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 enlarge | Actors: Matthais Habich, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, Eva Mattes, Ron Perlman
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $1.44
You Save: $8.54 (86%)
New (63) Used (105) from $1.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  376 reviews
Sales Rank: 2785
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
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Masterpiece Compared to Pearl Harbor June 12, 2001
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
All I have to say it this: This movie makes Pearl Harbor look like Battlefield Earth. If you are looking for a REAL war movie along the lines of Saving Private Ryan and some of the older classics, see this movie. Unlike others, it is worth the time-investment.
 Weak history, strong film June 9, 2001
This is a well-made, well-acted, and powerful film. That said, a few observations:
Vassily Zaitsev, the hero of this film, certainly existed in reality. Tania Chernova, the Rachel Weisz character, may have existed, though there are enough inconsistencies in the stories about her to make one doubt. But the German supersniper who was supposedly sent to Stalingrad to find and kill Zaitsev is almost certainly fictional. There's nothing in German or Soviet archives to establish his existence. The aged and blind Vassily Zaitsev apparently recalled only that he and another Soviet sniper had together killed a German sniper at Stalingrad, not that there had been a supersniper sent to kill him, that the two had stalked each other, etc. Further-as the film tells us very clearly-Zaitsev was played up in Soviet wartime propaganda, which was not noted for its scrupulous truthfulness, and it seems that such material is the source of the "snipers' duel" story.
It's doubtful that, at the stage of the war shown in this film, so many Soviet troops had to be forced to the front at gunpoint, or that Soviet generals would have launched the imbecilic human wave attacks shown at the beginning of the movie.
The preternatural skill of Major Koenig, the German sniper, is powerfully conveyed. Purists will object that nobody in history has been THAT good a shot, or anything close to it.
Rachel Weisz is such an extraordinarily appealing actress that one overlooks the absurdities in how her character is written. The Tania Chernova of this film (not to mention Ms Weisz herself) seems far too sweet, soft, and humane to be the bloody-minded fanatic that an actual woman would have had to be to volunteer for sniper duty in the hell of Stalingrad. The filmmakers have even turned her into an intellectual Germanophile who reads Goethe, etc. Come now.
Joseph Fiennes' handsome, cultured, and sensitive political officer is also a gross implausibility, though I didn't notice this until after the film was over.
Bob Hoskins appears briefly but memorably as Nikita Khruschev; his vulgar and murderous beast reminds one of his Beria character in the excellent THE INNER CIRCLE (which BTW REALLY needs to come out on DVD).
Michael Medved detested James Horner's musical score. I found it very effective, though Horneresque-but what else should one expect Horner to sound like?
One perhaps eccentric observation. The name of the German supersniper in the movie is "Koenig." However, in other sources the name is given as "Thorwald" or "Thorvald." This is also the last name of the Raymond Burr character in Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW. The struggle in that film, depending as it does upon spyglass spying, reminds one oddly of the snipers' duel in ENEMY AT THE GATES, and one wonders whether whoever wrote the script for the Hitchcock film knew the fable of the Stalingrad snipers.
 oops they did it again June 9, 2001
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
well another movie that believes in wartime romance being more important than wartime facts.if you want to watch a more interesting foreign movie about stalingrad see the german made, subtitiled movie "Stalingrad" by the same people that brought us "Das Boot". it is a much more compelling movie that shows the utter waste, pain, and randomness of war, and doesn't sugar coat or glamorize either side. while the look of "enemy" is good, some of the cgi is unrealistic looking, especially the bombing by the german Ju 88's. i was looking forward to a movie that showed the great patriotic war {as it was known by the russians} i was dissapointed in the genericness of this film {Saving private sniper}. little of the ruthlessness of the nkvd and the commisars was dealt with after the opening of the movie, the fact is russians knew that they were most likely to die one way or the other, either at the hands of the germans or their own security people. to protect their famillies {who were also at risk from motherland} it was the fate of common as well as officers of the red army to fight without thought of their own well being. we in the west cannot begin to imagine the ultimate between the rock and the hard place these poor people were in. hopefully someone will make a movie about the real thing and have it in a language we can understand.
The good and the bad June 6, 2001
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought this movie was great to watch and I definetly want to own it, But at times there were some unrealistic scenes. For example, there is a sex scene, which at that time would have never happened (especially during a war). I understand that for it to be a drama, hollywood probably has rules about adding things like that. The movie still had suspence though. Although it doesnt capture the true story of the sniper and the war in Russia, It does give a rough look to audiences who are not up on their history. In other words, if you want the true story look it up in a book or on the history channel and one will notice that the movie is slightly off. All in all, I still enjoyed this movie. When my boyfriend took me to see it I thought it would be a guy movie, but it turned out to be pretty good. I think everyone should see it at least once.
Good story, great acting, excellent & enjoyable film June 5, 2001
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
As a general rule, I don't see war movies in the theater, but my husband took me to this one because he was interested in the sniper-aspect of the story. I was glad he did, because I was spellbound all the way through the movie. This movie was about a Russian boy-soldier, Vasilli (Jude Law) who happens to be an excellent sniper. He saves the life of a political propagandist, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) who then writes up the Vasilli's exploits to encourage the Russian army, and the local Russians, all of whom are being brutalized by Nazi forces. Vasilli quickly becomes a famed hero, and something of a celebrity. No sooner does he kill off most of the Nazi commanders in town, but an infamous Nazi sniper, Major Konings (Ed Harris) comes to hunt him down. The chase is on, and the tension builds steadily. Add Tania, a beautiful female soldier, to the mix, and a love triangle develops between Vasilli and Danilov, further fueling the tension of the film.This movie had an authentic feel and a good story full of twists. And the acting was great. Jude Law gives a steady performance as Vasilli, and Joseph Fiennes lights up the screen with his passionate and deep Danilov. Ed Harris is intense as usual, and it was nice to see Rachel Weisz in a role that was quite a departure from the comical librarian in The Mummy. Other notable supporting characters: Ron Perlman as Koulikov, and Bob Hoskins as a perfect Nikita Khrushchev. The look of the film was both lush and spare, perfect for a war movie. The directing was skillful, and the script was great, taking a refreshing non-American view of the Russian fronts of World War II, and avoiding the easy resolutions of many Hollywood movies. A movie well worth seeing.
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