movie review enemy at the gates

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, enemy at the gates.

Now streaming on:

"Enemy at the Gates" opens with a battle sequence that deserves comparison with " Saving Private Ryan ," and then narrows its focus until it is about two men playing a cat-and-mouse game in the ruins of Stalingrad. The Nazi is sure he is the cat. The Russian fears he may be the mouse.

The movie is inspired by true events, we're told, although I doubt real life involved a love triangle; the film might have been better and leaner if it had told the story of the two soldiers and left out the soppy stuff. Even so, 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.

This is a rare World War II movie that does not involve Americans. It takes place in the autumn of 1942, in Stalingrad, during Hitler's insane attack on the Soviet Union. At first it appeared the Germans would roll over the ragged Russian resistance, but eventually the stubbornness of the Soviets combined with the brutal weather and problems with supply lines to deliver Hitler a crushing defeat and, many believe, turn the tide of the war.

We see the early hopelessness of the Soviet cause in shots showing terrified Russian soldiers trying to cross a river and make a landing in the face of withering fire. They are ordered to charge the Germans across an exposed no-man's land, and when half are killed and the others turned back, they are fired on as cowards by their own officers. This is a sustained sequence as harrowing, in its way, as Steven Spielberg's work.

One of the Russians stands out. His name is Vassili ( Jude Law ), and we know from the title sequence that he is a shepherd from the Urals, whose marksmanship was learned by killing wolves that preyed on his flock. In the heat of battle, he kills five Germans, and is noticed by Danilov ( Joseph Fiennes ), the political officer assigned to his unit. As Russian morale sinks lower, Danilov prints a leaflet praising the heroic shepherd boy.

We learn that Vassili is indeed a good shot, but has little confidence in his own abilities (in the opening sequence, he has one bullet to use against a wolf, and misses). Danilov encourages him, and as the battle lines solidify and both sides dig into their positions, Vassili continues to pick off Germans and star in Danilov's propaganda. Even Nikita Khrushchev ( Bob Hoskins , looking uncannily like the real thing), the leader of the Soviet defense of Stalingrad, praises the boy, and the publicity strategy.

As German resolve falters, they bring in their own best sniper, a sharpshooter named Konig ( Ed Harris ), a Bavarian aristocrat who in peacetime shoots deer. He is older, hawk-faced, clear-eyed, a professional. His assignment is to kill Vassili and end the propaganda. "How will you find him?" he's asked. "I'll have him find me." The heart of the movie is the duel between the two men, played out in a blasted cityscape of bombed factories and rubble. The war recedes into the background as the two men, who have never had a clear glimpse of each other, tacitly agree on their ground of battle. The director, Jean-Jacques Annaud , makes the geography clear--the open spaces, the shadows, the hollow pipes that are a way to creep from one point to another.

The duel is made more complicated when Vassili meets Sacha (Gabriel Marshall-Thomson), a boy of 7 or 8 who moves like a wraith between the opposing lines and is known to both snipers. Through Sacha, Vassili meets his neighbor Tanya ( Rachel Weisz ), a Jewish woman whose parents were killed by the Nazis. Vassili falls in love with Tanya--and so does Danilov, and this triangle seems like a plot device to separate the scenes that really interest us.

Sacha serves as a useful character, however. As a child of war, he is old beyond his years, but not old enough to know how truly ruthless and deadly a game he is involved in. His final appearance in the film brings a gasp from the audience, but fits into the implacable logic of the situation.

Annaud (" Quest for Fire ," "In the Name of the Rose," "Seven Years in Tibet") makes big-scale films where men test themselves against their ideas. Here he shows the Nazi sniper as a cool professional, almost without emotion, taking a cerebral approach to the challenge. The Russian is quite different; his confidence falters when he learns who he's up against, and he says, simply, "He's better than me." The strategy of the final confrontation between the two men has a kind of poetry to it, and I like the physical choices that Harris makes in the closing scene.

Is the film also about a duel between two opposing ideologies, Marxism and Nazism? Danilov, the propagandist, paints it that way, but actually it is about two men placed in a situation where they have to try to use their intelligence and skills to kill each other. When Annaud focuses on that, the movie works with rare concentration. The additional plot stuff and the romance are kind of a shame.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Now playing

Christy Lemire

Boy Kills World

Simon abrams.

The Big Cigar

Robert daniels.

Black Twitter: A People's History

Rendy jones.

The Fall Guy

Brian tallerico.

Tomris Laffly

Film credits.

Enemy At The Gates (2001)

131 minutes

Latest blog posts

Cannes 2024: It's Not Me, Filmlovers!, Misericordia

The World's Biggest Jewelry Box: Kristin Joseff on Hollywood's Favorite Jeweler, Joseff of Hollywood

Cannes 2024 Video #6: Ben Kenigsberg on The Substance, Anora, Emilia Perez, and Napoleon

A Larger Kind of Career: Morgan Spurlock (1970-2024)

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Link to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Hit Man Link to Hit Man
Babes Link to Babes

New TV Tonight

Eric: Season 1
We Are Lady Parts: Season 2
Geek Girl: Season 1
The Outlaws: Season 3
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted: Season 4
America's Got Talent: Season 19
Fiennes: Return to the Wild: Season 1
The Famous Five: Season 1
Couples Therapy: Season 4
Celebrity Family Food Battle: Season 1

Enemy at the Gates Reviews

Without its ambitious underpinnings, these virtuoso set pieces wouldn't flicker with emotion. In Enemy at the Gates, gravity has entertainment value, at least to those who can respond to wartime fervor.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 15, 2023

Time and time again, Enemy at the Gates squanders its pulse-pounding momentum on long, high-falutin' stretches of pointy-headed pretentiousness that just get in the road of the good stuff.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 2, 2020

Everything in the movie is obstinately stupid.

Full Review | Jan 30, 2018

more character development and depth would vastly improve this

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Mar 4, 2011

Tense and violent WWII movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 24, 2010

it could have held back on the parts featuring boredom because they did tend to drag the suspense down a bit

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 9, 2010

While it does have some solid moments of action, the film as a whole is laughable.

Full Review | May 18, 2009

Enemy at the Gates won't find too many friends at the box office -- fans of war movies (and of Jude Law) will appreciate it, but there isn't much for everyone else in this mid-March downer.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 20, 2008

There's a decent movie buried in here somewhere, but the lousy love triangle and ultimate lack of focus make this WWII drama a bit hard to take.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Flatulent hero-worship of a man played by a tired-looking actor who deserves funkier roles.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jul 30, 2007

There's never much risk of reality intruding--just a lot of histrionic James Horner music nd plenty of designer stubble on the soldiers' faces.

Full Review | Feb 9, 2007

Set-pieces get you so far (and Annaud delights in blowing this set to pieces), but the script's shortcomings aren't camouflaged by the decision to adopt Home Counties' accents as the film's lingua franca.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2005

Annaud shows a real knack for suspense here, enough to make me hope he will do more action-adventure in the future.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Dec 6, 2004

If only ambition was the bar at which to measure the quality of motion pictures, Enemy at the Gates could sit atop the best of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5 | Nov 23, 2004

There's ambition, and then there's pretense. It's a common mistake for both filmmakers and filmgoers to mistake the latter for the former.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 22, 2003

Worth the trouble, but make sure to leave the history notes at home.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 26, 2003

It generally succeeds at telling a truly heroic story, providing yet another vehicle to showcase the talents of Law and Harris, and of their supporting cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 8, 2003

[It's] clearly meant to measure up to or reach past what Steven Spielberg did in Saving Private Ryan. But it is one of the poorest imitations I have seen so far.

Full Review | Jan 7, 2003

Enemy at the Gates (UK/USA/Germany, 2001)

Like Joseph Vilsmaier's powerful 1993 feature, Stalingrad , Enemy at the Gates elects to view this conflict from the point-of-view of a limited group of characters, rather than attempting to tackle the battle in an epic format. The film takes actual historical figures and imbues them with traits that allow their private struggle to mirror the overall conflict. However, as interesting as some of the ideas underlying the film are, and as technically adept as the production is, I had a hard time liking Enemy at the Gates . There's an emotional coolness to the picture and the characters are kept at a distance. There's also a lack of dramatic tension. The movie always moves in the direction of an inevitable conclusion, with minimal suspense along the way. As fascinated as I was by the historical backdrop against which the struggle occurs, I found it difficult to care one way or another about which characters lived or died.

The battle sequences, especially those with the bombs bursting in the air above Stalingrad, are impressive, as is the attention to detail. There's a little Saving Private Ryan in some of the early sequences. As soldiers are being transported across the Volga River to Stalingrad, their boats are strafed by Luftwaffe aircraft. Dozens are killed or injured, and those who try to escape by jumping overboard are shot by their own commanders. The verisimilitude of the film's battle re-creations is enhanced by a grim atmosphere (accomplished largely through dim lighting, an abundance of browns and grays, and a lack of bright color) but it doesn't extend to the characters, none of whom are more than shadows of real human beings. The epilogue, which has a tacked-on feel, is out-of-place and designed largely to placate audiences distressed by the film's downbeat tone.

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud is not known for developing emotionally rich cinematic tapestries. His films often come across as visually stimulating but aloof. Enemy at the Gates falls prey to those characteristics. The movie squanders too many opportunities. For those who appreciate history and want to understand a little more about what went on during the battle of Stalingrad, I recommend Vilsmaier's movie. Enemy at the Gates hints at, but never achieves, greatness. Instead, for all of its impressive technical qualities, it ends up as a mediocre and mostly forgettable war film.

Comments Add Comment

Flame & Citron (2009)
(There are no more better movies of this genre)
Gattaca (1997)
Closer (2004)
Hugo (2011)
eXistenZ (0199)
Breaking and Entering (2006)
Holiday, The (2006)
Elizabeth (1998)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
(There are no more better movies of Joseph Fiennes)
Running with Scissors (2006)
Great Raid, The (2005)
(There are no more worst movies of Joseph Fiennes)
Definitely, Maybe (2008)
Constant Gardener, The (2005)
Brothers Bloom, The (2009)
Envy (2004)
Fred Claus (2007)
Lovely Bones, The (2009)

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

DVD & Streaming

Enemy at the Gates

Drama , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

Jude Law as Vassili Zaitsev; Joseph Fiennes as Danilov; Rachel Weisz as Tanja; Ed Harris as Major Koenig; Bob Hoskins as Krushchev; Ron Perlman as Koulikov; Gabriel Thomson as Sasha

Home Release Date

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Distributor

Paramount Pictures

Movie Review

Hitler’s Third Reich, which had been spreading like a dark stain across the global landscape, invaded Stalingrad in 1942. Judging from the opening scenes of Enemy at the Gates , it would seem Soviet officers were using as much ammunition to exact swift punishment on their own deserting soldiers as they were spending on the Germans. But amidst a Nazi rout, one hero arose. Vassili Zaitsev, a former shepherd boy skilled with a rifle, quietly dispatched a small cadre of high-ranking Germans with single shots to the head. The only friendly witness to this feat was Danilov, a Russian political officer responsible for elevating the troops’ morale and spreading pro-socialist propaganda for his vodka-sipping boss, Nikita Krushchev (Hoskins dusting off the very same accent he used to voice an animated goose in Balto ).

Stalingrad lay in rubble, but the fighting continued, stealthily led by Vassili, whose exploits as the nation’s top sniper were played for full effect in local newspapers. He became a household name. A rallying point. Tallying the number of kills he’d make from day to day was a matter of public discussion the way Americans talked about the McGwire/Sosa home-run race in 1999. But celebrity has its price. That notoriety reportedly led Germany to dispatch its own crack shot, Major Koenig, to locate and surgically remove Vassili. The remainder of the film chronicles the cat-and-mouse game between those two lethal sharpshooters.

Based on a true story, Enemy at the Gates does an excellent job of recreating the scope and chaos of this World War II battle with remarkable cinematography, especially in the early going. Once the mano a mano marksmanship clinic commences between Vassili and Koenig, the film uses claustrophobic mazes of dusty, uninviting rubble to convey an overall mood of paranoia and hopelessness. Soldiers realize any breath could be their last. If war is hell, Stalingrad was Satan’s footstool during the Nazi march across Russia. Whether or not a love triangle involving Vassili, Danilov and a feisty young patriot named Tanja was actually part of the historical record is uncertain, but it adds to the drama. So does the presence of an intelligence-gathering young shoe-shine boy whose loyalties aren’t fully realized until it’s too late.

positive elements: Soldiers fight bravely for honor and country. Characters put themselves at risk for one another. One literally sticks his neck out for Vassili, even though he knows that doing so is a death sentence. Although dishonesty is inherently problematic, a pair of lies are told with the best of intentions (a mother is spared the news of her son’s death; a critically wounded girl is claimed as a relative to assure that she’ll get medical attention). Danilov ultimately recognizes the futility of socialism, acknowledging that there will always be envy and disparity regardless of government’s attempt to vanquish them. In other words, the human heart cannot be changed by politics. Danilov challenges the conventional communist wisdom that fear and intimidation are the best way to motivate troops. Instead of “making examples” of cowards, he would prefer to inspire comrades by offering them a sense of hope (“We must give them examples—examples to follow . We must give them heroes”).

spiritual content: Danilov and Tanja discuss the persecution of the Jews. People speak of praying for Vassili on several occasions.

sexual content: In a prolonged scene of physical passion, Tanja and Vassili begin by groping each other below the belt and then impetuously engage in intercourse (despite the couple being clothed from the waist up and otherwise covered by a blanket, the scene leaves little to the imagination).

violent content: Many instances of men being shot and killed, either by strafings of machine-gunfire or single bullets to the head. Some murders are more graphic than others. Gory entry wounds. Splatters of blood. Crumpled bodies. Severed limbs. Crows picking at the flesh of casualties. Elsewhere, a young boy is shown hanging from a noose. Rather than face disgrace, a Russian officer who failed in battle takes Krushchev’s advice and commits suicide. The Soviets are brutal to their own soldiers, shooting deserters and shamelessly sending men to their deaths in a losing battle (Krushchev yells at a field general, “I don’t care if you’ve lost half your men. Lose the other half—or lose yourself!”). A soldier describes having his teeth knocked out by members of the Soviet army. Tanja tells the tragic story of how her parents and others were callously murdered by the Germans.

crude or profane language: About a dozen profanities, including four s-words.

drug and alcohol content: Cigarettes and moderate alcohol use appear in several scenes (of course, long-term addictions aren’t big concerns for fighting men never sure if they’ll see another sunset).

other negative elements: Enlisted men get kicks passing gas into a candle flame.

conclusion: Have you ever engaged in a snowball fight? Not just a friendly exchange of softly packed, gently lobbed spheres of fluff. I’m talkin’ ice balls hurled with venom —the kind of take-no-prisoners war fought for neighborhood dominance. Anyone who has ever found themselves pinned down behind a trash can or around the corner of a shed, not daring to stick their head out for fear of having it violently slushed , will identify in some small measure with the much more lethal predicament facing Vassili and his comrades. A musical score by James Horner (Titanic) ratchets up the tension. At any moment, out of the silence, a single, carefully placed bullet can reduce the cast by one. In explicit fashion. At that level, Enemy at the Gates is an unnerving tale of war from a sniper’s perspective, reinforcing the impermanence of life on the battlefield. Yet there’s so much killing that viewers may feel the need for a truce. Those excesses ambush Enemy .

Bob Smithouser

Latest reviews.

The Garfield Movie

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

an image, when javascript is unavailable

Enemy at the Gates

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Many German critics shat all over this $80 million epic when it opened at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. The chief complaint about this lavish depiction of the German invasion of Russia during the pivotal World War II battle of Stalingrad (1942 to 1943) is that the movie had gone Hollywood. Financed with German money, Enemy nonetheless stars American Ed Harris as Major Konig, the Nazi sharpshooter, and British Jude Law as Vassili Zaitsev, the real-life Russian sniper who tries to bring Konig down. Worse, the core of the movie involves Vassili’s romantic rivalry with his political-officer friend Danilov (British Joseph Fiennes) over the affections of Tania (Rachel Weisz, another Brit), the Jewish soldier who truly loves Vassili. Accounts vary over who really loved whom, and William Craig’s nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates only inspired the script by Alain Godard and director Jean-Jacques Annaud, both French. It’s not a strict adaptation, so things get made up.

Still, despite the flak about romantic cliches and miscast actors, Annaud’s film boasts harrowing battle scenes as Russian relief troops are bombarded while crossing the River Volga, and Stalingrad itself is battered by air and sea while tanks and soldiers overrun its streets. In the shell of the city, Vassili and Konig face off in a duel of wits that is meant to mirror the larger battle. Any flaws in execution pale against those moments when the film brings history to vital life.

'13 Reasons Why' Dylan Minnette on Stepping Away From Acting: It 'Started to Feel like a Job'

Taking a Break
By Kalia Richardson

'Survivor' Superfan Sia Is Done Awarding Cash Prizes to Her Favorite Contestants

No More Money
By Jodi Guglielmi

'The Beach Boys' Doc Is One Endless Summer — and Concludes the Group's Story Far Too Soon

By Joseph Hudak

Hollywood Crew Members Call for Safety on Set After Production-Related Deaths

State of the Union
By Krystie Lee Yandoli

Alec Baldwin Loses Bid to Dismiss ‘Rust’ Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

'RUST' TRAGEDY
By Nancy Dillon and Daniel Kreps

Most Popular

Morgan spurlock, 'super size me' director, dies at 53, matthew perry death sparks dea, lapd joint criminal investigation, prince william & kate middleton are 'deeply upset' about the timing of the sussexes' brand relaunch, diddy yelled "like a lunatic" at chaka khan and had her son beat up, alleges her daughter, you might also like, richard dreyfuss sparks outrage, massachusetts theater apologizes for his ‘offensive and distressing’ remarks at ‘jaws’ screening, why marilyn monroe remains a cultural icon: how estate owners transformed her legacy into $80m global sales, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, ‘the sympathizer’ finale reflected the ‘tortured’ audition process for star hoa xuande, mlb hitting at rock bottom despite absence of star pitchers.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

Life & style
Environment

Enemy at the Gates

Enemy At The Gates Review

16 Mar 2001

131 minutes

Enemy At The Gates

Reputedly the most expensive Euro project ever produced, it's easy to see where the money went on Jean-Jacques Annaud's thoroughly entertaining World War II drama. In tackling a real-life chapter from the Russian war, Annaud certainly doesn't skimp on the breathtaking spectacle.

Early scenes of the Russian army on boats being bombarded by aircraft - footsoldiers scrabbling over the sides to safety are shot by their officers for deserting - and the subsequent scramble across Stalingrad Square are writ large and spectacular, the mêlée captured in muted, harrowing tones.

Surprisingly believable as a man of action, Law looks every inch the haunted sniper. His scenes with Fiennes capture the warm friendship between the two, but both actors struggle to find depth in characters that lack sides and shades. The story throws up interesting brain food about the nature of propaganda and the paradoxes of Zaitesev's (Law) popularity – he is a lone hero in a land that believes in the equality of people – yet fails to follow these themes up.

Moreover, the three-way love story between Zaitsev, Danilov (Fiennes) and literate soldier Tania (an adequate Weisz) fails to convince. While the single love-making scene gets a believable scene of grabbed intimacy, the ménage-à-trois often lapses into a movie-movie feel that is at odds with the realistic tone of the combat footage. Similarly, the script lacks the political intelligence (an overly earnest voice over intones, "Europe lies crushed beneath the Nazi jackboot") and the sense of complexity that marks out the best of epic cinema. Compounding the simplistic tone of the piece, Bob Hoskins lends an overwrought presence as Khrushchev.

Yet where Enemy At The Gates really impresses is in its central tussle between natural sharpshooter Zaitsev and clinical assassin Konig (Harris). Annaud gets fascinating mileage in the duel of wits between the two men – to ascertain Zaitsev's position, Konig sends out a Russian captive dressed as a Nazi, hoping Zaitsev will shoot – filled with nifty sniper technology.

The duel reaches its high point in a gripping, expertly crafted set-piece as, stranded without his gun, Zaitsev takes refuge behind a cooker in a derelict factory and Konig is forced to flush the Russian out. The quality turn of the movie, Ed Harris is great as a reserved, calculating marksman, but always hints at a buried humanity (as in his scenes with a Russian moppet), never lapsing into the typical Nazi monster.

Movies | 08 04 2001

Movies | 28 02 2001

Movies | 20 09 2000

Movies | 14 02 2000

Movies | 02 02 2000

"We waste our money so you don't have to."

"We waste our money, so you don't have to."

Movie Review

Enemy at the gates.

US Release Date: 03-16-2001

Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Starring ▸ ▾

Jude Law , as
Vassily Zaitsev
Joseph Fiennes , as
Rachel Weisz , as
Ed Harris , as
Major Koenig
Bob Hoskins , as
Ron Perlman , as
Eva Mattes , as
Mother Filipov
Gabriel Thomson as
Sacha Filipov

Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law in Enemy at the Gates .

I can enjoy a foreign film as much as the next guy. I also like Hollywood movies. The difference is in the feel and movement of them. Foreign, particularly European, films tend to be emotionally driven. Life Is Beautiful is all about the characters emotions. Hollywood likes its action. In Schindlers List you really only remember the scenes of brutality. Enemy At The Gates is a combination of the two.

The movie starts out feeling entirely like a foreign film. There is very little dialogue. Just some background yelling. The main character, an actual Russian war hero, played by Jude Law, expresses all the fear and confusion that any man about to enter the hell that awaits him would feel.

Early in the movie the Russian soldier meets a political officer (Joseph Fiennes), while each are feigning death in a fountain as German soldiers pass by. It is truly a brilliant scene filled with tension and action, as the soldier shoots several German officers. The two become friends and neither of their lives will ever be the same again.

The political officer prints in the paper the young soldiers marksmanship abilities and soon turns him into a national hero in the fight to defend the Mother Land from the Nazis. He meets Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins), and soon discovers that he has more responsibility on his hands than he would like. To further complicate his life he falls for a girl (Rachel Weisz from The Mummy ), that the political officer also has eyes for.

Up to this point the movie is perfect. However, Hollywood steps in, in the form of Ed Harris playing a Nazi Major who is assigned to kill the now famous Russian sniper. The newspapers are keeping track of every one of the snipers kills and this is upsetting the Nazi high command. The tone changes at this point. It becomes a more action driven piece. That may not have been so bad, had Ed Harris been given more of a character to work with. He plays a steely blue eyed assassin that we learn nothing personal about.

The action scenes at this point also get a bit far fetched.

The scene where Jude Law's character is trapped behind an old stove and gets saved by the sun's reflection didn't work for me. Another part where the Nazis, some how, capture one of the Russians comrades is never shown. The audience just has to accept that it happened so that the following ironic scene can occur. Also the death of one of the main characters was a little over the top.

This is a very good movie. However, it could have been great had it been more consistent.

Joseph Fiennes in Enemy at the Gates .

War is dirty, ugly, and just generally hellish, or so I feel I can safely assume, never having actually been in one. Enemy at the Gates does a good job of showing that and like Eric, the opening of this movie interested and intrigued me.

The movie opens with the Russians forcing their soldiers ashore in Stalingrad, issuing one gun to every second soldier with the instructions that when (not if) the man with the gun was killed, the one without the gun should pick it up and carry on fighting. When the poorly armed and obviously poorly trained Russian soldiers are massacred by the German tanks and artillery, those who survive long enough to attempt a retreat are gunned down by their own Russian officers for cowardice. This opening, which climaxes with the scene in the fountain that Eric referred to, is a great way to open a war movie. I have to agree with him that it's after this opening that the movie starts to fall apart.

What begins as a new perspective on World War II through the eyes of a Russian sniper, soon becomes a standard and only mediocre war movie. One of the few characters I enjoyed was Joseph Fiennes as the Political Officer. Apart from the opening and Fiennes communist propaganda, the fact that this is a Russian war story never comes through, which is a pity because the Russian angle really could have put a new slant on this film and it fails to capitalize on that.

As for Ed Harris's steely-eyed German sniper, I must again defer to Eric's judgment that he is never given an opportunity to develop any sort of character. For his and Jude Law's sniper 'duel' to have been truly effective as a cinematic device it would have helped to know more about him.

Eric's judgment of this movie is a good one. At least right up until he said that it was 'a very good movie'. At best this is just an ok one.

Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in Enemy at the Gates .

Both my brothers are too hard on this movie. This was the best World War II movie I have seen in some time. It may not have the emotional resonance of The Pianist or Schindler's List but for my money it is far more entertaining than either of those movies. First of all I enjoyed the fact that this movie was told from the Russian point of view. We have seen W.W.II from the American, British, French and Polish Jew point of view so many times before that this fact sets the movie apart right away.

I don't understand my brothers' criticism of the Ed Harris character. Compared to 90 percent of war movies he is more developed as a person than most bad guys. Usually the enemy is a faceless, nameless, entity roaming the shadows.

Here we have two men with exceptional marksmanship skills squaring off in the middle of the war torn city of Stalingrad. The German character is an arrogant man whose ego will never let him give up in his quest to assassinate the Russian hero. It is a personal vendetta for him. You get the sense that he is more embarrassed by the Russian's success at eluding him than he is worried about the actual damage being done to the German war machine. On the other side Jude Law as the Russian sniper is a man filled with doubts about his ability to defeat the German as well as being uncomfortable with the role of national hero that was thrust upon him by the Joseph Fiennes character.

As for the few scenes Eric mentioned as being over-the-top, again I disagree. I found the sacrifice that Joseph Fiennes character makes at the end of the movie to be very powerful and quite a brilliant and original plot twist. I could have done without some of the romantic scenes, since, as a rule, romance should be kept out of war movies. But other than that I was thoroughly entertained and moved by Enemy at the Gates .

Photos © Copyright MP Film Mgmt. & DOS Prods (2001)

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

Real-Life Heroes on YouTube for Tweens and Teens

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Enemy at the gates, common sense media reviewers.

Tense and violent WWII movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Very violent battle scenes, extremely tense, many

Brief but fairly graphic sexual situation, brief n

Some strong language.

A lot of smoking, some drinking.

Parents need to know that this is a very tense and violent movie, with graphic battle scenes and piles of dead bodies. Characters are in constant peril and many are killed, including a child. There is a brief but fairly explicit sexual encounter with brief nudity. The characters use strong language, drink, and smoke.

Violence & Scariness

Very violent battle scenes, extremely tense, many deaths, characters in peril.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief but fairly graphic sexual situation, brief nudity.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (5)
Kids say (5)

Based on 5 parent reviews

Entertaining but cheesy, war B movie.

What's the story.

It is 1942, the Germans are invading Stalingrad, and the Russians are overmatched. A tough new commanding officer, Nikita Krushchev (Bob Hoskins) asks for suggestions on how to build the morale of his soldiers. Young political officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) makes a suggestion -- "give them heroes." He's seen a soldier kill five Germans, each with a single shot. The soldier is Vassily Zaitsev (Jude Law), a poor, uneducated boy, but a sharpshooter. Danilov's propaganda makes Zaitsev a legend. The Germans send their own legendary sniper, Koenig (Ed Harris), to kill him. Danilov sees Koenig's arrival as a chance for bigger and better propaganda. Koenig is a nobleman, adding a class war to the story. But everything Danilov does to make Zaitsev a hero and an asset to the Soviets makes him more vulnerable to discovery and attack by the Germans. Things get even more complicated when Danilov and Zaitsev fall for the same girl, a tough soldier named Tania (Rachel Weisz).

Is It Any Good?

This is a thinking person's historical epic, so impressively ambitious in taking on issues and ideas that you have to cut it some slack when it doesn't manage them all as skillfully as it hopes to. The story of the German siege of Leningrad is worth a movie in itself. The cat and mouse game between Koenig and Zaitsev is like something out of a classic western, more much about strategy, courage, ingenuity, and patience as about sharpshooting. The issue of using one individual's story to manipulate the masses plays out fascinatingly throughout the movie. It is reminiscent of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence 's famous line, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." If the love triangle is the weakest part of the movie, that is only because the rest of it is so strong.

All four stars are excellent, especially Law's guileless integrity and Harris' variation -- a sort of guile-full integrity. When the two men face off against each other, it's clear that they understand each other in a way that no one else ever can.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the effect that fame has on people. At first, Zaitsev innocently enjoys the attention, though he never lets it go to his head. Later he says, "I can't carry that weight any more. I want to fight as a regular soldier." Was what Danilov did necessary? Was it fair to Zaitsev? Did it do what it was intended to? How was that similar to what the Germans did to Koenig? (Think about the scene where he turns in his dogtags)? Why did Tania chose the one she loves? Think about what it says about the real Zaitsev at the end of the movie -- does the movie do to the real Zaitsev what Danilov did to the fictional one?

Movie Details

In theaters : March 16, 2001
On DVD or streaming : August 14, 2001
Cast : Ed Harris , Joseph Fiennes , Jude Law , Rachel Weisz
Director : Jean-Jacques Annaud
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Paramount Pictures
Genre : Drama
Run time : 131 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : strong graphic war violence and some sexuality
Last updated : April 19, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Schindler's List

Want personalized picks for your kids' age and interests?

The Way Back

Saving Private Ryan

Movie battles, best epic movies.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Possessing the Gates of the Enemy

Podcast Episode

Add a plot in your language

User reviews

May 22, 2024 (United Kingdom)
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 41 minutes

movie review enemy at the gates

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS

Movie Reviews

Roger Ebert

Now playing

Christy Lemire

Boy Kills World

The Big Cigar

Black Twitter: A People's History

The Fall Guy

Tomris Laffly

Enemy At The Gates (2001)

Latest blog posts

Cannes 2024: It's Not Me, Filmlovers!, Misericordia

The World's Biggest Jewelry Box: Kristin Joseff on Hollywood's Favorite Jeweler, Joseff of Hollywood

Cannes 2024 Video #6: Ben Kenigsberg on The Substance, Anora, Emilia Perez, and Napoleon

A Larger Kind of Career: Morgan Spurlock (1970-2024)

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Email not verified

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Movies / TV

Enemy at the Gates Reviews

Enemy at the Gates (UK/USA/Germany, 2001)

Comments Add Comment

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Enemy at the Gates

Content Caution

In Theaters

Home Release Date

Distributor

Movie Review

Bob Smithouser

The Garfield Movie

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Enemy at the Gates

Peter Travers

'13 Reasons Why' Dylan Minnette on Stepping Away From Acting: It 'Started to Feel like a Job'

'Survivor' Superfan Sia Is Done Awarding Cash Prizes to Her Favorite Contestants

'The Beach Boys' Doc Is One Endless Summer — and Concludes the Group's Story Far Too Soon

Hollywood Crew Members Call for Safety on Set After Production-Related Deaths

Alec Baldwin Loses Bid to Dismiss ‘Rust’ Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

Most Popular

Verify it's you

Enemy at the Gates

Enemy At The Gates Review

Related Articles

Movie Review

Starring ▸ ▾

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

Real-Life Heroes on YouTube for Tweens and Teens

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

A Lot or a Little?

Violence & Scariness

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Community Reviews

Entertaining but cheesy, war B movie.

Is It Any Good?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Suggest an Update

Schindler's List