Enemy at the Gates – By Sean O’Connell

By 1942, the Nazis had plowed their way across the frozen tundra of Russia with little resistance until they reached Stalingrad. In dire need of a morale boost for his conquered native land, Russian propagandist Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) uses the power of the press to magnify the military accomplishments of Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a heroically brilliant sniper.

Danilov’s writings turn Vassili into a folk legend and a symbol of hope that the defeated population rallies behind, but they also capture the attention of the German army, which dispatches its finest marksman, Major Konig (Ed Harris), to stop this rogue soldier.After a riveting, chaotic opening sequence, director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s starchy, operatic thriller excises the epic sweep of the Battle of Stalingrad in favor of a tense, steadfast cat-and-mouse game. Luckily Annaud had the good sense to cast Harris and Law as the steadfast eyes at the end of the film’s many rifle scope shots, since both actorspossess the properly steely-cold gazes that convey emotion and impact without words. The film’s irregular love triangle – involving Law, Fiennes and “”The Mummy””‘s Rachel Weisz as an eager contributor to the war effort – hardly distracts as much as you would think, though Fiennes works the hardest to bring credibility to an unnecessary subplot thatbecomes even more superfluous once Weisz joins Vassili’s hunt for Konig. Considering the compelling nature of the violent chess game played by Harris and Law, you almost wonder why “”Enemy”” bothered with subplots and supporting characters at all.GRADE: B+THE EXTRAS“”Enemy”” is a stacked disc that will delight fans interested in furthering their initial viewing experience. Surprisingly, given Annaud’s obvious affection for the film, the DVD lacks a director’s commentary. But it makes up for it with both a “”Behind the Scenes”” featurette and a collection of cast and crew interviews entitled “”Through the Crosshairs”” that investigates their motivations for recreating this infamous battle and how the stars were drawn to the project.As for the actual film, Paramount has amassed nine brief deleted scenes that expand on the film’s inherent relationships. They do add to the film, but it’s easy to see why they were excised, considering the film’s 131 minute running time. The DVD also offers the film’strailer and English subtitles. It’s a decent amount of extras, for a Paramount disc. The studio really is improving in their approach to the DVD format, and are providing interesting extras with their current titles.GRADE: BOVERALL EXPERIENCE“”Enemy at the Gates”” is a thrilling, scaled-back war effort that stand’s out in the wake of Spielberg’s oft-mentioned “”Saving Private Ryan,”” which has set the benchmark for any WWII movie that will be released in the next decade. Law and Harris, though they share little screen time together, generate genuine tension, and Annaud’s direction is appropriately grimy and disordered. It works. The DVD takes the movie one step further, and is a nice effort. Worth the money if you enjoyed the film.FINAL GRADE: B+By Sean O’ConnellAug. 20, 2001

Updated: January 1, 1970 — 12:33 am