SUN (Australia)
8 August, 2001
By Phil Teese

Rating: 8/10

Enemy at the Gates tells the true story of Russian war hero Vassili Zaitsev who literally shot to fame with his amazing sharp-shooting exploits against the Nazis during the battle for the strategically vital Stalingrad.

But this is more than just another war story.

It is the story of how the hopelessly equipped and trained Russians took on and actually defeated the might of the Third Reich. It is the story of a battle-front love affair between a quiet and unassuming hero and his fighting sweetheart. It is the story of the adulation of a hero that turns to jealousy, and it is the story of a little boy who doesn't understand what he is doing when he inadvertently spies for both sides. But most of all, it is the story of the personal battle between two champions, Vassili the Russian super-sniper and Germany's best sharpshooter, Major Konig, who is sent to hunt down and kill the man who is systematically killing off the German hierarchy.

In 1942, Vassili, (played by Jude Law) is transported, along with a whole battalion of Russian soldiers, into what remains of Stalingrad in a locked railway truck. On arrival, he discovers there are not enough rifles for everybody, so only every second man is issued with a gun and the others are ordered to follow a rifleman unitl he is killed, then take up the rifle and continue fighting. Those that panic under the blast of German artillery, or who retreat when the going becomes obviously impossible, are quickly shot by their own officers.

Morale is at an all time low until Political Officer Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins) discovers Vassili has single handedly ambushed and killed a string of German officers. In a bid to boost morale amongst the Russian troops, Vassili is elevated to national hero status by the Russian propaganda machine as each day the number of his kills is published in the media.

Enter Germany's top sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), whose brief is to hunt down and kill the Russian. As the two play a deadly cat and mouse game, they both realise that only one of them can survive.

Meanwhile Vassili falls in love with Tania, a fellow soldier (Rachel Weisz), and the scene where they make love surrounded by muddied and bloodied comrades sleeping on the barracks floor is one of the most poignant scenes this review has ever seen. But when propaganda chief Danilove (Joseph Fiennes) discovers Tania is in love with the hero he has created, jealousy turns his adulation into a vicious urge for revenge.

This movie has probably more dead bodies than any other movie ever made, but is it entertaining from the opening scenes through to the closing credits and it is one of the best war movies since Saving Private Ryan.