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Enemy At The Gates
2001
September 1942. The German Army has advanced to the gates of Stalingrad. The Russian Army holds on desperately. It is so poorly equipped that every pair of soldiers is given a single rifle--the second man only gets the weapon when the first is cut down. Trapped in no man's land between the opposing armies, Russian recruit .. Read more
| Starring | Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama |
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Enemy At The Gates
September 1942. The German Army has advanced to the gates of Stalingrad. The Russian Army holds on desperately. It is so poorly equipped that every pair of soldiers is given a single rifle--the second man only gets the weapon when the first is cut down. Trapped in no man's land between the opposing armies, Russian recruit Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) finally acquires a rifle from Political Officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Danilov is astonished when Zaitsev picks off several German officers. On their return to the Russian lines, Danilov writes about Zaitsev's exploits in the army newspaper. Zaitsev is assigned to a sniper unit. He kills more German officers and, thanks to Danilov, becomes a hero. In retaliation, the Germans bring in sharpshooter Major Konig (Ed Harris) from Berlin--to hunt Zaitsev. The two snipers engage in a desperate duel, as the appalling Battle of Stalingrad rages.
In ENEMY AT THE GATES, director Jean-Jacques Annaud uses a palate of dull greens, blues, and greys to tell the powerful, true story of Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev. The film is distinguished by fine performances from Law, Fiennes, Rachel Weisz as a female soldier, and Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev--with Harris particularly notable as the chilly, aristocratic Konig.
| Starring | Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris, Ron Perlman, Eva Mattes, Gabriel Thomson |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 11 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama |
| Language | DVD: English, English Audio Description |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 19 Nov 2001 Production year: 2001 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Featuring three miscast stars and a pedestrian script, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's uninspiring drama focuses on the battle for Stalingrad, one of the turning points of the Second World War. According to Annaud's version of events, the lengthy conflict (summer 1942 to February 1943) boiled down to a sniper duel between legendary Russian shepherd Vassily Zaitsev (Jude Law) and German nobleman Major König (Ed Harris). Unfortunately, Annaud dilutes the psychological aspects of their confrontation and the four suspenseful sniper sequences with a dramatically undernourished romantic subplot involving a young soldier called Tania (Rachel Weisz). Saddled with a spectacularly awful script and a director clearly more concerned with epic visuals, Law, Weisz and Joseph Fiennes (as Soviet propaganda genius Danilov) fail to rise to the occasion, a central flaw magnified when acting heavyweight Harris takes command of the screen. Great to look at, but torture to listen to, Annaud's overlong history lesson is a prime example of how not to make a war movie.
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"...Excellent central performances. Law proves a first-rank leading man, radiating intelligence, nobility and sex appeal..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
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Most helpful member's review
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15 out of 15 people found this review helpful
A Soviet Hero is born
This story is the story set between 1942-3 and is based on the true story for the capture of Stalingrad as it was then. 1 man becomes a legon a true hero Vasily Zaitsev this is his story about he become a Soviet sniper and killed something like 150 officers.
This is one of Jude Laws finist acting performances back up by Ranolf Fines and Bob Hoskis as Kristov
Is you like ation war films this has it all -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Almost what i expected
This is a typical hollywood film where you get what you wanted. It includes all the action andtwists that you would expect to see and although i was impressed the film lacked a certain something. I didnt really like the way that the characters were supposedly russian but talked with an american or english accent, in the same way as the germans did in the film. The storyline was ok but i dont think this is the film that i was led to belive was a masterpiece.
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- JiMi90
- Posted 27 Sep 2007 23:50
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News and features
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Weisz goes back to Egypt for Agora
- 14 Mar 2008
She may have battled The Mummy for the last time but it seems Rachel Weisz is not done with the Land of the Pharaohs just yet, having reportedly signed up to star in ancient Egyptian thriller Agora. Weisz, whose other hits include Enemy At The Gates, About A Boy and The Constant Gardener, will be joined in the film by Syriana's Max Minghella, Variety says. Max is the son of Anthony Minghella, the writer/director behind The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley. Agora is set in fourth... Read more
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September 1942. The German Army has advanced to the gates of Stalingrad. The Russian Army holds on desperately. It is so poorly equipped that every pair of soldiers is given a single rifle--the ... -