger events of the Battle for Stalingrad wages destructively around them, is compelling. Obviously the cast is strong, though none giving career high performances, no one really stands out.

It is hard to pinpoint why it is not better. The opening scenes of the destruction and barbarity of war, though not matching those of Saving Private Ryan are still powerful and well shot. The movie lags a bit in the mid section and the tone seems slightly off with the characters not really acknowledging or portraying the awfulness or futility of what is going on around them. Also the topic of the accents has to be mentioned. Yes, all the actors not attempting to speak English in a Russian accent is maybe commendable, but then you get everyone speaking in bland 'Middle English' accents which is more distracting even. Jude Law being the worst offender.

Good but not great WW2 movie, still well worth a watch for the underlying sniper story alone.

7/10.

This is quality for 2001!

[SPZMaxinema · 8/10 · 26 May 2023]

I can't believe this movie is over 20 years old! In many ways it looks brand new! While it could get slow at times and was a bit distracting with the romance element of the plot, it ended well with that arch and the scenes where the sniper confrontations took place were well shot and very tense! Those scenes made the movie for me! It's pretty neat that it's based on a true story too! Ed Harris and Jude Law do well in their scenes and you buy into them being at war with each other (both individually with them and collectively with the rest). You buy into the environment of the battle/war as well!

Come for the Action, Not Historical Accuracy

[jethrojohn · 6/10 · 11 May 2021]

Upon my first viewing of this film after many years as an older adult, all I could do in the opening scenes was marvel at the way the French writer-directors demonise the Soviet higher-ups by making them into cold-blooded killers of their own men.

I had forgotten how historically inaccurate this film was, in that respect.

I'm not saying that it was nice being in the Soviet army at this point, but the Russians wouldn't have been a key element to Allied victory if they'd treated their soldiers as badly as they are depicted here. Heck, I'm the first 15 minutes, it looks like it's a lot better to be a German soldier.

So, if you can put the aside that aspect of the film and accept that you're getting a very biased view of the protagonists of this film, then you can probably stomach the rest of it.

Because the truth of the this film is simple. It's one for effect.

Everything from the love at first sight meeting of the lady to the battle scenes to the overly dramatic score, it's all about evoking emotion first and historical accuracy much, much later.

Once you accept that, you're good to go. And maybe you'll be able to stop yourself chuckling at the glaring falsified aspects of the Soviets.