Rating: 
Summary: My god, the accents, I can't take the accents!
Review: This was one of those movies that should have remained as a trailer and never been shown with dialogue. The reason I gave this two and not one star was that at times this was a very appealing movie visually. Then however, the characters opened their mouths. Now, I realize that this was made in Hollywood, and I wasn't expecting the characters to speak Russian, or even have Russian accents. But both of the main characters spoke in British accents, and I just couldn't get past this. I mean nothing is absolutely worse than trying to imagine the horror of what the war must have like for the Russian defenders, and trying to get into their shoes, but then they're calling each other "comrade" with British accents (for the love of God why not a good neutral accent?) . As for the rest of the movie, there's one scene that was so unbelievably stupid that it made me want to get up and leave the theater. Not to give anything away, but two of the snipers attempt to sneak up on a master sniper by crawling through a pipe that made so much noise that it would have been impossible not to hear--and then they're surprised that they end up being ambused after they emerge from the pipe. This scene was absolutely inexcusable. I don't expect everything to be realistic, but this went to the point of insulting the intelligence of the viewer. Overall, this movie was an insult to the war genre. The great visual effects in the trailer raised my hopes, just to have the movie horribly disappoint me. Instead of buying this, please just watch Private Ryan again.
Rating: 
Summary: A miss...
Review: The Eastern front is a vast source of untold stories, and this flick falls short of delivering some goods.
No euro quality, atmosfere, but a mediocre "modern" action movie,
with an incomplete story.
Ryan is 20 times a better show. You can see that Spielberg puts to the screen exactly what his story needs,(and more), and Mr Annaud fails.
Still, a good effort!...
Rating: 
Summary: Good war story that meanders off point
Review: This is a war-within-a-war story based on a real WWII Soviet sniper upon whom the Soviets built much of their morale boosting war propaganda. Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) is an extraordinary marksman, pressed into service as a sniper in the Soviet army. Through a combination of effective sharpshooting and relentless coverage by propadanda minister Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), Vassili becomes a Soviet hero and a German nemesis. In response, the Germans send their best sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris) to find Vassili and take him out. The result is a deadly game of cat and mouse where the lines between predator and prey blur.Director Jean-Jaques Annaud ("Seven Years in Tibet") also collaborated in writing the screenplay which is mostly riveting, but too often loses focus. The film is generally well directed with an authentic wartime feel to it. While some have criticized it for looking too much like "Saving Private Ryan", I feel such a comparison is a compliment. Using outstanding cinematography as a model, and coming close to duplicating it is a positive, not a negative. There has also been a lot of criticism of the fact that the Russians don't have Russian accents and the Germans don't have German accents and thus it isn't realistic. I find this criticism ironic and without merit. How someone can accept as realistic the fact that all the characters are speaking English and then criticize as unrealistic the fact that they don't speak accented English is beyond me. My main criticism of Annaud is his inability to stay locked on the main storyline, the story of the snipers. He feels compelled to throw in a meaningless love triangle and lots of other fluff that really add nothing to the story. The time would have been better spent delving deeper into the minds of the snipers and creating additional suspense filled confrontations. Jude Law gives a fine follow-up to his outstanding performance in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" showing that he is here to stay. He strikes an excellent balance between Vassili's sense of duty and reluctance to be a hero, showing a character that is compelled to be courageous when he is really scared. Rachel Weisz also turns in a strong performance though her character is totally superfluous to the main story. Bob Hoskins renders a fabulous wartime Khrushchev. Ed Harris is good as the German sharpshooter, but this is not among his better performances. Joseph Fiennes is also very good, although his is another role that is overemphasized needlessly. This is a very good film that lost its opportunity to be great because of Annaud's inexplicable need to wander from a terrific storyline. I rated it 7/10. It is a good wartime thriller worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!!!
Review: I was already familiar with the story before seeing the movie. This movie was all I expected it to be. The beginning was brutal. It reminded me of the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan. After watching this film, I have done additional research on the Battle of Stalingrad to find out more information. It was a brutal battle. Incredible! This is definitly worth watching. A little slow at times, but that was to help build the characters. Unlike most films, both the German and the Russian sniper are made out to be a couple of guys doing their jobs. Neither is protrayed as the antogonist. I only regret that I did not see it on the big screen.
Rating:
Summary: Stalingrad on the screen!
Review: I thought this movie was great. I just wish they could have lost the whole love triangle subplot. It takes something away from this movie. My other beef was the Russians and Germans having British accents. Other than that, I love this film. Great action sequences and special effects. The DVD's best feature for me were the deleted scences. Some could have been left in the film, others you can see why they were removed. I really recommend this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A great Epic Movie.
Review: Enemey at the Gates is that rare film made today where you see how brutal World War II really was and it makes you feel that the impact from that war is still felt today. Anyway, this is a great movie filled with good acting by many of the lead performers led by Jude Law and Rachel Weisz and good direction by Jean-Jacques Annaud, as German and Russian snipers play a deadly game of cat and mouse in the German siege of Stalingard in the winter of 1942 to 1943. The only negative thing I have to say about this movie is that the music scorefails to live up to the epic feel of the story, they should have gone with a better music composer instead like John Barry or Ennio Morricone.
Rating:
Summary: A great depiction of the essence of Stalingrad.
Review: My primary interest in this movie was historical. I enjoy studying World War II history, and the battle for Stalingrad has always been, in my estimation, one of the most fascinating episodes of the entire war. When I first saw a preview for "Enemy at the Gates" I immediately began to salivate. When I finally got a chance to see it, unfortunately not on the big screen but on my VCR, I was not disappointed. This movie provides a rare and realistic glimpse into the horror and chaos that was Stalingrad. From the initial scenes of poorly armed Russian concripts being strafed by Stukas as they were ferried across the Volga, to the commissars machine-gunning their own retreating soldiers, to the piles of bodies lying in the rubble strewn streets, "Enemy at the Gates" paints a realistic picture of the city and the battle. The production was extremely well done, and did a fabulous job of setting the scene for the two intertwined story lines. The main plot focuses on Vasili Zaitsev, a real but at the same time legendary figure in the Russian history books, who became a sniper of great skill and renown. "Noble Sniper" Zaitsev became a national hero as the battle for Stalingrad raged, and as his tally of German kills grew. The Germans obviously took notice as well, and sent the head of their sniper school, a Major Koenig, to deal with this young upstart. "Enemy at the Gates" depicts, with some artistic license, their duel which is also recounted in the pages of Alan Clark's book "Barbarossa." The ending is similar to Clark's historical narrative in several key details, but modified in other details for the sake of dramatic effect. The second story line is the love triangle (with the obligatory sex scene) involving Zaitsev, his best friend and promoter, and an attractive young lady who happens to serve in the local citizen militia. I suppose this aspect of the movie makes it more attractive to some viewers who might not otherwise be interested in watching a straight "war flick," particularly one as graphic as this. Nevertheless, I thought this element of the movie seemed a bit contrived and out of place. From my perspective as a historical purist, I thought it took something away from an otherwise great movie. Overall, "Enemy at the Gates" is suspenseful and riveting, historically insightful if not necessarily true in every detail, and carries an underlying theme about the precious value of life and love in the face of the most horrific of circumstances. I enjoyed it immensely, and would recommend it enthusiastically.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie, fair history, a lot of hollywood
Review: I don't know how much history or reading many of the other reviewers do, but most seem to have missed a lot when watching this movie. First, it is not based on the book "Enemy at the Gates", whih I recomend you buy. It make this movie look like a Disney movie. This movie is based on the book "War of the Rats". The imagry is great, and the scenes at the docks were a work of art. I liked the movie because it wasn't your typical "bad Germans", "poor poor Russian" theame. This was a Bad war, bad Russia, bad German (note I said German, not Germans) theame. The history gets a little hollywood, even though it was filmed in Europe, but all war movies are like that. The love story is true, but the end of it is changed for the movie to make a happy ending, and the end of the sniper duel is so well known, and so much better than the ending in the movie I have no idea why they changed it, but most people wouldn't know the difference anyway. (The Germans never would have attacked down the middle of a street in Saving Private Ryan either, but that is what makes movies.) This movie in no more or less Hollywood than some of the better war movies, better than most acctually. The movie is a very different perspective, and is great for that reason. The mock ups of the German Panzer III's out of American M-24 Chafee tanks was done VERY well, as good, or better than the Tiger I out of a T-34 in Kelly's Heros, and Private Ryan. If you want something new and different, watch the movie. If you want to know how the love story really ends, read "War of the Rats" if you want to know what the Battle of Stallingrad was like, read "Enemy at the Gates", if you want an entertaining combination of both, watch the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: Poor script + adequate star performances + cloudy vision + stunning special effects = an okay movie. Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes deliver fine performances as individuals caught up in the whirlwind of war, and Ed Harris does what he can with his weakly developed Major Konig character. Bob Hoskins provides the most outstanding performance of the movie. The rest of the almost all-English cast, however, is a serious distraction throughout the film. It's not so much the silly tea-time accents, it's the body language, the mannerisms, and the linguistic nuances ... it simply does not work, AT ALL. With the exception of Jude Law's performance, I was never convinced I was glimpsing at the gritty lives of Russian men and women on the Eastern Front. This movie represents how the West perceives the 2nd World War. Much like in Saving Private Ryan, the methodical, brutal Nazis eventually succumb to sheer good guy bravado. Purveyors of history will find much to complain about in this movie, but that really is not the point. The tangled and technical quagmire that was Stalingrad is never realized in this film, nor is the desperation of the men who fought, despite the stunning set work and special effects (the film's real saving grace). A reasonably interesting film about a fascinating battle that ultimately fails to deliver any real punch. Perhaps the greatest flaw of "Enemy at the Gates" is that it never seems to make up its mind, is it a love story, or a war story? In the end it is neither and waivers, uncomfortably, somewhere in the middle.
Rating:
Summary: Urban Combat made real - A great war movie
Review: Comparing this to Saving Private Ryan is a waste of time. Both are outstanding movies in their own ways - and both are very different types of stories. Saving Private Ryan told the story, in the first 20 minutes, of amphibious warfare. Enemy at the Gates is about urban combat. The sniper will rule supreme, as he or she does in Chechnya today in real life. This is a great movie, but not for the faint of heart. The love story is sensitively told, the acting is superb, and the Battle of Stalingrad comes alive. Kudos to all involved for a great job! If you are a WWII buff, or just like a good war story, here's a great one. Don't miss it.
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