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Enemy at the Gates

Enemy at the Gates

List Price: $9.99
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: SKIP IT
Review: "Enemy at the Gates" has a closer resemblance to "Days of Our Lives" or "As the World Turns" than to "Saving Private Ryan" and there are far better war movies to be had than this sentimental tripe. Obstensibly about a real life Russian sniper who won fame at the Battle of Stalingrad for his actions against the Nazi invaders, the film spends far too much of its time revolving around a ficticious love triangle rather than what was the biggest battle in WWII. While the movie does nicely illustrates the destruction and carnage of the city, the almost medieval dicipline of the WWII Soviet Army, the apocolyptic conditions in which both sides fought, and the malicious and Orwellian policies of the Soviets high command, it touches on these aspects only briefly. The bulk of the film is spent on Fiennes (sp?) unrecipricated infatuation with Rachel Weisz, her infatuation with Jude Law, and (sporadically) Lay being hunted by a German sniper played stiffly by Ed Harris. The films lack of credibility is compounded by the actors all speaking with English accents (except for the very American sounding Harris), especially Bob Hoskins as a cockney sounding Nikita Kruschev and in the end all you have in this film is a boy meets girl vehicle with the battle itself as little more than background. It's probably safe to say that most people prefer war movies to be about war, and if this is the case with you, passing this one by would probably be a good idea.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This was really awful
Review: Besides the fact that it was boring and the story was not compelling, it was impossible to get past the actors' very British accents-you just cannot believe these people are Russian. This fact alone destroys this movie completely. Don't waste your time or money, rent Private Ryan instead.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great Plot - For a Love Story!
Review: I purchased this movie based on the actors and the subject matter, figuring it was a 'no lose' choice. Boy was I wrong! For starters, the producers teleported Czar Nichola's army of WW1 to WW2 Stalingrad. By 1942 the Russians were producing huge numbers of small arms and there was no need for succeeding waves of attacking soldiers to pick up weapons from the dead.

From watching the movie you would think that Stalingrad was as desolate as the moon, not a city where 600,000 troops incessently fought over every inch for more than 6 months. The Russian snipers even have a cute tradition of walking through hundreds of metres of no man's land to acquire their victim's weapon. I don't think so! Of course the Russians are depicted as proud and brave, loyal to the Motherland, the Germans automata, if not outright buffoons. This despite the fact the sixth army was a shock army with the most experienced troops the Wermacht could offer.

Half way thru the movie I wondered how a project with such potential could slip so badly. Then it hit me - it isn't a war movie with a love story subplot, but a love story in a war setting. In sum, I wish the money poorly spent on EATG had rather been used to create a better DVD version of Cross of Iron!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: As a present it's OK as a discount buy .. forget it ...
Review: This movie has only three things going for it, the set, the set and also the set and that is why I give it one star instead of none .....

The epic war scenes of the Russian soldiers attackinga cptured Staligrad are absolutely fabulous and appear to be so tru to life that one can actually feel like one of the young Russian soldiers being used as cannon fodder.

One other notable bright light in this movie is Ed Harris as the Nazi sniper sent to kill the young backwoods Russian sniper ....
What makes me vomit is the stupid love story in the middle of the movie .... really now .... it doesn't add anything to the story and trying to make us think there were female snipers on the Russian front during WW II .... well, you'll probably convince me of the existence of the tooth fairy first ....

I guess the best way to sum it up is that this movie is a 'Schindlers List, SPR, Apocalypse Now, type of epic movie that has ghad a lobotomy.....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good film!
Review: I like war movies because I don't know anything about war at all, and I think that it is very important for me to understand about it.
I watched "enemy at the gates" at the theater last year, and I was impressed by it. I'd never seen such a movie. This film is a Russian sniper's story about a famous battle of World War 2. Also this is a true story of two snipers' duel at Stalingrad. Many soldiers were sacrificed at Stalingrad by Hitler.
This movie stars Jude Law who is very cool and a good actor. He holds sway over the screen world. I have watched a couple of his movies. In addition, the buildings were reproduced very well. It seemed as if I was actually there.
The subject of the film is very sad and should be taken seriously. I hope that the whole world doesn't repeat wars anymore .It has been sold as "Stalinglad" in Japan. To my surprise, titles of films are different between America and Japan. Anyway, I'd like to recommend this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Rare Hollywood WWII film about Russian sniper hero !
Review: This WWII is a sleeper WWII Classic because it shows us the RARE EASTERN FRONT battle line. This film depicts the turning point of the German invasion of Russia with the demoralized Russian Army making a last stand at "STALINGRAD".

Based on factual events the story really is about two men who are sent out to win for their countries this decisive physcological battle. A (based on a real Russian hero) Russian shepherd / hunting sharpshooter Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law) turned sniper has the edge by becoming a political & the peoples hero versus a Germany's #1 Marksman Major Konig (Ed Harris) who is sent to kill this Russian sniper hero. The movie is a cat & mouse game between these two experts with both countries depending on their respective man to win. Mean while the "Battle of Stalingrad" continues.

This Widescreen DVD captures the dissmal & gruesome conditions of this wore torn Russian city & its Army. Well Directed and acted this movie is a great addition to your WWII DVD library.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Epic without a soul
Review: The movie begins with young troops going to the front lines to a central Soviet city that bares the name of their leader, Stalingrad.

As the doors are opened, the troops stand in shock at what they see, the destruction of a once mighty city by a force that is far superior to what the Russians can muster up. However, the soldiers (most who are given a gun and 5 bullets) are forced to charge at gunpoint (it will be either the Russian Commanders or the German Forces that will kill them). Those who do not have guns are have to retrieve the guns from the dead. Moral is low and all looks lost when a new Commander named Krushchev arrives to handle the situation.

This is the backdrop for the real story, which focuses on young Vassily Zaitsev, played by Jude Law. Vassily is a young man, a farmer's son, who was taught by his grandfather to shoot and is excellent at it. He meets up with Danilov, a Political Officer whose job is similar to a moral cheerleader. Together, they plan to make Zaitsev a legend, a German killing sniper machine.

As Zaitsev's reputation for killing German officers becomes a turning point in the battle, the German's call in their head sniper, played by Ed Harris. This leads to a show down that only one can walk away from. Intertwined in this is a romantic triangle between Vassily, Danilov and a young Jewish fighter named Tania (Rachel Weisz).

The Russian/German showdown is definitely the showcase of this movie. There are tense scenes where the snipers scramble for superior hiding spots to gain the advantage, and throughout the movie Harris' Major Koenig always seems to have the upper hand, with his cunning technique. One of the best scenes in the movie involve Vassily and a fellow tracker (Dana Cebulla) think they got Koenig in a clothing factory, but are instead walking into a trap.

At this level, the movie suceeds. However, Director Annaud tries to dig deeper into the characters and like most convenient plot tricks is to introduce a love triangle. This does not succeed however, because Weisz and Law have no chemistry together. It was even made worse when the two actors were forced to endure one of the most uncomfortable love scenes in recent memory. Joseph Fiennes is in the background and does not have the scene presence he had in movies like "Shakespeare in Love". His Danilov is scheming, petty and cowardly.

The movie is also too tense throughout. There is little time for humor or lightheartedness. While this may make for realism, it is not helpful to us people who have to sit through two hours of stark misery. Even movies of great darkness such as Schindler's List had a few moments of brightness. The colors in this movie are grey and flat, as if the Omaha landing scene in "Saving Private Ryan" was stretched to the length of the whole movie.

Another bad point was the ending. It had no emotional pull, because the main characters seem to have no real depth or chemistry. It was also a standard, contrived ending.

I would recommend this movie because of the fabulous showdown of the sniper's and the bloody realism of the Battle of Stalingrad. However, it is a movie that has no real center, a center that is often filled by intriguing characters or interesting plot twist in superior movies such as Saving Private Ryan.....Rating: C+

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: riveting from beginning to end
Review: this is one of my favorite war movies i have seen in the past few years. the sniper showdowns are spectacular. the brutal fight in stalingrad is shown with huge intensity and carnage.the huge fights we see ther show the red armies inadequacy at this stage of the war. it also perfectly shows how the soviet leaders treated their soldiers and officers, with great brutality. the major part of the movie is the showdown between the two expert snipers played by Jude Law and Ed Harris. the love triangle involving rachel weisz joseph Fiennes Jude Law isn't interesting and needlessly distracts us from the more intriuging or important scenes of the movie. nevertheless the stellar casts performaces pushes the movie right along

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enemy at the gates is best!
Review: I think that Enemy at the Gates is the greatest movie ever! I love it so much, and I dream about it every night. It is a movie you don't forget, because it's the best! The actors are so good, and the background is great, and the story is so hilarious and beautiful and great!!!! I love the movie, and I can see it on and on again!
/Nea

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An entertainign war thirller.
Review: The year is 1942 and the Nazi are cutting a deadly swath though Russia. under the leadership of Kruschev (Bob Hopkins) need a professional soldier, who could help finishing the war. Then an expert spiner Vassili Zaitev (Jude Law) have become a promising war hero, because of his skills. Then a nazi sniper (Ed Harris) is also good just as Vassili are becoming enemies in this fast paced war thriller.

Directed by Jean Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, The Bear, The Name of the Rose) made an strong terrific drama, almost Based on a Fact. The film's only flaw is the Romance between Law and actress:Rachel Weisz put the film down, what could have been an Mastepiece, still is an very good movie. DVD`s has an strong anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) trasnfer & an excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. About 15 mintues of deleted scenes. Don`t miss it. A must for action-suspense fans. Super 35. Grade:A-.


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