A powerful and gripping story of war depicted on both its grandest and most intimate levels.
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
Impressive visually, with great sets and a grim feel of massive tragedy.
Although it is not without flaw, Enemy at the Gates makes its point in compelling fashion.
Worthy tribute to the sacrifice and suffering that such historically necessary hell required.
An elaborate, character-driven World War II epic that gets the war right, but pretty much fumbles the characters.
Overrun with so many Aaron Spelling-ish drama bits and tangled subplots, that Gates too often plays like Falcon Crest in a bunker.
A tense and artful war film that works both as thrilling spectacle and as intimate drama.
Ed Harris is great as a reserved, calculating marksman, but always hints at a buried humanity.
Enemy at the Gates tells a gripping tale of opposing snipers, but sometimes at the expense of the story of the bloodiest siege in World War II.
A big-budget war thriller that sets up a nice little cinematic cat-and-mouse game but manages to fumble it with conventional, clichéd and unrealistic storytelling.
Large and ungainly, this World War II tale of a sniper duel that parallels the bloody battle for Stalingrad has an indisputable visual power, but it's nothing you'd want to have a conversation with--or, for that matter, about.
As an occasionally somber meditation on the toll war takes on the human soul, it's not without its moments.
If Saving Private Ryan didn't thoroughly convince you that war is hell, Enemy at the Gates should complete the job.
If the love triangle is the weakest part of the movie, that is only because the rest of it is so strong.
Throughout the movie I could imagine Annaud, metaphorically speaking, on the brink of shooting himself and his movie in the head. It was nice that he only would up shooting himself, and Enemy at the Gates, in the foot.
Latest News for Enemy at the Gates
June 13, 2007:
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