DVDs

Enemy at the Gates

Region 1

Region 4

By Richard Moore

In the midst of Stalingrad, one of the largest and most brutal battles of World War II, two snipers duel it out.

One is a Russian peasant Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and the other is a German aristocrat Major Konig (Ed Harris).

Zaitsev has a remarkable talent for shooting German officers dead and so the High Command sends in Konig to hunt him down and get him back.

The stakes are high as Zaitsev has become a Soviet hero through the propaganda machine run by Political Officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) and his death would be a major blow to the resolve of his hard-pressed comrades.

Sound implausible? Well, it's actually a true story and director Jean-Jacques Annaud has built up a pretty damn good movie around it.

Stalingrad cost the Soviets more than one million soldiers and while they were fighting the Nazis, the Communists showed they were as - if not more - ruthless than their brutal enemy.

Political officers shot wavering soldiers, retreat meant a bullet in the back of the head and thousands of troops died without even having the benefit of a rifle with which to fire back.

Beautifully filmed, Enemy at the Gates is an exciting war movie that gets up and close with the main protagonists and Annaud's direction makes the most of the icy blue eyes of both Law and Harris.

The transfer is a beauty and while it is mostly battlefield greys and browns, when the red stuff starts getting splashed about it's all in vivid colour.

The picture is sharp and the excellent sound plonks you right into the middle of the battles and almost has you diving for cover as explosions land around you.

So, who survives the sniper duel?

Well, Enemy at the Gates is well worth sitting through to find out!

Conclusion:

Movie: 85%

DVD Extras: 75%