What enemy?! What gates?!

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2003)

Having read the book "Enemy at the Gates" I was expecting a detailed account of the German siege of Stalingrad during WWII. The book provides a detailed account of the successful Soviet strategic manouvers and the logistical nightmares faced by the surrounded Germans trying to supply an army from the air. The successful Soviet stand against Paulus' attacking 6th Army proved to be a turning point in the war resulting in the death or capture of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides. It is a dramatic account of actual events. No need to preface with "Based on a true story," the real events are dramatic enough for anyone. It is the material that most filmmakers drool over. With all this in mind I bought my ticket and sat down, waiting to be engulfed in one of the greatest and most over-looked events of WWII. An action-packed, bloody, war movie. Made by guys for guys. What I sat through instead was three hours of contrived romance sprinkled with painfully predictable macho military cliches. This film is just another in a growing list that are misrepresenting in their trailers. They are marketed to men but made for women. Like Gladiator--another could-have-been-great movie--this film is half romance (for the women) and half action (for men). Instead of being a film that appeals to both men and women, what results is a film that appeals to neither men nor women. So, instead of a great epic war film, "Enemy at the Gates" is a narrative that forces a love triangle into a war story like a square peg into a round hole.