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Enemy at the Gates

2001

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Ed Harris ...

7.6

83,165

War. Drama During the WWII battle of Stalingrad, two snipers, Russian Vasily Zaytsev and a German, are locked in a battle of wills and marksmanship, while the Russian is boosted to the status of hero by a political official.

	Media	Author	Review
		Derek Elley Variety	"'Enemy at the Gates' takes a great setting, some resonant themes, a turning point in 20th-century history -- and bleeds them of all power with bad dialogue and uninspired direction"
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Any flaws in execution pale against those moments when the film brings history to vital life"
		Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter	"A thinking man's war movie with a more compelling story than that of Saving Private Ryan"
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Intermittently gripping (...) 'Enemy at the Gates' has its deficiencies, but the first-rate cast is not among them"
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"It's remarkable, a war story told as a chess game where the loser not only dies, but goes by necessity to an unmarked grave (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"As long as you focus on the central sniper-versus-sniper story – and not the dreadful mishmash of jarring accents or the film's unconvincing romantic subplot or any of the personal relationships – you'll enjoy it."
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A big old- fashioned war movie with impressive battle set-pieces (...) It's entertaining stuff"
		William Thomas Empire	"[It] is a throwback to older war movies in its lack of historical savvy and caricatured love story. Still, the central duel serves up a gripping battle of wits (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Howell Toronto Star	"It's this human understanding of an inhuman conflict that gives Enemy At The Gates so much power, despite its defects"
		Neil Smith BBC	"An audacious but leaden rehash of 'Saving Private Ryan', complete with historical inaccuracies and polyglot miscasting (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

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