Enemy At The Gates
"The most triumphant war movie since 'Saving Private Ryan'." -Amy Longsdorf, Gannett Newspapers
An all-star cast lights up the screen in this riveting epic hailed as "a vivid dramatization of one of history's titanic turning points." (Gene Shalit, TODAY)
The year is 1942 and the Nazis are cutting a deadly swath through Russia. Under the leadership of Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), the citizens of Stalingrad are mounting a brave resistance, spurred by the exploits of their local hero, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law). An expert sniper, Vassili's deeds have become legendary - thanks to propaganda produced by Vassili's best friend, a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). To stop Vassili, the Germans dispatch their best sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), to Stalingrad. When Vassili and Danilov both fall in love with a beautiful soldier (Rachel Weisz), Danilov deserts his friend, leaving Vassili to face his German counterpart alone. As the city burns, Vassili and Konig begin a cunning game of cat and mouse, waging a private war for courage, honor and country.
Critiques des membres
A very tense, cold, authentic-looking movie, featuring an engaging mano-a-mano battle - moviemonger
Here's a movie which takes place during the second world war, but isn't really about the war at all. This film focuses solely on the smaller battle within the grander fight for Stalingrad, featuring two marksmen searching for one another amid the greater chaos. Here are the Russians getting their asses whupped by the Germans. The film really gives you that sense of despair, that lack of leadership and that much needed fighting spirit required from the Russians. Because of the strength of its characters, the believability of its surroundings, its sheer grandness and its tight story line, you cannot help but be truly engaged in every second of this film's suspenseful moments. This movie might not have the grand scope of a SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the deep message of a PLATOON, or the poetry of the depressing THE THIN RED LINE, but it does succeed in telling an interesting story and delivering on various fronts of entertainment as well. There is also a wide richness of detail in the film. This film was a definite treat for me, especially in the year of crapola movies thus far. Here's a picture that gives you lots to look at, lots to pay attention to and lots to care about. And yes, they've even added a small romance angle for the ladies, which thankfully didn't take up much of the film's runtime and is, for the most part, credible and touching. A grand movie filled with suspense, impressive visuals and an absorbing story line!4 stars - Torsty
In the midst of Stalingrad, one of the largest and most brutal battles of World War II, two snipers duel it out.
One is a Russian peasant Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and the other is a German aristocrat Major Konig (Ed Harris).
Zaitsev has a remarkable talent for shooting German officers dead and so the High Command sends in Konig to hunt him down and get him back.
The stakes are high as Zaitsev has become a Soviet hero through the propaganda machine run by Political Officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) and his death would be a major blow to the resolve of his hard-pressed comrades.
Sound implausible? Well, it's actually a true story and director Jean-Jacques Annaud has built up a pretty damn good movie around it.
Stalingrad cost the Soviets more than one million soldiers and while they were fighting the Nazis, the Communists showed they were as - if not more - ruthless than their brutal enemy.
Political officers shot wavering soldiers, retreat meant a bullet in the back of the head and thousands of troops died without even having the benefit of a rifle with which to fire back.
Beautifully filmed, Enemy at the Gates is an exciting war movie that gets up and close with the main protagonists and Annaud's direction makes the most of the icy blue eyes of both Law and Harris.
The transfer is a beauty and while it is mostly battlefield greys and browns, when the red stuff starts getting splashed about it's all in vivid colour.
The picture is sharp and the excellent sound plonks you right into the middle of the battles and almost has you diving for cover as explosions land around you.
So, who survives the sniper duel?
Well, Enemy at the Gates is well worth sitting through to find out!Interesting Perspective - AcE-
One great thing about this movie is that it shines the spotlight on the other side of world war II, the eastern front. We see so much American flag waving when it comes to Hollywood and WWII that many people do not realize that the war was won on the blood of soviet soldiers. The soviet military suffered over 8 million casualties in WWII which is roughly the amount sufferred by every other country combined. This movie illustrates this and the harsh conditions that the battle for Stalingrad were fought under. Ed Harris and Jude Law (I was surprised by this pick but he works out very well) do a great job of portraying the real life sniper battle in the midst of a much larger conflict.
Critiques des membres
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A very tense, cold, authentic-looking movie, featuring an engaging mano-a-mano battle - moviemonger
Here's a movie which takes place during the second world war, but isn't really about the war at all. This film focuses solely on the smaller battle within the grander fight for Stalingrad, featuring two marksmen searching for one another amid the greater chaos. ...4 stars - Torsty
In the midst of Stalingrad, one of the largest and most brutal battles of World War II, two snipers duel it out.
One is a Russian peasant Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and the other is a German aristocrat Major Konig (Ed Harris).
Zaitsev has a ...Interesting Perspective - AcE-
One great thing about this movie is that it shines the spotlight on the other side of world war II, the eastern front. We see so much American flag waving when it comes to Hollywood and WWII that many people do not realize that the war was won on the blood ...