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Trumpet of the Swan, The

You should take Ritalin for your attention problem. I
thought it was a wonderful movie. Many parts of the movie
(other than the love triangle) were actual parts of the
Zaistev story. You would like the movie more if you knew
more about the Battle of Stalingrad.

Enemy at the Gates

Great storyline grade A. Actors grade B-. Accents F. Action
B. It was pretty good overall. Only thing I didnt like was
all the russians had british accents. A russian soldier is
forced to fight and becomes a sniper and then takes on the
best german sniper.

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The romantic subplot was a waste of time. Since the movie
was indeed about a half hour too long they could have
pretty much cut that character out completely. This movie
was trying too hard to be the "English Patient." This was
actually a pretty interesting story, but sadly degraded
into cheezy soap opera. The love scene was nearly
unwatchable and totally irrelevant, maudlin and gratuitous.

But the most irritating aspect was the music. I guess they
blew the entire budget on the war scenes because they could
only afford to pay the composer for two annoying themes
that repeat throughout the two and a half hours. The
"motherland" theme and the "suspense" theme. The suspense
theme is four grace notes played by a muted trumpet.
Repeated over and over and over and over and . . . The
motherland theme is equally banal (eight pitches sequenced)
that is likewise repeated ad infinitum. There is only one
thing worse than Wagner, and that's bad Wagnaerian
immitations. I tried my best to supress it, but it was so
pervasive and so irritating I couldn't block it out. The
final scene (yes, he shoots the bad guy) should have been
replaced by a lineup of every orchestra member with bullets
flying through their heads. That would have been much more
satisfying.

this film was worth watching. The depiction of the correct
rifles for each side was perfect, and the wartorn
stalingrad sets were excellent in every detail. I am a fan
of the Mosin Nagant rifle, owning one myself, and this film
gives a good look into what it can do in the hands of a
marksman. Call me biased but this film should be
considered a classic. Face it its got 2 awesome sniper
rifles in it, possibly the best rifles ever used. 8mm
mauser rifle and the mosin..

The movie was plain laughable - poorly directed, poorly
acted. It was a massive miscalculation, clearly thought it
was good and powerful but in attempting to express itself
as such it was nothing more than ridiculously overstated.
My sons and I, 11 and 14, laughed all the way through it,
and they are war film buffs far more than I am. We did
indeed thoroughly enjoy it for the laughs we derived and
the fun we made of it.

The only thing I kept wondering after a while is why the
Russian Shakespearean Soldiers didn't get Sacha to just
kill the villain. And in light of the fact that he could
have, it pretty much obliterates the only and last element
the film could have stood on - its factuality.