To this movie comes a good cast of characters. Ed Harris brought maturity, calculation, and ruthlessness in his portrayal of the Nazi sniper. I was also very pleased with Joseph Finnes as Political Officer Danilov and Bob Hoskins in the role of Nikita Khrushchev. Rachel Wisz, however, was only adequate in her character Tanya, and Jude Law, playing main character Vassily Zaitsev, was also only adequate. A nice surprize was Ron Pearlman, cast as Papa Kulikov, a compilation of the many moods found inside the Soviet Union during the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Listening to Pearlman's dialog is a very interesting social lesson on the evils of Marxism and the views of those who lived through the terrors of Russian Revolution, Stalin's purges, and the Great Patriotic War (as the Russians call World War II).

Historically, the film does an excellent job of showing the horrors of war and the methods the Soviets employed to win at whatever the cost. As a community college instructor who teaches classes on Europe in the 20th Century, I say Annaud definetely got it right. The death toll at Stalingrad was tremendous, so much so that we Americans cannot really imagine it! We never lost over _ONE MILLION MEN_ in any battle our soldiers ever fought. Do not see this as "Saving Private Ryan", the Russian version - its not. Its ten times worse than what our fathers and grandfathers saw at Normandy! Whats more, Annaud correctly portrayed the titanc struggle as a personal feud between Hitler and Stalin. Hoskin's character in one scene nails it when he says "Stalingrad is no longer a city, but a symbol." The battle for this symbol epitimizes the depths of hell that these meglomaniacs would lower themselves to. Those who fought there were simply pawns in their sick struggle to be masters of their own twisted worlds.

Although based on a true story, I doubt the romance between Law's and Wiszs' characters has even a centilla of truth. Indeed it was nessessary, even just to show that love and respect could still take root and grow under such horendous conditions. The relationships in this film help to break up the pain of war for both the characters and the viewers as well. Some maybe surprised to see how prevalent women, and Asian-looking Soviet soldiers are in this film, but be assured this is not 2001 political correctness run amuck. No, these were the defenders of Stalingrad. Make no mistake, EVERYBODY was there.

Enemy At The Gates is one of those films that incorporates good historical background, but is by no means a classic or epic. It is not mainstream Academy Award material (although I thought special effects might deserve a nod), and it will not further the career of any of the actors or actresses. It is simply resume foder. Don't pass it up though for your DVD collection and if you haven't seen it yet, do check it out.