Disaster@work Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 AICN (Aint It Cool) has posted an insider's review of a very early test screening of the Stalingrad epic, "Enemy at the Gate", the story based upon the real life duel between a Russian sniper and a German sniper brought in to deal with him during the seige of Stalingrad. The insider seems to have snuck into a very early screening so the review reflects rough editing, incomplete special effects and other not so nice details. However, the reviewer does say that the sniping scenes are tense and the acting good. http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=7514 You can read the Talkback (message board) for entertainment and as usual there is a collection of smartass comments but also one question regarding a "landing scene" akin to "Saving Private Ryan" that occurs at the beginning of the film. Since Stalingrad is landlocked, what is this landing scene based upon? A Volga crossing? ------------------ ---- To download my scenarios: go to http://www3.telus.net/pop_n_fresh/combatmiss/index.htm [This message has been edited by Disaster@work (edited 11-20-2000).] [This message has been edited by Disaster@work (edited 11-20-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterNZer Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 Yes it would be the crossing of the Volga. Reinforcements had to be ferried in from the east bank, at night often, and often under heavy fire from nearby Germans. PeterNZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarb Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 I'm guessing this movie is based on the David L Robbins book 'War of the Rats'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted November 20, 2000 Author Share Posted November 20, 2000 No, there is a book called "Enemy at the Gates" by William Craig that is now hard to find. There is one copy being flogged about on Amazon. A good source of information on this movie is this page at Upcomingmovies: http://www.upcomingmovies.com/enemy-at-the-gates.html ------------------ ---- To download my scenarios: go to http://www3.telus.net/pop_n_fresh/combatmiss/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingcursor Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 I just finished re-reading 'Enemy at the Gates'. I got it at a thrift shop last week for 25 cents. While that book does mention the sniper duel it's main scope is the entire Stalingrad campaign. It is an excellent book. The movie of the same name does appear to focus on the famous snipers Zietsev (spelling?) and Throvald, which would be much more like the recent "War of the Rats." as Yarb indicated. Also a very good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 While Enemy at The Gates covers the snipers in and around Stalingrad to an extent, the book's primary focus is on the operational level on down to the day to day strugle of all the various participants. A great read. I wish the movie would have been more about the battle and not the snipers themselves. I would love to see some cool mini-seirie's of ww2 with all the major players like the classic North and South was for the civil war, only less fluff and based more on actual events. In fact I have this great screenplay if there are any........ VS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 You beat me to the punch, flying cursor. BTW, I'll give you $25 for it. I need a backup as mine is an origional print and was in bad shape when I got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoop88 Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 There is also a mention of the snipers' duel in the book "Barbarossa, The Russian-German Conflict" by Alan Clarke. This was originally published in the mid-1960s and a slightly updated version came out within the last 10 years. (Alan Clarke died a couple years ago.) He writes a passage about the snipers in the part of the book about the overall Stalingrad campaign. I no longer have the book, but I vaguely remember him writing about the German sniper hiding for days under a large piece of tin roofing in the rubble, waiting to get a shot at the Russian master sniper. Does this jive with the books you guys have read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted November 21, 2000 Author Share Posted November 21, 2000 By the way PLEASE DON'T SPOIL IT for people (like me) who are going to wait until they see the film to find out the ending.i.e. who won the duel. I realize this may be difficult but at least put in **spoiler warnings**. Thanks! ------------------ ---- To download my scenarios: go to http://www3.telus.net/pop_n_fresh/combatmiss/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 Did anyone see the History Channel program about snipers and their various exploits, kills and duels in WWII, Korea I think and Vietnam? Very, Very Cool! Mord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AbnAirCav Posted November 22, 2000 Share Posted November 22, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>No, there is a book called "Enemy at the Gates" by William Craig that is now hard to find.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> FWIW, one of my favorite online sites to find used books (I placed another order through them just yesterday) is <a href=http://www.abebooks.com/>abebooks.com</a>, which is actually numerous used bookstores & claims to be "the world's largest network of independent booksellers". A quick title search shows 25 copies of Craig's "Enemy at the Gates" available. I don't recall where I got my used copy several years ago, but it was probably through them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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