Enemy at the Gates

Chosen answer: Vasily Zaitsev (Jude Law) uses a 7.62 x 54mm Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifle with a PU scope. Major König (Ed Harris) used a 7.92 x57mm Mauser Karabiner 98 K with scope. Law's scope was wrong as the model used in the film wasn't available until after the Battle of Stalingrad.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: For the same reason Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman were top billed in Superman. He was a bigger name and his agent was able to negotiate a better deal.

Answer: They almost share the same amount of screen time, but Jude Law is a tad younger and Joseph was coming off a very successful 'Shakespeare in Love' as well as 'Elizabeth'. He was a more marketable actor at the time.

Question: Did the boy shoot the wolf? Or the horse?

Answer: He tried to shoot the wolf but he missed.

lionhead

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Mistakes

Factual error: When Kruschev and Vasy go to the press meeting the Soviet National Anthem is playing in the background. The actual anthem was not written until January of 1944, a year after the Battle of Stalingrad. In addition, the song sung is the 1977 lyrics. The lyrics used in 1944 were slightly different. See http://www.skazka.no/anthems/ for more info.

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Quotes

Vassili Zaitsev: He doesn't know you exist, but at that moment you're closer to him than anyone else on earth. You see his face through the sign. You see whether he shaved or not. You can see whether he's married if he's got a wedding ring. It's not like firing at a distant shape. It's not just a uniform. It's a man's face. Those faces don't go away. They come back and they get replaced by more faces.

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Trivia

Trivia: The film is based upon William Craig's book of the same name, yet the entire movie is based upon a sniper duel that covers no more than two pages of the entire book. German army historical records never mention an elite sniper named "Major Koenig" hunting Vassili Zaitsev at Stalingrad.

Scott215

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