Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Movie Talk
Reload this Page >

Is Enemy at the Gates any good?

Movie Talk A Discussion area for everything movie related including films In The Theaters

Is Enemy at the Gates any good?

Old 11-08-08, 06:47 PM
  #1  
Ram
Banned
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 257
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is Enemy at the Gates any good?

help
Old 11-08-08, 07:01 PM
  #2  
Banned
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bellefontaine, Ohio
Posts: 5,628
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes its rather very good.
Old 11-08-08, 07:04 PM
  #3  
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,586
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I don't know if that record was broken but at the time of its release, it was the biggest, most expensive european film made.

Very dark, and sort of hard to sympathize with either side at war, because the film presents characters that, while easy to understand as individuals, are hard to root for because of their allegiances. A World War II film exclusively about Stalin's Russians defending themselves against Hitler's Nazis, all boiled down to a showdown between two snipers. That being said, as it's really about two men that you really get to invest time with, I enjoyed it and the action/effects are very impressive. Nowhere near as graphic as "Saving Private Ryan", in case you're wondering about that.

The typical British accents are a bit much, but every historical drama has that it seems, and I suppose it's easier to understand than heavy Russian accents. Ed Harris doesn't use a German accent, or even a British one. He's just very formal and pronounced, but with no accent. Of course I loved Horner's score but a lot of people didn't and found it too much. Whatever, I'm not them.

Last edited by Nick Martin; 11-08-08 at 07:09 PM.
Old 11-08-08, 07:25 PM
  #4  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PopcornTreeCt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,913
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
I liked it a lot. I remember the film for some of the great sniper scenes and the love scene in the trench between Jude Law and Rachel Weisz.
Old 11-08-08, 07:27 PM
  #5  
Moderator
 
Groucho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 71,383
Received 122 Likes on 84 Posts
I would have been better if they'd done it in German and Russian, but that's forgivable since it's a Hollywood film I suppose.
Old 11-08-08, 07:56 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Dr Mabuse's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: 75 clicks above the Do Lung bridge...
Posts: 18,946
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
I really like that film.

Ed Harris was fantastic as usual.
Old 11-08-08, 10:59 PM
  #7  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
TheNightFlier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: NIMBY, NY
Posts: 5,909
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I thought it was very well done.
Old 11-08-08, 11:52 PM
  #8  
DVD Talk Legend
 
JimRochester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Rochester, NY. USA
Posts: 18,014
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Good movie. The problem is that with snipers they have to stay still for hours on end waiting for someone to come along. The movie did a nice job of keeping things moving. Easily could have been overly long. If that guy that directed Babel had directed Enemy, it would have been 17 hours long.
Old 11-09-08, 12:10 AM
  #9  
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Formerly known as "Solid Snake PAC"/Denton, Tx
Posts: 39,239
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Inarittu...
Old 11-09-08, 12:13 AM
  #10  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Troy Stiffler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Under an I-10 Overpass
Posts: 25,785
Received 362 Likes on 262 Posts
I remember the cool sniper scenes. And I remember the city ruins sets looking awesome.

The story and suspense never totally grabbed ahold of me. But it was enjoyable. I'd recommend a rental or buy it used.
Old 11-09-08, 01:12 AM
  #11  
Cool New Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
great movie. you should watch it.
Old 11-09-08, 06:58 AM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Daydream Nation
Posts: 887
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
You should watch it. Highly recemmended!
Old 11-09-08, 08:54 AM
  #13  
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
 
Trevor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: spiritually, Minnesota
Posts: 36,866
Received 670 Likes on 448 Posts
I enjoyed it as well.
Old 11-09-08, 09:22 AM
  #14  
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
 
JANK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: at lightspeed slowing
Posts: 3,906
Received 46 Likes on 42 Posts
It rivaled the opening of Saving Private Ryan in the siege of ...was it Stalingrad? where refugees had to cross a narrow water channel in boats while being pummeled by cannon fire. Rather riveting that.
Old 11-09-08, 09:39 AM
  #15  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
arminius's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Here I Is!
Posts: 6,967
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
It was OK but Stalingrad was a much better film on the same battle. And that sniper duel was total fiction.
Old 11-09-08, 05:37 PM
  #16  
En vacance
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,512
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Yeah it had some good scenes but the way they made the Soviet army out was regular Hollywood. There was no 2 men per rifle nonsense, the kid going between Nazi and Soviet sides was funny since he would be found out as a spy very quickly by the NKVD, the trains with soldiers were kept open incase of air attack and there were no open land where soldiers would charge at each other, they fought in houses and rubble very irregularly.
Old 11-09-08, 06:32 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PopcornTreeCt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,913
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by arminius
And that sniper duel was total fiction.
So was the Holocaust but we've gotten some pretty good movies based on that.
Old 11-09-08, 06:42 PM
  #18  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 11,301
Received 285 Likes on 209 Posts
I enjoyed it a great deal when I saw it in the theater. Excellent cast. But never bought it on DVD. And I buy just about everything.
Old 11-09-08, 07:39 PM
  #19  
Banned
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 267
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It was okay. Jude Law is a bland, boring personality with not much range.
Old 11-09-08, 08:09 PM
  #20  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PopcornTreeCt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,913
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Daytripper
I enjoyed it a great deal when I saw it in the theater. Excellent cast. But never bought it on DVD. And I buy just about everything.
Same here. I own plenty of movies that are worse than Enemy at the Gates but for whatever reason I don't own it. I'll get the Blu-ray.
Old 11-09-08, 08:37 PM
  #21  
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,586
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The DVD is dirt cheap now, and also comes as a double-bill with "Uncommon Valor".
Old 11-10-08, 01:39 AM
  #22  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SoCal
Posts: 825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It's most of a good movie.
The actual combat and duel between snipers is really good, but the love story is obscene against such a backdrop.

Last edited by Neeb; 11-10-08 at 04:02 PM. Reason: spelling, hey, I was drunk!
Old 11-10-08, 03:50 AM
  #23  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Land of the Lobstrosities
Posts: 10,300
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I had high hopes for this movie, since it's a great subject, but the movie was a disappointment. It's been so long I can't say exactly what it was but the lasting impression I have is that it was too hollywood-ized. It had good visuals but the script and acting was very theatrical. Even though it largely had the look it was still missing the character of modern WWII productions like SPR and Band of Brothers. It didn't help that the character's accents were all over the place, literally. Some Russians would have Russian accents, others would sound British, etc.
Old 11-10-08, 08:21 AM
  #24  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 4,774
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Old 11-10-08, 09:36 AM
  #25  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Charlie Goose's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Sesame Street (the apt. next to Bob's)
Posts: 20,195
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Only 3 responses before someone mentioned the love scene. What took so long?

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.