Rachel Weisz Movie:

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		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Like Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates opens with a pivotal event of World War II--the German invasion of Stalingrad--re-created in epic scale, as ill-trained Russian soldiers face German attack or punitive execution if they flee from the enemy's advance. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud captures this madness with urgent authenticity, creating a massive context for a more intimate battle waged amid the city's ruins. Embellished from its basis in fact, the story shifts to an intense cat-and-mouse game between a Russian shepherd raised to iconic fame and a German marksman whose skill is unmatched in its lethal precision. Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law) has been sniping Nazis one bullet at a time, while the German Major Konig (Ed Harris) has been assigned to kill Vassily and spare Hitler from further embarrassment.

There's love in war as Vassily connects with a woman soldier (Rachel Weisz), but she is also loved by Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the Soviet officer who promotes his friend Vassily as Russia's much-needed hero. This romantic rivalry lends marginal interest to the central plot, but it's not enough to make this a classic war film. Instead it's a taut, well-made suspense thriller isolated within an epic battle, and although Annaud and cowriter Alain Godard (drawing from William Craig's book and David L. Robbins's novel The War of the Rats) fail to connect the parallel plots with any lasting impact, the production is never less than impressive. Highly conventional but handled with intelligence and superior craftsmanship, this is warfare as strategic entertainment, without compromising warfare as a manmade hell on Earth. --Jeff Shannon

Enemy at the Gates [Region 2] Reviews:
Great movie but..
2009-11-13 - I hope they remake this someday and cut the love story out and tighten the script a notch. Still as it is, has great replay potential!

a great movie! Dont listen to 5- stars!
2009-11-13 - The battle of Stalingrad is the most epic battle ever, and an accurate re-enactment is an education of inestimable value! How can these vermin of Stalingrad give it less than 5 stars I doin't know! (scratch scratch) Evidently they think of it as "entertainment." (scratch) The amazing moral, personal, and social insensitivity of modern Americans is, to me, quite amazing! Anyway, this film displays the incredible personal and moral courage of Russian soldiers fighting like rats in the ruins of Stalingrad. (scratch scratch) Stalin threw soldiers against the Germans like lambs to the slaughter - The Russian army had machine guns - to kill their own who ran from the suicidal charges. The opening scene on the Volga is worth the whole film. We should be so lucky if we had more films portraying the "rats in the ruins" of similar battles. (scratch) A film about the Russian invasion of Germany would be an amazing film, as would the invasion and bombing of Japan in WW2. (scratch)

War of the rats
2009-10-15 - If you're in the mood for a really good war flick you can't go wrong with 2001's "Enemy at the Gates." Most WWII films take place on the Western Front whereas "Enemy" is one of only two films I can think of that address the Eastern front, the other being Sam Peckinpah's underrated "Cross of Iron" (1977).

THE PLOT: The entire story takes place during the pivotal Battle of Stalingrad. Russian troops are carted in by the literal trainloads as the Germans attack/bomb the city. Once the dust clears the situation settles into a more personal battle of sharpshooting wills. A lowly young Russian soldier named Vassili (Jude Law) distinguishes himself for his shooting skills and is promoted as a national hero to motivate the Russian cause. After numerous German officers are assassinated Major König (Ed Harris), the top German sniper, is assigned to seek out and eliminate Vassili.

I saw this film back when it was first released to video and three things stuck in my mind over the years: (1.) The opening sequence where the Russian troops are boated across the Volga River to join the fight. This sequence is just extremely harrowing, even more so than Saving Private Ryan's opening D-Day invasion. This is definitely one of the most realistic, well-done scenes in war film history. The film's worth viewing for this incredible sequence alone! (2.) The city-in-rubble sets with bodies strewn everywhere had a lasting impression on me as did the scurring-like-rats-through-the-rubble warfare. (3.) Some may find this weird, but I always remembered the discreet love-making scene while the soldiers laid in the rubble trying to sleep. I'm not sure why this left an impression, maybe because it struck me as so real -- men & women would be drawn to one another and mate even in the worst possible scenarios.

I just saw the film a second time recently and, again, the warfare reminded me of human rats scurring through the debris. What's interesting is that I later discovered that the film was based on the book "War of the Rats" by David L. Robbins. Guess the movie was supposed to provoke the imagery of rats, huh?

The cast also includes Joseph Fiennes as the political officer who elevates Vassili to hero status via his pamphlets and articles, while Rachel Weisz plays the romantic interest between the two. Ron Perlman is also on hand in a limited role as Vassili's sharpshooting comrade.

As with any film based on historical events there are facts-obsessed critics who decry the lack of authenticity in this or that detail (e.g. "The zippers on the trousers aren't right -- blasphemy!!", but "Enemy" gets the gist right and, besides, it motivates the viewer to research the actual Battle of Stalingrad, at least this is what it did for me. What more can you ask for? The fact is Vassili played a key role in motivating the Russians to victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the major turning points of World War II; from then on it was all downhill for Germany.

FINAL WORD: "Enemy at the Gates" is a truly unforgettable war film about an oft-ignored important aspect of WWII, the Eastern front. It has numerous memorable scenes, especially the opening crossing of the Volga and also a clever sequence involving a large shard of reflective glass. In my humble opinion the film's far better than the contemporaneous "Saving Private Ryan" (I'm sure I'll get a handful of 'non-helpful' votes for that sacrilegious statement).

GRADE: B+ or A-

Graphic
2009-09-27 - Be forewarned. This movie is about snipers. Snipers go for headshots. You do the math.

Very well done, with a portrayal of Kruschev sent to the city by Stalin to "fix" things. Stalingrad landmarks are well-portrayed in the film. The actors were good, but in some cases I think they were in miscast.

Not to bad for a work of fiction
2009-08-10 - Ok so the deul between snipers, great propoganda, not likely though. Did the Nazis want Zaitsev dead? Yes. But there were deadlier snipers in the Red Army, including a few women who had much higher kill totals then he did. Really though the Nazis send a major, head of thier sniper school to hunt Zaiysev? Doubtful. Rachel Wiesz's character is supposed to be Ukrainian, and not jewish. Apparently though every World War 2 movie about Europe has to hammer home the Holocaust in some way. Guess it's a standard receipe in Hollywood. She was according to history a deadly individual who arrived in Stalingrad with around a Hundred kills already, and not the timid, afraid to shoot my gun character portrayed in the movie. A slight to her I'm sure, not sure what's wrong with a strong proud woman in a movie, defending her country, BUT Hollywood seems to not like the idea.

No the Russians had pleant of guns at Stalingrad. No need to wait for some poor schmuck to buy it so you could have one. Wrong period in history. Not one Russian soldier has a bayonet, despite a Red Army rule against removing them. History? NO! Entertainment, Yes. I liked Ron Pearlman's character. Too bad he dies quick. Ed Harris is awsome as the intenese German Major. And Bob Haskins as Kruschev is awsome. Yes the line...."I don't care you lost half your men, Lose the other half!" is probably true. Historicaly the Russians have always been willing to accept enourmous casualties in war.

Stop looking for history and truth, realize it's a propaganda story, a movie about the horror of war, and it's just entertainment.