Boring and fake

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 2001)

For spending a reported 85 million dollars on the set, this movie looked like a Hollywood back lot with imported Italian mud. Kind sirs, this was supposed to be a war movie, emphasizing the perils and camaraderie of soldiers cast into the meat grinder W.W.II. NOT A LOVE STORY!!! 10 to 1 the upcoming Pearl Harbor movie will live in infamy with a plot revolving around the same standard love affair hack script for the girls in the audience, with 30 minutes of computer generated explosions at the end to satisfy their boyfriends. Anyone ever seen Tora! Tora! Tora!? Saving Private Ryan? Hamburger Hill? These movies are about war, the military, and all the killing that ensues when diplomacy fails. How about Soldaat van Oranje, or Das Boot? Camaraderie and sacrifice! Who's ever heard of their granddad's war stories going like this: "...well, yeah, there were a lot of bullets and things, but my mind was focused on my brother's fiancée, who incidentally was a Parisian hooker." Honor issues aside, Enemy at the Gates was just plain boring and anti climatic to boot. I'm sure subtitles are not a viable option for American audiences, obviously, but the Russians could have at least spoken with accents to match! Come on. Everyone in the movie had either British or American accents. I'll bet in Pearl Harbor, the Jap admirals talk like they're from Brooklyn. Bottom line: If you're bored to death with nothing to do, go see the movie. It's not the worst I've ever seen, but don't expect to come out of the theater the least bit changed.