Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly different! Beautiful photography
Review: Well, this certainly was a breath of fresh air, considering all the ready-to-swallow movies we're generally fed. Perhaps because a Frenchman was the director, EATG lends a whole different view on the battle at Stalingrad.
The complete overpowering of Russian farmboys and rifleshooters by a well-oiled machinery was convincingly portrayed. Like defenseless rabbits- the scenes where German warplanes take out half the newcomers on the boat, the suicidal run of half-a-rifle per man against machineguns and tanks, the burning of Stalingrad and the scene where Fiennes' character sacrifices itself for his friend, are very penetrating. Likewise, there is no glamour about either the main character or his love interest. And theirs is a very different courtship confined by countryside habits and by the short lifespan war lent, which makes the atmosphere all the more realistic.
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Rating: 
Summary: Mixing Love and War
Review: Based on an actual incident during World War II, this could have been an excellent film. It should have focused entirely on the cat and mouse tactics employed by the German Major Konig (Ed Harris) and Soviet Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law), both snipers trying to bring the other out into the open. However, the film constantly shifts focus between the Soviet propaganda officer (Joseph Fiennes) and female Soviet soldier (Rachel Weisz) in a ridiculous love triangle. This totally destroys the pace of the film and detracts from its main subject. By the time of the denouement there is no emotion felt. The characters, the two protagonists, are never given any real depth to lend meaning to their actions and motivations. The only emotion felt, is delivered by James Horner's score during the scenes when the two men actually do confront each other. When I think about it, the scenes with Major Konig and the young Russian boy should also have been explored much deeper. Their relationship was in an allegorical sense greater than Konig's duel with Zaitzev's. It presented moral questions on the conduct of war, which are actually disturbing to watch. This film is an example of many lost opportunities. The DVD transfer is good and it does seem to play better on TV than in it did in the theatre. The extras include deleted scenes and a feature on the making of the film.
Rating:
Summary: Two stars for sharp shooting only
Review: Just another Hollywood love story wrapped in pseudo-Russian atmosphere.
The actors have nothing in common with Russians and Russian history. A big laugh for anyone familiar with reality!
The screenplay is written with little respect for the nation that won the battle of Stalingrad and saved Europe from Nazi Germany.
If you are looking for entertainment - go ahead and see the movie, if you want to find out more about WWII and Russia - forget about this film...
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest wartime movies
Review: I loved this movie. The drama was intense and the movie always has you on the edge of your seat, even when the charecters are staying still. It has something for everyone - romance, action, drama. One of the greatest things about this movie as well is that it's an excellent view of the Russian front during World War II. The Russians played the major roll in tumbling the Nazi regime during World War II and this film really shows that. I can watch it over and over again and the suspense never leaves me.
Rating: 
Summary: Enemy At The Gates Is A Solid War Film
Review: Enemy At The Gates is the story of a Russian Sniper, that is a hero to the Russians, named Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and how he rose from a simple grunt to Russia's best sniper. After word of his exploits spread, Germany's Third Reich dispatches German Sniper: Major Konig (Ed Harris). From the time the Major arrives the duel begins in a game of cat and mouse, that lasts the better part of two hours.Enemy At The Gates is acted well by all of the cast. The problems begin with the suspense. In a film like this you should have great feeling of suspense, afterall it's a duel between two hihgly skilled snipers. The suspense is there but it could have been played upon more. The next problem may be the somewhat corny love story Vassili eventually has with beautiful female soldier (Rachel Weisz). This can be veiwed as corny when compared to the no-nonsense "Saving Private Ryan". The final problem is the lack of American influence. Russia and Germany were both our enemies at the time and Russia was until the end of the Cold War. However, in Enemy At The Gates, we our asked to cheer for the Russians, which can be a bitter pill to swallow. Special Features include a Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 television sets. Dolby Digital sound in three languages. A trailor, behind-the-scence featurette, cast and crew interviews and deleted scenes. Bottom Line:
Enemy At The Gates is a good film. It hits the mark but it's kind of hard to want Russia to win a war. I still enjoyed this film. Eventually, you look beyond Communism and see that Vassili is a human and you want him to kill Major Konig, even though he is a person as well. I guess Paramount knew we probably like the Communists more then the Nazis. Case in point Enemy At The Gates is a good war film, with subtle sub-plots, that are guranteed to make you root for Vassili, even though you may not like the Russians at the time. I would recommend this film to anyone who liked "Saving Private Ryan", because this is the Russian version of the underdog heroes.
Rating:
Summary: Raw as War
Review: "Enemy at the Gates" (2001) I first heard about this movie on Box Office America ages and ages ago. I thought it looked really good. Unfortunately this movie didn't get the best reviews in town, so I decided to rent it on video. I've just finished watching this amazing film, and I thought it was a shame that it was so underrated. This is one of the best war movies I have I ever seen. Its stunningly atmospheric and moody, with excellent and taut direction, a fabulous cast with kicks for giving believable performances, a story and script that portrays war in its coldest hour, and some very developed and interesting characters that kept me captivated the entire time. Enemy at the Gates is a big winner because it shows the true harsh reality of war. Unlike the also 2001 released Behind Enemy Lines which is merely an entertaining fun movie with a bit of a war idea going on somewhere in the story, Enemy at the Gates really does shock the audience when they take them behind the enemy lines. The movie shows what lengths people will go to if it results in winning war and triumph. It also shows what really happens in war, the back-stories, the leg losing, the blood-splattering, and the city-destroying, real and raw world of war. Because of this the movie is definitely not for the faint-hearted, and I even felt a little queasy after the stunning opening sequence. The star-studded cast features Oscar nominee Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz and Bob Hoskins in the leading role. Law is a sensitive and compassionate hero, Harris is a cunning and creepy villain, Weisz (fresh from the success of The Mummy Returns) is a beautiful and heroic leading lass, and Hoskins we don't really see that much of, but he does well with what small role he has. Fiennes is the real star power here. I also thought he was terribly underrated for his performance in Shakespeare in Love, and he proves yet again that he is quietly one of the most brilliant actors of his generation. Fiennes pulls of a real winner especially in this case, displaying a character who is jealous yet friendly, longing but also fulfilled. His character is merely a supporting role, but he is the character I felt most drawn to. The special effects in this movie could beat Saving Private Ryan in its own game. After an authentic and scary opening sequence, the movie continues to get more and more violent, and more and more attractively moody. The special effects aren't quite as spectacular as Pearl Harbour or The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but they do display a small kind of blockbuster excellence in appearance, which we don't get much these days. Enemy at the Gates will probably be on my top 15, if not 10, of the year 2001. It is presented with a cold, raw and real atmosphere, gives us characters to care about and sympathise with, special effects to wow about, direction to go completely nuts about (well done, Jean-Jacques Annaud!) and overall is one of the more clever war films I've seen. Highly recommended for people who can stomach what war really was. MY GRADE: A
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING WAR MOVIE
Review: If you like war movies and history, then go after a stunning visual rendition of the Battle for Stalingrad. With the background of that immense tragedy, a personal confrontation between two snipers, a russian and a german, unfolds in the sieged city. The russian sniper depicted (Zaitsev)really existed, and russian sniper warfare was very important psichologically in Stalingrad, to undermine the enemy's will to fight. It also provided the russians with enough propaganda material to raise the morale of their soldiers, through the divulgation of the stories of the hero snipers of Stalingrad in the whole Army (This battle was the turning point for the war on the eastern front). The movie has very good photography and realistic settings and the plot deals with the struggle between evil and good, the exploitation of the ingenuity of the russian sniper for political purposes, and the extreme deprivation that the combatants had to endure during this battle. Certainly as gripping as Das Boot.
Rating: 
Summary: Good flick!
Review: Somewhat accurate in technical and historical detail. The "love story" ... it up for me though.
Rating:
Summary: Alternately engaging and distancing.
Review: When this film works, it's a nail-biting triumph. When it doesn't, it's a languid bore. Enemy at the Gates is a strange mixture of absolutely tip-top confrontation scenes (based around the duel of two snipers) and ho-hum melodrama, hurt by shallow characters and thin relationships. The first four scenes of the film illustrate this film's main weakness, which is pacing. We are introduced to our main character, a naturally gifted marksman, only fleetingly, and his ensuing friendship with a propaganda officer is (on which hangs the whole story) is so flimsy that when one begins to betray the other, it's hardly worth your attention. Same for its central romance, at least in the beginning. Here, however, at least the charms of both lead players (Jude Law and Rachel Weisz) are such that the relationship finally awakens...too late into the movie, but still very much necessary. Not so the attraction of the propaganda officer (Joseph Fiennes) to Weisz' character, which remains in the "she's beautiful, I like her" zone. The script never gives them any moments where we can see his attraction for her mounting, so we're relegated to that first scene where she walks in and both men are enraptured with her looks. Pretty shallow foundation for a love triangle. It's a shame that as a whole Enemy at the Gates doesn't work all that well, because some of its individual sequences are really terrific. The first time we come across German rival sniper Maj. Koenig (Ed Harris, eternally sublime especially when playing sympathetic villains), the tension is so well built up that it's almost unbearable to watch. Weisz and Law's love scene is sensitively handled, painfully intimate, director Jean-Jacques Annaud thankfully dispensing with James Horner's overused score at this point to let the characters breathe. And the setting of this scene creates much sexual tension, even though not much is shown. Maj. Koenig's scenes with "Sacha" (a Russian child who may or may not be a traitor) are also great, economical but illuminating. These scenes are eminently memorable in my head, while my impression on the overall plot and character relationships remains fuzzy, at best. The rewards of those great sniper scenes are worth the weak spots in between, so I'd still say this film is worth checking out. It could've paid more attention to giving its characters clearer personalities -- that is definitely a script problem -- but still enjoyable despite its flaws.
Rating:
Summary: Too much propaganda, too little truth.
Review: Some facts are taken from the real history, then exaggerated, distorted or falsified. Russians would have never won this one of the greatest battles in the world history if they were such idiots as they are shown in this movie. The only worthy episode in the film is the strange sexy scene between main characters. The principal actors play OK. Especially I liked Ed Harris.
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