Review of Enemy at the Gates

Introduction

Readers of my column will recall that when I went to see Enemy at the Gates earlier this year I wasn`t particularly impressed with it. One of my friends who was also at the cinema that night disagreed and bought the Region 1 DVD when it came out, so I thought I`d borrow it and see if my initial assessment was fair, or whether a good DVD could make the most of the movie.

For those unfamiliar with the movie, it is set in Stalingrad, the scene of the bloodiest battle of World War II, which cost the lives of over 2,000,000 people. This movie approaches from the Russian side, Stalingrad looks at things from the German side. Unlike other big battles of World War 2 which were staged in the countryside, the real horror of Stalingrad is that the battle took place in the city, building to building, in the extreme Russian winter. This movie follows the fortunes of a Russian sniper whose reputation sees the Germans sending a crack sniper of their own to deal with him.

Video

The video comes in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of reasonable quality - there is no grain or dirt and the image is deliberately grey to help portray the grim surroundings and Russian winter. The visuals of the movie are pretty good, and do a much better job of representing the war-torn city than Stalingrad which was clearly limited by budgetary considerations. There are damaged buildings are far as the eye can see, and there is one particularly good scene when a squadron of bombers attacks which shows off the quality of the effects.

Interiors and costumes are also top-notch, giving a very professional feel to the visuals.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is of a good standard throughout, with plenty of sound effects from all directions. Whilst the sound is good, it falls way short of the standard for the genre - Saving Private Ryan. Annoyingly, the DTS 5.1 soundtrack from the Region 2 disc is missing…

The dialogue is clear and easy to understand, although the cosmopolitan nature of the cast is one of the movie`s downfalls, with such a wide variety of accents - from the cockney Bob Hoskins who sounds ridiculous as a Russian general, to the English accent of Rachel Weisz to the German sniper (Harris) with an American accent. It`s hilarious.

Features

This is a Paramount DVD so you`ll not be surprised to learn that there isn`t much in the way of extra material - it really is about time that they got their act together and spent some time on their presentation.

In this case we`ve got a trailer, featurette, additional scenes and interviews. There`s no sign of the director`s commentary from the Region 2 version unfortunately.

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case which contains a single sided flyer detailing the 20 chapter breaks.

Conclusion

I didn`t think much of Enemy at the Gates at the cinema, and I didn`t think much of it on DVD either. Richard73`s visitor`s review is just one word long "hogwash" and it sums up the movie perfectly. Pearl Harbor failed because it introduces a love story into a film about one of the most important moments in World War 2 (if not this century) and it derails the film. Similarly, Enemy at the Gates was an opportunity to make a film about Stalingrad to the same standard of Saving Private Ryan, but the love element bogs the film down and detracts the viewer`s attention from what is one of the most horrific battles in the war. In this case, the main plot is strong if you disregard the romance, but the acting lets the film down badly, particularly Jude Law and Rachel Weisz who I though were both atrocious. Ed Harris is as excellent as ever, but he can`t save the movie, and as for Bob Hoskins as a Russian general…

The excellent visual effects and presentation are let down by a very mediocre movie that does nothing to justify its 131 minute running time. Good video and sound are accompanied by poor extras, especially given that the Region 2 version also has a commentary track and a DTS 5.1 soundtrack.

Overall if you really must see this, rent it out - it is not worth £20 of your hard earned money.