While the women around me said that they couldn't take their eyes from Jude Law, Ed Harris is the real prize with a controlled performance as a Nazi major.
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:123
Fresh:71
Rotten:52
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Atmospheric and thrilling, Enemy at the Gates gets the look and feel of war right. However, the love story seems out of place.
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $50,507,533
Synopsis: 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... 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 König (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 König. [More]
Starring: Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins
Starring: Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris, Ron Perlman
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard
Producer: John D. Schofield, Jean-Jacques Annaud
Composer: James Horner
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Enemy at the Gates
The sniper sequences, and I mean all of them, are done with incredible precision and tension, arguably, the best we've ever seen.
essentially an old-fashioned war epic, complete with a romantic triangle and thunderous battle sequences on an epic scale.
An effective war epic that will take its unique place in the genre, as a respectful Western telling of a distinctly Eastern battle.
Beware of any World War II movie in which you find yourself rooting for the murderous Nazi!
With the epic scope of Saving Private Ryan and the tender heart of Life is Beautiful, this is a film that ponders the hopes and fears of World War II participants in a very personal and meaningful way.
At its best, it transforms one of the turning points of World War II from a dusty historical footnote into a lean and terrifying visual extravaganza.
The story hits and misses for more than two hours following its opening artillery bloodbath.
If Saving Private Ryan refreshed a tired genre by throwing out old war-movie conventions, it was only a matter of time before other films came along to turn its innovations into clichés all over again.
It's this human understanding of an inhuman conflict that gives Enemy At The Gates so much power, despite its defects.
In the end, we're left with the impression that millions died and countries were decimated, all so these two crazy kids could get it on.
The film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, doesn't stint on mud, corpses, or rubble, but the focus is all screwed-up.
After Enemy at the Gates teases us with the promise of something big, it's hard to be happy with a small-scale story.
The French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, using an $80 million budget, gives us some sense of the titanic destruction and chaos, but almost no sense of the battle plans.
A mainstream movie that works well on three levels -- as a psychological thriller, a love story, and as an epic account of a defining battle of the Second World War.
Spread out flat on a table, the strengths of Enemy at the Gates decidedly outweigh the weaknesses.
Latest News for Enemy at the Gates
June 13, 2007:
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