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Enemy At The Gates
on DVD (2001)
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| 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: |
131 mins |
| Certificate: |
 |
| User collections: |
I want to go to war!!, Best Action Films Ever!, The Best World War II movies, The best films ever made in the universe so far!, Essential War Films, jackal, Modern War Films, Adj's Best Films, The Greatest War Films, My DVD Collection |
| Genres: |
Audio Descriptive, Drama |
| Languages: |
English, English Audio Description |
| Hearing-impaired: |
English |
| Released: |
19/11/2001
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Brief synopsis of 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.
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Related
Critics Reviews
Radio Times
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.
Total Film
"...Excellent central performances. Law proves a first-rank leading man, radiating intelligence, nobility and sex appeal..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
Time Out
A turning point of World War II, the siege of Stalingrad cost the lives of an estimated 800,000 Axis troops and 1.1m...
Read more on www.timeout.com
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