Early february marks the 76th anniversary of the end of the battle of stalingrad, the largest military engagement in history. If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. The eastern front during wwii has been criminally underrepresented in western cinema. Enemy at the gates proves to be one of the most underrated war movies of our lifetime. The germans and russians are fighting over every block, leaving only ruins behind. The francoamerican film, enemy at the gates, recreated those events and remains probably the bestknown movie about the battle. The movies focal point is a duel between soviet sniper vasiliy zaitsev jude law and his german counterpart, major erwin konig ed harris. The film is named after william craigs book enemy at. Enemy at the gates the society for military history. Enemy at the gates how accurately was the battle of. Enemy at the gates, directed by jeanjacques annaud, has that same level of fascination as we watch the top soviet sniper at work in the.
Kobal collection while his soldiers languish in a damp basement, khrushchev is shown enjoying sumptuous buffets in. A s the time drew near for the american release of the movie enemy at the gates, about a duel between two snipers during the battle of stalingrad, director jeanjacques annaud told the studio he. Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to the mosinnagant rifle was the 2001 movie enemy at the gates. I think that the film combines and simplifies accounts in its critique of stalin and the ussr and moves away from historical accuracy. The success in 1998 of steven spielbergs smarmy saving private ryan has inspired a reawakening of interest in epic movies of the second world war. If you like enemy at the gates you might like similar movies valkyrie, black hawk down, the last samurai, the patriot, kingdom of heaven. Well for starters in the beginning of the movie, the new recruits are sent on a train, and the trains arrives near the volga. The many movie mistakes of enemy at the gates war history online.
Although there are some liberties taken as per historical accuracy goes but its fairly good. The screenplay was written by annaud and alain godard. Shooting illustrated testing the accuracy of a mosin. Enemy at the gates how accurately was the battle of stalingrad. An allstar cast lights up the screen in this riveting epic hailed as a vivid dramatization of one of historys titanic turning points. The movie enemy at the gates, directed by jeanjacques annaud and starring jude law, ed harris, rachel weisz and joseph fiennes is a fictionalized account of the true story of vasilii zaitsev, a soviet sniper who won fame during the battle of stalingrad. Released in 2001, enemy at the gates is a war film directed by jeanjacques annaud. Here, joe pappalardo fact checks the new movies assertions. The films main character is a fictionalized version of sniper vasily zaytsev, a hero of the soviet union during world war ii.
In world war ii, the fall of stalingrad will mean the collapse of the whole country. The battle for stalingrad 1973 which chronicles the 194243 battle of stalingrad during wwii. Well for starters in the beginning of the movie, the new recruits are sent on a train, and the trains arrives near the volga and the arriving soldiers see the river and stalingrad. The movie enemy at the gates, directed by jeanjacques annaud and. The film is named after william craigs book enemy at the gates. The film is based on soviet propaganda about the exploits of vasily zaytsev, a sniper involved in the battle of stalingrad. In green zone, the new iraq war thriller starring matt damon, cooked up wmd intelligence, secretive cia leaks and wardrumming. Enemy at the gates is a 2001 war film written and directed by jeanjacques annaud and based on william craigs 1973 nonfiction book enemy at the gates. Vasily zaitsevs actual sniper rifle on display at the volgograds stalingrad panorama museum. The action in the movie revolves around the duel between zaitsev and a german sniper sent out to eliminate him. As the time drew near for the american release of the movie enemy at the.
The latest of these, enemy at the gates, set in the cataclysmic siege of stalingrad, is long on drama, short on historical accuracy. Does enemy at the gates take liberties with history. It introduced a generation of shooters to that rifle back when they were still. Its the th highest grossing wwii movie of all time with over.
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