Enemy at the Gates 4K Limited Edition Steelbook review by Bobby Blakey
The war genre is one that packs the most punch in not just the action of the battles, but the horrific nature of the true-life tales they are derived from. In 2001 Quest for Fire and Seven Years in Tibet director Jean-Jacques Annaud took on the legend of Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev with Enemy at the Gates. The film stars Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, Rachel Weisz, and Ron Perlman, but does it deliver that shot needed to get the full impact of the war to the audience or does it fail to hit its target?
Enemy at the Gates follows World War II where the fall of Stalingrad will mean the collapse of the whole country. The Germans and Russians are fighting over every block, leaving only ruins behind. The Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev stalks the Germans, taking them out one by one, thus hurting the morale of the German troops. The political officer Danilov leads him on, publishing his efforts to give his countrymen some hope. But Vassili eventually starts to feel that he can not live up to the expectations on him. He and Danilov fall in love with the same girl, Tanya, a female soldier. From Germany comes the master sniper König to put an end to the extraordinary skilled Russian sniper.
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This is another of those films I saw when it came out but didn’t really remember it all that much. I am sure I was in a different head space then as I headed into this film kind of dreading it since for some reason, I remember it being a dull dialogue heavy flick, but man was I wrong. Make no mistake this is dialogue driven, but there is so many layers and depth to this story that I am so glad I revisited it with fresh more mature eyes as it is so good.
The story is multi-layered with the ultimate direction being the game between the Russian and German snipers. That is the center piece to the film, but to get there it takes you on a journey of Zaitsev’s rise to being the Hero of Russia alongside Danilov. Their budding friendship that spawns out of war survival has its own ups and downs leading to an emotional showdown of sorts between the two. Thrust in between all of this is an unlikely love story that adds to the depth between them all with the German sniper played to perfection by Ed Harris there to bring it all together.
This is a gritty dirty film where the backdrops of these war-torn cities and battlefields are characters unto themselves. I know the story is embellished of the film, but its still intense and builds the tension every time these two snipers face off. It’s a game of precision and patience that comes across in the film perfectly. Even the use of propaganda to push the narrative building legends and dissent in the countries is a reminder of the multilayered insanity of war outside of the death and destruction.
The cast is great, the story is compelling and its visuals tell a story unto itself. This is a film that deserves more recognition and I am glad that its getting renewed life with this new Limited Edition 4K Steelbook. Decide for yourself and grab your copy when Enemy at the Gates hits 4K for the first time ever from Paramount Home Entertainment.