| 
 enlarge | Actors: Matthais Habich, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, Eva Mattes, Ron Perlman
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.84
You Save: $9.14 (92%)
New (67) Used (101) Collectible (2) from $0.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  375 reviews
Sales Rank: 3100
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 131
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: 097363386247
ISBN: 0792172760
UPC: 097363386247
EAN: 9780792172765
ASIN: B00003CXRA
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Release Date: August 14, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: **NO ARTWORK - NEW BLANK CASE** Guaranteed to play. Normal case wear with stickers, very slight scratches. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 I extra star for the camerawork, May 2, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
which is really magnificent in this. The acting ranges from superb to good, and the story is captivating as well as interesting. Suffice to say if you like WW2 epics, you'll like this a lot. The only real problem has been mentioned by a few others, too: the film s simply too long, and spends too much time on politics and not enough on the action, which is, of course, the premise of the whole film. Several scenes are especially chilling, not all of them involving overt violence.
Nice Shot, Comrade May 1, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
In the epic opening battle scene, a trainload of fresh-faced recruits being hustled into battle learn the buddy system Soviet-style: An officer yells into a bullhorn, "The one with the rifle shoots; the one without follows him. When the one with the rifle gets killed, the one who is following picks up the rifle and shoots." It's surreal, but a fitting introduction to a movie about the harrowing, intersecting worlds of a sniper and a propagandist.
The hero gets his rifle (a very bad thing for Wehrmacht officers), but the film never develops into the sniper movie action-oriented viewers expect. Instead, it has more to say about the megaphone than the Dragunov, offering insights aplenty into propaganda in wartime and the terror of life under Stalin. On top of that, there's a robust allegorical layer far more complex than it first appears.
As a couple or three hundred reviewers have noted, this film has its share of problems: The plot twists are telegraphed, a Russian accent couldn't be located for Mr. Law, the lighting calls attention to itself, and the romantic element has all the chemistry of a firefly. But unless you watch movies like a producer, you can probably put the nit-picking aside and enjoy the film.
Oh, and one last thing: Apparently, Soviet rifles never need cleaning. And to think they lost the Cold War.
Historically iffy, emotionally wearing April 28, 2005
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Although a great historical movie to watch, several little things in this movie don't match up. Such as the complete lack of accent throughout the film. Ed Harris is great as the Unemotional German sniper, but he's so completely american in his language that its almost unbelievable to completely believe him.
Unlike Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, D-day or Tora Tora Tora, Enemy at the Gates evolves completely around the Germans and Russians. Not once does anyother civilization involved in the war enter into this struggle. Its different to watch if all you've ever seen is the American side against the Germans, and it gives us a understanding on how far the German's arm did indeed reach during that time.
Definatly a good World war two movie, a worthy follow up to Saving Privat Ryan.
 A Typical view from the west of the great patriotic war. April 26, 2005
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
The movie is set in Russia, Stalingrad(Now known as Volgograd after Premier Nikita Kruschev changed it when stalin's falsified image was uncovered by Nikita) starring Jude Law as Vassili Zaitsev a Russian born soviet sniper expert and one of the all time soviet sniper aces of world war two, the movie is mixed with parts of fact and alot of american/western propaganda after the war and when the coldwar began, the movie begins with Jude's character being forced from one transport to another, as a conscript in the soviet army, namely a poorly equiped, badly moralled and poorly used soviet army(all mostly being myths for a deeper depth and urgency to the movie thus being hollywoodized) Jude's character find himself becoming a sniper in the russian army after showing his skill to a officer, Danilov and this is where a love triangle begins minus one angle so well it's just a love story begins, Vassili and Danilov become fast friends, Danilov being a politcal officer in charge of propaganda to counter the Nazi propaganda chooses Vassili to be the hope of stalingrad, a person that all slavic soldiers and civilians could look up to in the dire time of the war, so to ensure his own position and safety from his higher ups Danilov rests his hopes on Vassili as well, soon after Vassili becomes a major threat to the fascists war effort in stalingrad and send their own sniper ace to counter Vassili and his fledgling student snipers, and counter he does, Ed Harres as Major Konig soon meets up to vassili on the battle field in a game of hide and seek in the torn city of stalingrad, from the love triangle both vassili and danilov meet up with a local city milita girl named Tania Chernova played by Rachel Weisz, Tania soon after Vassili and Danilov begin to compete for this girl.
Without spoiling the ending, enemy at the gates is a good action movie, but DO NOT take this movie as any type of historical reference, the movie is mostly mythical in almost every way so if your looking for a action WW2 movie then this ones for you, if your looking for a accurate ww2 movie do not get this.
A fairly historical rendition of the Eastern Front... April 20, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
For all the widespread critical acclaim that surrounded the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan (which portrayed the D-Day invasion Normandy landing), little is said about the opening scenes of Enemy At The Gates. Just as lifelike and certainly as, if not more, compelling, Enemy At The Gates paints a vivid picture of the Battle of Stalingrad...
As Nazi forces besiege the city, Russian peasants are shipped across the river in undefended boats. As Luftwaffe swoop down from the skies and rain bullets on the men below, only the mountain of bodies that topple on top of a man can save him from being shot himself. Those who do survive and make it to shore are armed with a single Kalashnikov - but not every man, only every other man... The unarmed men are instructed to follow a man with gun, and when he is killed, to pick up the weapon himself and fight the enemy valiantly.
Sharp-shooting farm boy Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) finds himself thrust into this bloody environment. As part of the initial wave of the Russian advance, he is forced to play dead and hide among the mangled bodies of his countrymen when the Germans annihilate the Russian offensive. Using the bodies as cover, he puts his sniper skills to work, not against the animals he used to shoot for food, but against German officers exposed to his crosshairs. Vassili's brilliant talents are immediately recognized by Commisar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) who ends up befriending the man.
As a powerful figure in the Communist propaganda machine, Danilov uses his skills and connections to transform Vassili into a larger-than-life hero, creating the impression that he is capable of defeating the German army all by himself. It's Danilov's hope that by creating a recognizable face for the war effort, he can raise the morale of the Russian forces and turn the tide against the advancing German armies.
But the relationship between the two men becomes complicated when Vassili and Danilov both fall in love with the same woman, a female soldier named Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz). Will Danilov's jealousies turn him against his friend? The man who made Vassili is certainly capable of tearing him down, and in the Soviet Union, no one is above the wrath of Stalin... Vassili's problems are further accentuated by the announced arrival of his German counterpart, Major Konig (Ed Harris), winner of the Iron Cross and the most celebrated sniper in German history.
Based on the true story of the two real life soldiers, Zaitsev and Konig, Enemy At The Gates sticks closely to the historical record concerning the showdown between these noted wartime figures. Were they mere creations of propaganda? Or was this the individual battle of the century? Only history can make that distinction. Meanwhile, Enemy At The Gates makes a place for itself among the great war dramas of our era. A well-cultivated screenplay, coupled with an unparalleled visual display of the destructiveness of war, makes this a must-see film - both for its educational and historical value as well as its edge-of-your-seat excitement...
The DVD Report
|
|
|