It may well be that this story of snipers sniping at each other in the ruins of Stalingrad in 1942 is too long; certainly the romance sub-plot is superfluous and should have been omitted. It wastes Rachel Weisz and distracts from the main flow of events. Little attempt is made to explain the overall military context, but perhaps that is deliberate. Jude Law is unexpectedly good as the young shepherd from the Urals who enters into a deadly compeition with a mysterious and world-weary German major (Ed Harris, who mainly smokes or points his rifle). Joseph Fiennes is only so-so as a political commissar, and Bob Hoskins rants and raves as Khruschev, But there is a sensitive and affecting performance from Gabriel Thomson as the star-struck boy Sacha, though he is rather older than the film, presumably for sentimental reasons, claims. ( )

Mentre le truppe naziste e russa stanno per affrontarsi nella decisiva battaglia di Stalingrado, il cecchino russo Vassili Zaitsev continua ad eliminare uno per volta i suoi nemici. La sua fama lo porterà ben presto a scontrarsi con il Maggiore Koenig, il miglior tiratore nazista, e i due intraprendono un'intensa guerra personale, mentre alle loro spalle infuria una ben più importante battaglia. (fonte: Wikipedia)

131 minutos