"Enemy At The Gates"

The Best WAR film of the year. "Enemy at the Gates" is a fantastic war film that involves the true story of Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev and his rise to greatness during the battle of Stalingrad with Nazi Germany.

Zaitsev played by Jude Law, finds out that with fame comes challenge as the Germans send Major Konig a world renown sniper to find Zaitsev and kill him. Konig is played by Ed Harris and the second he appears on screen you find yourself rooting for him to succeed.

The film opens with the terror and violence of "Saving Private Ryan" and builds upon it. The scenes between Zaitsev and Konig are extremely powerful. The score by James Horner drives the movie and the feeling of tension and fear. The scenes of war and the brutality of the results of the war are a chilling experience. The film does have a flaw and it happens to be a big one. The flaw is the fact that they try to force a love story into the middle of it.

Not only is it a love story but it is a love triangle. Jude Law is joined by Joseph Fiennes in a mutual love for Rachel Weisz. The story slows the picture down and not in a good way. Sometimes in an action picture they throw in scenes to give the audience a break after a harrowing chase or shoot-out but in this movie it kills the energy of the film. I was much more interested in the relationship between the two snipers than the love triangle.

Ed Harris and Jude Law deliver fantastic performances with Harris getting the upper hand, Fiennes is kind of wasted and Weisz does what she is asked to do. Bob Hoskins and Ron Perlman round out the list of notables. Take a shot at "Enemy at the Gates".