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Enemy at the Gates (2001) - 31 corrections

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, starring Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz (add more)

Genres: Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click "edit" under an entry, then choose "correct entry". You can also submit corrections for corrections, if you think a mistake has been unfairly removed.

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The hierarchy in the Red Army was very strict. It is totally unthinkable that a political commissar and an infantryman (private) should publicly dance and wrestle each other like two adolescents. [Vassily Zaitsev was, at the time of his duel with the German sniper, not a private, but a Junior Lieutenant. This would put him just one rank below Danilov, who is pictured as a Lieutenant.]
Edit Corrected by Twotall
In the very beginning when they show a close up of the young Vassili's rifle, it isn't cocked. The firing pin (on the back of the rifle) is not pulled out like on most standard bolt action rifles of that time and the trigger is too loose and too far back when he fiddles with it. [The Mosin Nagant rifle has a two-stage trigger, you pull until all slack has been taken and then continue pulling to fire. As an owner and shooter of the Mosin, I can state that the rifle is cocked.]
Edit
When the camera looks through the scope of the Russian sniper it is visible that the scope is of the Gewerr '43, the German sniper rifle, not the MOS Russian sniper rifle. [The Russian scope shown is the standard issue PU scope, it utilized the triple post style. The Zielfernrohr 43 used by the GEW 43 is similar but not identical.]
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In the scene where Vassili is taking cover behind an old oven, Major König could've easily killed him. König's rifle ammunition would've easily gone straight through the oven and into Vassili's body, which is something a skilled marksman such as König would've known. [A: Vassily didn't know the specs of König's rifle or bullets. B: As an expert marksman, König would know that you don't shoot through multi-layered objects to reach a target. It disrupts the path of the bullet and likely wouldn't have hit Vassily.]
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In the opening battle scene when the Russians are charging at the Germans, one Russian soldier is shot in the leg and then in the head. A few scenes later, the same clip is shown of the man being shot in the leg and then in the head. [First, as there are no inconsistencies between shots, this is not a continuity mistake. Second - already posted and corrected. Showing the same action from different angles during a frantic action montage is a common film technique.]
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When Kulikov is shot on the run, we know the bullet goes through his head, because the blood flies out the side of his head and splatters on the wall. However, there is no bullet hole in the wall. It's very unlikely that a soft-nosed bullet would be used by any military in WWII, as bullets that are designed to expand are specifically banned by the Hague Convention, which even the Soviets and Germans tended to stick to. See: http://www.thegunzone.com/hague.html. [It's nothing to do with the softness of the slug. A bullet hitting bone can ricochet anywhere - it might have exited downwards through Kulikov's body, for instance. It might have hit the wall, and equally it might have hit the floor or the roof.]
Edit
In the shot where Kulikov is jumping across the gap between the two buildings and gets plugged in the head, pay attention because you actually see him get shot twice. One shot from the side show him get hit, and then an immediate close-up shows the hole appear again. [Showing the same piece of dramatic action (eg explosions or gunshot hits) twice from slightly different aspects is not a film mistake - it is a very common film technique.]
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When the young Vassili misses shooting the wolf at the start, I'm not surprised he missed, because the rifle's sights are actually obscured by the hessian (burlap) wrapped around the rifle to camouflage it. [Good observation,but it's only an observation, not a mistake.]
Edit
On the movie poster, the bolt handle to Vassili Zaitsev's rifle is on the wrong side. [This is a poster mistake rather than a movie mistake, and isn't part of the actual film.]
Edit Corrected by OL1V3R666
During the scene where Danilov is hiding under the corpses in the fountain, you can see one of the 'corpses' breathing. Just after the Germans have machine gunned the corpses, the shot cuts back to Danilov. A few seconds go by as he shifts the leg off his head. When the shot cuts to a view of Danilov from the side, watch the soldier who's coat flap is covering his mouth. As the camera starts to pan right, you can see the steam coming from this guy's mouth as he breaths. You may need slow motion. Watch for the steam on the jacket of the guy who's leg Danilov put over himself. [This has already been corrected - not all of the men die immediately. They are grievously wounded and doubtless will die, but while still alive, they'll be breathing.]
Edit Time
In the scene where Danilov is showing Zaitsev the article, he says that it will appear on the front page and be read "by people in the Crimea". Since the Crimea was under German occupation at the time of Stalingrad, Danilov would have known this would be impossible. [Unless they had an underground distribution network into German-occupied Russian territory. Quite likely, since we're talking about propaganda exhorting Russians to resist the fascists. Who better to exhort than people in occupied areas?]
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When Vassily is invited to the old lady and the boy's house, the lady hears something, and blows the candle, but it's still light in the room for about a second after the light's out. [The reason the room remains lit is that it takes that second for the flame to be extinguished. She's blowing into a lamp that's nearly a foot tall - the flame wouldn't be extinguished instantaneously.]
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In real life Vassili Zaitsev killed Major Konig by having someone hold a helmet over his head in an open window and Major Konig shot the helmet and the person holding the helmet screamed as if he was hit. Vassili saw the muzzle flash of Konig's rifle and shot him where he was hiding under a piece of sheet metal. (I guess one of the oldest tricks in the book still works) [In real life, it's highly unlikely this duel ever happened, suggest you read Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor or check this link http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/Zaitsev_story.htm.]
Edit
It's doubtful that the car Danilov rolls in the beginning is equiped with seat belts, but somehow he emerges from the wreck with nothing but a few scratches and a broken lens in his glasses, which haven't even fallen off. [We never see the inside of the car, so we have no way of knowing what steps he took to protect himself, or whether he had seat belts or not. As for the glasses, some time passes before he crawls out. He could easily have lost them, then recovered them and climbed out.]
Edit Corrected by Twotall
In the map sequence showing Germany's takeover of European countries, Norway is not invaded. Norway and Denmark were invaded the 9th of April 1940... [It does not show the German advancement in true historical order, but more like a red shadow that expands across Europe in a steady pace. And just as the camera starts zooming in on Stalingrad, you can see a small sliver of red starting to spread on the south-eastern coast of Norway.]
Edit Corrected by Twotall
Joseph Fiennes' character exposes himself to the Major's fire in the end to help Jude Law locate the Major. The Major shoots Fiennes and leaves his position and gets shot by Jude Law. During the whole film both of the opponents were portrayed as very sensible characters. The Major should have been alerted when he saw the head appearing so rapidly. The Major would have known that Law would never expose himself in such a stupid way and would have been conscious of a trap. [Koning often shoots anyone he can (even without a perfect shot) throughout the entire movie. It's clear he's not the type to waste chances, and there's nothing to suggest that he knew Vassili was there. In real life, Danilov was shot (albeit in the shoulder) which allowed Vassili and Kulikov to spot him. Then they raised a helmet for him to "kill" (which he also fell for) and he was shot in turn.]
Edit
Kulikov was shot down while jumping the building's gap. He was obviously holding his rifle. So how could Vassili give Kulikov's rifle to the girl? He went down to get it? Not too reasonable, with a sniper after him. [Vassili wouldn't have been able to move until long after nightfall, when he could be certain Major Koning's visibility was far too low for him to see Vassili. Vassili could have gotten it then.]
Edit
In reality, the Russians made extensive use of wearing winter camouflage during battles, yet every Russian soldier we see in the movie lacks this outfit. [Camouflage suits were first used in the counterattack that trapped the Sixth Army. Major Koning died a few weeks before that happened.]
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In the scene where Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes are going to meet Bob Hoskins' character, Law has a cut on his forehead. In one shot it has a plaster on it, then it is an open wound, then it has a plaster again. [If you look closely you can see the bandage there throughout the entire scene. The lighting just makes it hard to spot sometimes.]
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When Vassily is ferried over the Volga into Stalingrad, the ships are being attacked by Ju-87D Stuka dive bombers. You can see one Stuka strafing the ships with wing-mounted machineguns. However, the Stuka's guns were mounted on top of the engine to fire through the propeller blades. The only exception would have been the Ju-87G with two wing-mounted 37mm cannons, but it entered service in 1944, 2 years too late. [No variant of the JU87 STUKA ever had guns fitted above the engines. The guns were only ever wing mounted, or in the rear gunners position. ]
Edit Time

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