This movie is better than what you see in the trailers

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2001)

I went to see this movie the first week it opened because nothing else was worth paying the $8.50 it costs these days to watch a movie. Anyhow, this movie totally took me by surprise. I was kept on my toes throughout the entire movie. I must say that the trailers did not do this movie any justice. When you see the trailers on television, you know immediately that it is a war movie involving two soldiers on opposite lines trying to gun the other one down. However, you are not informed that it is about the war between the Russians and Germans during WWII.
For those who do not remember what they learned in their high school world history class, the Russians are fending off the more powerful and well-equipped Germans who are having difficulty taking over Stalingrad, the heart of Russia. The Russians are desperate because they do not have enough weaponry to fight their German counterparts. When it seems that the Russians are doomed, Commander Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) develops a strategy to bring hope and honor to his people.
The propaganda starts when Danilov makes a hero out of Vassili (Jude Law), Russia's best sniper. Danilov puts Vassili in the front page of every Russian newspaper painting a picture of a courageous and gifted soldier who intimidates the German military. When the Germans send major Koenig (Ed Harris), their version of the best in the world, to kill Jude Law, the Russians realize that their tactics are working. The duel between Major Koenig and Vassili gives Danilov the ammunition he needs to write about his hero and provide his country with the hope that they need to survive. Oh but that's not all, Danilov and Vassili both fall in love with the same woman and. You'll have to watch this movie to find out the rest.