It's Hollywood! Not history!

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2007)

Enemy at the Gates has been slammed over and over again for its distortion of truth, cinematic liberties it took with history, and the wrongful portrayal of Russian heroes. Here is what people have to understand when they go to watch this movie. It has not a history lesson, it is entertainment. That is what everyone must say to themselves before they start watching this.
Enemy at the Gates follows the story Vassili Vaitsez, an elite Russian sniper who has been drafted and is serving the Battle of Stalingrad. After Vassili kills so many German soldiers, the Germans send in their own elite in Major Konig. What ensues is a heart pounding stand off between the two elite snipers in the ruins of the train yard and other places in the once bustling city of Stalingrad.
The actors due a phenomenal job of acting in this film. Jude Law, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz and Joseph Fiennes all deliver top notch performances in their respective roles. Jude Law as a lead I'm usually not a big fan of but his performance as Vassili, a man caught in the middle of the bloodiest battle in human history, changed my mind about the English actor. Ed Harris shows how good he can act as villain when he is lurking around the ruins with his trusted sniper rifle.
The film is loaded with violence done Saving Private Ryan style. The action is in your face, blood and gore everywhere. The opening 20 minutes is some of the most intense action I have ever seen. The director gives you a sense of as if you are actually in the battle, the confusion of soldiers, the explosions, everything. You feel as if you are actually in the middle of it.
The story isn't great, it isn't terrible but it is not the greatest screen play ever to be written. The romance between Vassili and Tania, though I saw it be unneeded, still turned out to work very well. Enemy at the Gates is one of the few war films that actually takes the time to give a sense of the soldier and what they may be going through in the war, not just battle after battle. It is no history lesson, many liberties are taken with how the battle of Stalingrad and its commanders are portrayed. However, if you can look past these flaws, you'll be confronted with a very well made war film.
Enemy at the Gates. 3.5/5 Stars