Entertaining but falls short

Rating: Null/10 (23 February 2004)

Enemy at the Gates will disappoint you if your expecting an accurate portrayal of the WWII battle for Stalingrad. The battle is used more as spectacular backdrop for its own story of a sniper duel and a love story. The movie has the feel of a New York Times bestseller, where fast paced action, plot twists, and romance, are combined into a familiar formula designed keep the audience entertained. For the most part the acting was well done, too bad no effort was made to speak one word of Russian or German or at least use an accent.
The one part that this movie does shine is the set design and costumes. If you rent the DVD don't miss the behind the scenes look at how they created Stalingrad, yes, that's not a typo, they recreated Stalingrad from the ground up. That combined with excellent cinematography makes you feel like you've been transported back in time into this battle of epic proportions. Unfortunately this visual excellence makes you hunger for a deeper more realistic script. I give it 6 out 10 stars, very entertaining but falls short due to simplistic and sometimes sappy script. Well made but nonetheless a movie for the masses.