Great movie, perhaps not perfect, but...

Rating: 9/10 (18 May 2001)

there is no such thing as perfection as there is no movie which pleases everybody. I think it is actually much better than Saving Private Ryan. Though of course this one was made with SPR's success in mind. People here are complaining a lot about the accents. I agree, it would have been much more believable if the main parts were played by Russian actors with perfect Russian accent, or even subtitles. But let us face it, this is a big budget production, there is simply no way that unknown in the West actors could have been cast. So they went with familiar European looking faces of Jude Law, Rachel Weizs and Ralph Fiennes. These guys are British and nothing can be done about it. If they faked Russian accent, it would have been utterly ridiculous not only to the Russians, though first of all, to them. They went the natural way, not faking any accent, they all spoke they way they usually do and I respect the director for that decision. This way actors concentrated on acting rather than artificial accent.
Somebody accuses this film being a war propaganda. It can not be further from the truth. The war is shown very cruel, bloody, senseless and terrible, it makes us remember the sacrifices made for the peace.
I think it is pretty well known that the movie is based on a true story and people still complain about plot not being believable (yes, hanging of a boy and falling asleep on duty really happened, this guys had chronic sleep deprivation, they were under siege). Especially funny is somebody not seeing cleanly shaven Ralph Fiennes during the course of the whole movie. THEY WERE UNDER SIEGE, they did not have opportunity to shave everyday! Besides, the guy is dark haired, he will have five o'clock shadow in couple of hours after shaving anyway. Bottom line is that people seem to divide for those who like to pick on movies and those who come to the theater and take it as it comes, trying to find that movie magic, which is almost in every movie to some extent.
The movie "Enemy At The Gates" is beautifully done, it has fine cast, interesting plot and characters, and is showing the part of history that is largely disregarded in America. I would advise to watch it to everybody who loves movies and history. This is the best American made war movie to date, if you ask me.