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Khrushchev: ‘You won't give up the bridge! I don't care if you lost half your men. Lose the other half! Lose yourself!’

Enemy at the Gates takes as its source a historical footnote to the battle for Stalingrad -- the rise in the Russian army of a naturally gifted sniper, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), whose skill at picking off German officers is so prodigious that it elevates him to the status of a hero. Concerned with the jumpstart Vassili is giving to Russian morale, the Nazis send their own master sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris), to hunt him down.

It is August 1942, and the first of many lush, elaborately staged, and staggeringly bloody battle scenes in the blasted center of Stalingrad. The city has already been reduced to rubble by the time Vassili arrives. Here Vassili first meets Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the Russian political officer who will eventually orchestrate Vassili's rise to fame. Danilov writes an article about Vassili's exploits that makes the front page of the Army newspaper at a crucial moment: Stalingrad is about to be overrun, and a menacing Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins) is searching for a way to force his troops to stand up against the Nazi onslaught.

His desperate solution up to this point has been to gun down his own soldiers when they retreat, but Danilov suggests providing them with a figure who will give them "hope." To this end, Vassili is promoted to the Russian sniper corps, where he proceeds to kill scores of Germans with each passing day. During his days in Stalingrad he meets Tanya (Rachel Weisz), a radio message interpreter who becomes a recipient of Vassili's love.

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VIDEO
The transfer is presented in it’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and it is Anamorphic Widescreen. The transfer is stunning, having owned the Region 1 version for a while I can say this version surpasses it effortlessly. The image is crystal clear with fantastic detail. Colours are rendered perfectly and show off the drab, depressing era that this war took place in. There is no film grain and any artifacting, alaising is virtually non-existent. This disc is dual layered, with the layer change taking place at 85:56.

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AUDIO
Another fantastic addition to this film and which also the Region 1 version does not have is the inclusion of a DTS 5.1 surround track. The Region 1 only has the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track.

This film depicts war and battle scenes throughout and both the DTS & DD do a great job of bringing these to your lounge room. I listened to both tracks throughout and both are fantastic. I have always been a DTS fan and generally prefer to listen to the DTS track over the DD where available and this film is no exception. The DTS track has a finer level of detail and a touch more balanced soundstage both overall both were exceptionally close.

The bass channel is used extensively throughout the film for the explosions, bombings and gunshots. The surround channels are used aggressively throughout the battle scenes and also used to create ambience during the quieter moments. The audio track is very dynamic at times so you’ll have to be careful not to wake the neighbours.

The musical score, another by the famed James Horner sounds beautiful and is a great addition to the film, my only complaint is that again some parts of the score sound too familiar to much of his earlier work. I picked that he did the score in the opening minutes of the film when I heard pieces of his ‘Perfect Storm’ in there.

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EXTRAS
We have both the DTS (Piano) and DD (Train) trailers depending on your audio track of choice.

• Deleted scenes – There are nine deleted scenes presented as a short featurette spanning eleven minutes.
• Featurette - Through The Crosshairs which runs at 20 minutes.
• Featurette - Inside Enemy At The Gates a fifteen minute featurette contains interviews with the director and principal cast.
• Theatrical Trailer.
• Cast & Crew Biographies.

 Overall a good inclusion of extras, an audio commentary would have been nice but never mind. This is a good film on a great DVD. Definitely worthy of a rental and a fantastic addition to your collection. It’s pleasing to see the poor cousin of our Region 1 counterparts get something the yanks don’t , a DTS track. About time I say.