Enemy at the Gates?

[Darth23]

Is it a cross between Barbarians at the Gates and Enemy of the State? No. It's the latest Big World War 2 movie starring Ed Harris.

I saw the trailer in the theaters and I have to say that making a movie about how someone won World War 2 by being a good sniper looks kind of silly to me.

[CMJ]

I must say I think it looks rather good. The guy didn't win the war for the Russians or anything, but he did boost moral in the Battle of Stalingrad, which was one of the turning points in WWII. It is based on a true story, though I have only a limited knowledge of it.

[ReaperFett]

he DID win it in the Russian end IMO

[Jedi Master Carr]

I know its based on the book by the same name, I think its pretty recent and a different look on Stalingrad. Ed Harris plays a German right? I couldn't tell from the preview I saw maybe he just had a bad Russian accent.

[RHJediKnight]

Ed Harris plays a German sniper sent to Stalingrad to kill a Russian sniper (played by Jude Law) who has killed over 100 German officers (I think all of them at the Battle of Stalingrad, or at least most). It's based on a true story and looks pretty good.

[Jedieb]

That sounds like a great movie! I love WWII history. Hitler made a monumental mistake in opening a second front when dragged the Russians into the war. History could have been VERY different if the Germans had waited another year or two before engaging the Russians. I just hope the movie doesn't get too caried away with those bullet effects ala Sniper (the Tom Berrenger and Billy Zane flick, I don't know if I got the title right.)

[Darth23]

Ok.... if it's based on a book it MIGHT be good.... the trailer just looked kind fo contrived to me. Plus I guess I was having bad flashbacks from watching the movie Sniper years ago. brrrr. :p


I always thought it was mother nature (the Russian Winter), Stalin's reserve Siberian Troops, and the Russians Generals' apparent complete disreguard for the lives of thier soldiers that turned the tide.

:)

[jjwr]

I think it looks pretty good, when I saw the first trailer I was interested, its definetly something I would wait for video on though.

Makes you wonder, had the Russians not been able to stop the Germans how many bombs the US would have had to have dropped to end it.

[JonathanLB]

I think it looks fantastic, and the poster is one of the coolest I've seen in ages!

I'm very excited about this movie, and Ed Harris is such a wonderful actor! He's one of my favorites, even though he's often relegated to a co-star. I love him in The Rock, in The Truman Show, in The Abyss, and in many other movies he's been in. I'm anxious for Enemy at the Gates.

Darth did you actually see Barbians at the Gate? I love that movie. It's not the normal type of film, but I loved it even when I was really young! It was one of my favorite movies, the takeover of RJR Nabisco. Great movie, and very humorous throughout :)

"I would burn the f***ers, but the f***ers don't burn!"

"Oh that's just great, we spent billions of dollars to create a turd with a tip!"

lol. Enemy of the State is also awesome, I love that movie. I was prepared to be disappointed in more Bruckheimer nonsense, but actually it was surprising good. I especially love the end of the film with Larry King voicing over...

When does Enemy at the Gates comeout? I've not been to theaters in a while here :( Been a rough month or so, hehe. My friend and I are going to watch a movie and party this Friday, lol, because we've both had multiple allnighters in the last few weeks, and I've not even seen him outside of school for 5 weeks or so.

[Darth23]

Yeah, I saw Barbarians at the Gate on HBO - then again on TNT I think (edited).

Enemy of the Gates comes out on Friday. It's probably already made more money than Pollock - Ed Harris' OTHER movie.

I still think this sniper film looks weird.

[JonathanLB]

I really enjoyed Enemy at the Gates, very well done!

I love good World War II movies, and this was one of them I thought. Damn cool movie. :)

[CMJ]

Well I finally saw ENEMY AT THE GATES today(I've been hearing about this flick for over a year now so I was rather excited to finally see it). There was some really good stuff, and some bland stuff. Overall I'd have to say it's definitely worth seeing though. I'm gonna go into specifics so if you don't want to know anything............







SPOILERS START
Things that were good:
*A good movie about a part of WWII we don't see enough. The Russian front made the western front look like a paintball war in comparison. I remember reading that in Stalingrad only 3 out of every 1000 Soviet soldiers weren't casulaties. Jesus, what a bloodbath!! Nine hundred ninety seven killed or wounded out of every thousand....how is that even possible!
*The sets were great. Most likely the best "bombed out" sets I've ever seen.
*Terrific opening sequence with the wolf, followed by a battle sequence that was terribly intense.
*Great performance by Ed Harris.
*The cat and mouse game the two snipers played. The traps they set for each other were ingenious(and always kept that tension meter running high).

Things that needed some work:
*James Horner's main theme(in the score) seemed like a rip off of SCHINDLER'S LIST. If I were John Williams I'd be pissed.
*The love triangle didn't really work. It seemed out of place in this film.
*The tacked on "2 months later" happy resolution.
*That opening battle, while technically superb(every bit as good as SPR from a technical aspect) felt like you were watching the soldiers plight. In SPR you WERE in their plight.










SPOILERS END

Overall I think this MIGHT be remembered come next Oscar season for some technical awards(sound, cinematography, art/set design), but thats about it.

[Darth23]

I read a pretty bad review of the movie. The guy sounded pretty pissed at the film.

[JonathanLB]

He's probably a Nazi. lol, just kidding.

Damn that would be cool, if you make a film like that, if you're the director then you can just say, "Look anyone who didn't like my movie must be a Nazi!" lol.

[Darth23]

Nah, he didn't like th accents, the love triangle, and some other plot details. I'll see if I can find it, because they had soem pretty funny captions with the pictures.

[Darth Hez]

I loved this film. I have to agree about the love triangle and the tacked on ending though. The ending was the only thing that mad me groan while I was watching it though.

Rating? 4/5.

[JonathanLB]

4/5 is too limited, but yeah I would basically agree with a rating around there.

I'd give it an 88/100, or B+

[CMJ]

...had surprisingly good legs. It's been in the top 10 for like 6 straight weekends, and out lasted many films that were released after it. When it only grossed 13.8M on it's openeing weekend, I was afraid it would really flop, but it's been a solid performer.

Nonetheless, it's going to need boff international sales to become profitable. I have no idea how it's performing overseas, since I no longer can check on Variety's website.