Enemy of the Law

Starring:Ritter, O'Brien, Maynard
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Cat and Mouse
not bad but not as good as the original novel
A classic war movie!
A Battle that was won by other means
An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives

Enemy at the Gates
Starring: Matthais Habich , Ed Harris , Bob Hoskins , Eva Mattes , and Ron Perlman
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition)
The Thin Red Line
Black Hawk Down
U-571 (Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B00003CXRA
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Amazon.com

Like Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates opens with a pivotal event of World War II--the German invasion of Stalingrad--re-created in epic scale, as ill-trained Russian soldiers face German attack or punitive execution if they flee from the enemy's advance. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud captures this madness with urgent authenticity, creating a massive context for a more intimate battle waged amid the city's ruins. Embellished from its basis in fact, the story shifts to an intense cat-and-mouse game between a Russian shepherd raised to iconic fame and a German marksman whose skill is unmatched in its lethal precision. Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law) has been sniping Nazis one bullet at a time, while the German Major Konig (Ed Harris) has been assigned to kill Vassily and spare Hitler from further embarrassment.

There's love in war as Vassily connects with a woman soldier (Rachel Weisz), but she is also loved by Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the Soviet officer who promotes his friend Vassily as Russia's much-needed hero. This romantic rivalry lends marginal interest to the central plot, but it's not enough to make this a classic war film. Instead it's a taut, well-made suspense thriller isolated within an epic battle, and although Annaud and cowriter Alain Godard (drawing from William Craig's book and David L. Robbins's novel The War of the Rats) fail to connect the parallel plots with any lasting impact, the production is never less than impressive. Highly conventional but handled with intelligence and superior craftsmanship, this is warfare as strategic entertainment, without compromising warfare as a manmade hell on Earth. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Cat and Mouse.......2007-05-10

Set during the fall of Stalingrad in World War two, "Enemy at the Gates" focuses on Vassili Zaitsev, a poor soldier who has a gift for sharp shooting. That gift comes to the attention of Commisar Danilov, who sees Zaitsev as a political propaganda coup for an ailing Russian military. The Germans call in a sniper of their own, a Major Konig, to deal with this sniper who is growing in fame.

The tension is thick in this movie, as the two snipers stalk each other. However, around them is the maelstrom of the Battle of Stalingrad. The stark realities of the Russian army are very realistic, with soldiers sharing a single weapon, living in horrid conditions, and suffering badly.

The attempts of the political officers to exploit Zaitsev for their own goals are also highlighted. Their sometimes cynical use of people to advance the glory of the Motherland is sometimes horrible to contemplate and view.

The movie is earthy and real, and the acting is excellent. Jude Law is great in the lead roll. I was very impressed with the cast of the movie.

Not an action filled gore-fest like We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition), it is certainly realistic in its depictions. It is a good movie with lots of tense moments. I enjoyed this movie a lot.

not bad but not as good as the original novel.......2007-04-27

david robbins' original novel is a very enjoyable reading experience. he vividly painted a desperate russian picture in wwll, the siege of stalingrad, the duel between two great snipers. jude law and ed harris both did great jobs in this movie. the good thing of this movie is that the ideological part was lightly touched to avoid possibility of boredom. the battle scenes were nicely and vividly arranged and carried out. the russian political officer with a horsey face was the only weak actor resulted in bad casting.

A classic war movie!.......2007-04-03

I love WWII movies. This one is a modern classic. Don't miss it!

A Battle that was won by other means.......2007-03-25

[...]I watched the movie on TV recently without knowing beforehand whether the actual figures and plot were real or fictional.

The three central characters, two of whom at least were apparently real, make up the eternal triangle. The Russian sniper is the hero ( he was taught to shoot very accurately by his wolf-hunting grandfather: "put snow in your mouth so the wolf won't see your breath). He is made a hero by his would-be rival, the lovelorn Jewish Communist Party Commissar in charge of battle site propaganda. They are both in love with the lovely Jewish Soviet infantry heroine who plans to go and farm in Palestine if she survives the war.

The filmmakers, bending the truth, have made the sharp shooting activities of the particular hero a critical part of the whole Battle of Stalingrad. If the hero gets killed it will be a national tragedy, if not a disaster, For the Germans, if their sharpshooter is killed, who is shipped in from Berlin in a Pullman train specifically to wipe out the hero, it will be a humiliation. so much so the Nazi Major is told by General Paulus to remove his dog tags in case he falls. If you believe the film plot the duelling was apparently set up on purpose as part of the commissar's propaganda (I don't know if Danilov the commissar is real or fictional). Such a duel did take place but was probably not central to the Battle of Stalingrad (which was won in 1943 when the Russians surrounded the Germans who found themselves enclosed in the city and forced the whole army to surrender including the General). The victory is celebrated near the end of the film but it does not explain how the it came about, though no doubt the dogged resistance inside the city was very important.

The war action -particularly in the first half hour of the movie - is very graphic and exciting and more realistic than most war films. The romantic line , apparently real, between hero and heroine adds tone to what would otherwise be just another bang-bang movie for 100 minutes. I believe there is even a computer game based on the film that concentrates on the shooting gallery aspect. The film makers do successfully, if not entirely completely, put the Battle of Stalingrad in its perspective as arguably the turning in point in the European theatre of World War II, that drained Hitler's forces. But they do not explain that without the Russian victory at Stalingrad in 1943 the allied invasion of Normandy would have been impossible in 1944 and World War II would have been prolonged (assuming that America would have hesitated to us the atomic bomb it developed in 1945 against Europeans).

The action part of the movie is mainly focused on the Russian sharpshooter's duel with the elegant German sniper sent to cut him down. Action narrows from the opening mass battle scenes to a handful of Russian sharp shooters, who fall one by one to the cunning German ace and ends up with a one-on-one Western type gun duel. The sense of war is hell pervades the atmosphere of a ruined city in which fighting is from building to building. The Germans appear to have an air advantage and an ability to drop bombs with devastating impact but their tanks, confined by narrow alleys amid the ruins are not much help. I recently saw actual footage of the Battle in a German documentary on TV and the fountain featured early in the film also appears as it really was though not piled high with dead bodies. Not being a World War II expert I cannot quibble with the many minor historical mistakes that have been identified by purists but even if I were aware of them when I viewed the film it wouldn't have made much difference to my enjoyment. The cast all round is superb, especially the principal characters. My only complaint is the Hollywood type ending. The temporarily separated lovers meet in hospital before the final fade out In real life they both assumed each other were dead and didn't find the truth for many year afterwards. That would have been , in my opinion, a better ending than the fictional one contrived for no good reason by the filmmakers.Isn't it enough that both survived? Surely the assumption that American box offices need happy endings (if that was the reason for a dumb they lived happily ever after ending) is outdated?

An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives.......2007-03-14

For what it's worth, this film deserves more credit than it is frequently given. I think that most criticisms of the film stem from the reviewers entering the film with certain preconceived notions about how what the film was going to be, only to be let down. I don't blame the reviewers entirely. ENEMY AT THE GATES is a little unsure of what it wants to become. Should we make a film that accurately captures the battle of Stalingrad? Should we, instead, focus on the wonderful story of these two rival snipers? Or should we try and communicate an even more personal story about love and the evils of war? Unfortunately, ENEMY AT THE GATES tries to accomplish all three and, if judged by any single standard, ultimately fails.

Let me take them in turn. ENEMY AT THE GATES begins in a manner quite reminiscent of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. After a quick character development scene in which we see our young protagonist being taught how to stalk and snipe a wolf, we suddenly see him thrust amongst the Red Army, railed off to the shores of the Volga River, and thrown into the midst of a German siege. The opening is spectacular and moving. Thousands of Russian soldiers are being ferried across the Volga while German dive bombers and artillery decimate their numbers. As if that isn't bad enough, those wise enough to try and flee the fight are mercilessly gunned down by their own Russian commanders. While some have criticized this movie for historical accuracy, such things did occur. And just in case you think I'm trying to demonize the Russian commanders, ENEMY AT THE GATES provides these men with plenty of motivation. They are the ones who must answer to the high command, who demand victory at all costs. What would we do? Of course, this film is not perfectly historically accurate. From this point on, we do not get much story about the battle for Stalingrad. The ending of the film leaves the outcome of this battle completely mysterious. If you came looking for a movie purely about the battle and the Russian front, you came to the wrong place. While I think that the action scenes are skillfully handled, this is obviously not where the film's interest lies.

What is the interest? It is about the incredible struggle, based on true events, that occurred during the battle. For while both armies attack each other brutally, two men endlessly hunt each other, putting each other's skill to the ultimate test. Our protagonist, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), plays a Russian peasant who was taught by his grandfather how to shoot. An expert marksmen and natural talent, Zaitsev stalks the German army, proving his skill time and time again. Thanks to his friend Commisar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a political officer in charge of the military press, Zaitsev soon becomes an iconic hero of the Russian army--a symbol of communist dominance over fascist Germany. Germany begins to take notice and sends out their best sniper to hunt the young Russian down. Killing him would deal a symbolic death blow to Russia. Germany's marksmen is Major König (Ed Harris), an aristocratic deer hunter and the instructor at the sniper school in Berlin. As soon as König enters the picture, ENEMY AT THE GATES takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the film is about the rivalry of these two men. For me, this is the most interesting storyline in the film. Both Ed Harris and Jude Law have an intensity about them, often communicated only by turning the camera on their eyes, that is perfect for the silent nature of the sniping scenes. I could have watched a whole movie dedicated to only these two marksmen. The sniping scenes are expertly handled, the background sets of war-torn Stalingrad are amazingly detailed and completely set the tone, and the tension and suspense of these scenes is high.

But, alas, ENEMY AT THE GATES does not simply decide to abandon an accurate portrayal of the battle for Stalingrad for a more focused piece on these two snipers. Instead, an infamous "love triangle" is introduced to the film to stir things up. I say "infamous" only because it seems to have ruined everyone's day if you read the reviews on this site. While I would agree that this "love triangle" is not the most interesting part of the film, I do think that it has some merit. For one thing, it provides Zeitsev with motivation towards the end of the film. In the beginning, he seems to have nothing to lose, fully aware that each day may be his last. He is fearless in his struggle against the Germans. But as he begins to fall in love with Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz), suddenly he has something to lose. Furthermore, his love provides him ultimately with the confidence and determination to put an end to König, who has been seemingly invincible up until that point.

The really interesting question, I think, is why not just have a love interest? Why involve a love triangle with Commisar Danilov? Here, I think that the film shines, at least in conception if not in execution. The love triangle provides Commisar Danilov with his ever-increasing menace towards Zaitsev. It makes him abuse his power and become the kind of evil man he once feared. This, in turn, only heightens our love of the protagonist, as his natural goodness is depicted side-by-side with the evil of his friend. One thing that kept occurring to me as I watched this film was the question: Who is the bad guy? Is it the Germans? Is it Major König? Is it Danilov when he becomes enraged at his unrequited love for Tania? Is it Kruschev? Is it the Russian generals who shoot their own troops? It's hard to say! All that we know is that Vassili is good. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't want to glorify the Russians? The truth is that no one ends up very good in this film, besides our two lovers. War seems to bring out the worst in everyone, even Danilov. Perhaps that is what ENEMY AT THE GATES is trying to strive for with its inclusion of the love triangle. War is evil. And humans are only pawns in the game.

Ultimately, I enjoyed ENEMY AT THE GATES. In fact, I enjoyed it more the second time I watched it. You cannot really knock it for not being an accurate portrayal of the battle of Stalingrad. It is focused on two men in the middle of that battle. Every film must explore life's events through the eyes of a few characters. That's where the interest lies! Anything else would just be a third-person perspective on explosions and gunfire. While I wish the film could have focused even more on the sniping angle than it does, I believe it to be a respectable war film and one that is quite interesting.

Average customer rating:

YOU TWO COULD MAKE ONE
An Old Time Adventure Movie
Power Rendered Impotent
An earnest Tyrone Power, a succulently hammy Orson Welles and an adventure from Norman castles to Chinese palaces and back again
If Marco Polo were a Saxon

The Black Rose
Starring: Tyrone Power , Orson Welles , Cécile Aubry , Jack Hawkins , and Michael Rennie
Director: Henry Hathaway
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Release Date: 2007-05-01

Customer Reviews:

YOU TWO COULD MAKE ONE.......2007-06-22

Henry Hathaway's THE BLACK ROSE is based on the novel The Black Rose written by Thomas B. Costain. Walter of Gurnie, played by Tyrone Power, is 21 years old in the film while Tyrone was 36 but looked more, and Cecile Aubry, who was 22 years old in 1950, looked 14 as Maryam. It's no big deal but I still felt uncomfortable during the love scenes between the two characters. However, Orson Welles is brilliant as Bayan and steals the show each time he's on the screen.

I didn't read Costain's book but I can imagine that the author's main idea was to describe how the feeling to belong to a same nation could grow between people as different as Saxons and Normans. This antagonism is well symbolized by the character of Maryam who is clearly described as dual, remember how she must always disguise or apply heavy make-up over her body in order to look as an English girl. This duality is also present in the couple Walter of Gurnie/Tristram Griffin, the rational student and the poet with a bow.

The problem is that these ideas, that are certainly very interesting in a book, are not handled in a very cinematographic manner. I always had the feeling to read a book when I watched THE BLACK ROSE, with its chapters well marked: the scene in the castle, the scene in the family home, the scene in the desert, the scene in the Empress of China's palace and so on. THE BLACK ROSE is meant to be a swashbuckler but there is hardly a fight at the end of the film. With bows and arrows and without Tyrone Power. We see, in numerous occasions, thousands of extras walking in the desert but not a single battle against the Chinese army ! All these considerations explain why I don't consider THE BLACK ROSE as a major achievement in neither Henry Hathaway's nor Tyrone Power's careers.

A DVD zone Marco Polo and friends.

An Old Time Adventure Movie.......2007-06-01

This movie is an old favorite. It's about Norman/Saxon England, and a young rebel who with his friend Jack Hawkins and his trusty longbow, takes off for Cathay and adventure. He meets up with Orson Wells as a Mongol general and manages to survive and carry back to England various Chinese secrets (an English version of Marco Polo). The female star was poorly cast...but this is a movie that pushes through its problems with epic scenes of the Mongol army, and takes you back to old-time adventure stories, before the likes of Indiana Jones etc.

Regardless of problems with editing and the plot, this movie is an enjoyable ride on the backs of Tyrone Power, Jack Hawkins, and Orson Welles. This is not his best film, but so what. It is still a good Tyrone Power entertainment ride. An average Tyrone power movie is still a reality-morphing experience in my view. I am awaiting the DVD of the Bengal Lancers, another favorite.

Power Rendered Impotent.......2007-06-01

"The Black Rose" = stinkweed. Its unprepossessing plot is shot full of holes. The poorly drawn characters are generally unsympathetic. Consider the atrocious casting of the film's leading roles: mature, very American Tyrone Power as a young Oxford scholar; juvenile French actress Cecile Aubry--as the (unconvincing) romantic interest--is about as sexually devastating as a kewpie or cabbage-patch doll. The film's leaden pacing, its prolix and unremarkable dialogue, its profound lack of credibility as well as its failure to appeal to any other emotions than this viewer's boredom and contempt result in my judging "The Black Rose" as one of the worst films Tyrone Power ever had the ill fortune to make.

This otherwise undeserving DVD release does include a single interesting special feature: a Power Family Reunion featurette, in which Tyrone's son, two daughters, and second wife sit down and reminisce about him.

An earnest Tyrone Power, a succulently hammy Orson Welles and an adventure from Norman castles to Chinese palaces and back again.......2007-05-11

And what's a black rose? We're told it is the name given to the clove, the most precious of spices. In this case, the clove is Maryam, played by Cecile Aubry. She was a small French actress, discovered, it is said, by producer Darrell F. Zanuck, and who looks no older than 14. She has a small mouth which is filled with tiny teeth and a plump tongue, and she occasionally jumps about to express enthusiasm. If Vera-Ellen and Charlie McCarthy had ever had a child, it would look a lot like Cecile Aubry. The movie, The Black Rose, is no stinker, but it suffers from Aubry in the role. Unfortunately, it also suffers because Tyrone Power, playing Walter of Gurnie, a young scholar in his early twenties, looks every bit the 39-year-old man he was. The one insuperable drawback to the movie is its disjointed nature. We move from Norman England 200 years after William the Conqueror, to the middle-east and then on to a Mongol army moving and battling its way toward China, then to the imperial court of China itself, and finally back to England. We have a movie which is part historical adventure, part travelogue, part uneasy romance and, with Orson Welles playing the Mongol general Bayan with false eyelids, chubby cheeks and greasy skin, part succulent ham. The movie features some great scenic set-ups, interesting acting in one or two of the secondary parts, particularly by Jack Hawkins, and a nice look at a marching mongol horde, but on balance I think it is one of Power's weakest romantic-adventure films.

Walter of Gurnie, the illegitimate son of a Saxon lord who had married a Norman woman, is a hot-headed Oxford student who has left his studies when he heard his father has died. He hates, with good reason, the Normans. One night he joins a band of fellow Saxons led by Tristram Griffin (Jack Hawkins), an excellent bowman, in an attack on the castle which had been his father's. He planned to free some Saxon hostages held by his step-mother and her son, as well as to claim the boots his father had left in his father's will. In this will his father had publicly acknowledged him as his son. As a result of the attack, Walter and Tris must flee, and Walter decides they should go adventuring to Cathay to win gold, jewels and fame. Along the way he meets the great Mongol general, Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, who takes an interest in the two. Walter and Tris also are tricked into hiding a young woman, Maryam, who is one of dozens of maidens being sent to the Great Khan and who are traveling with Bayan's army. After battles and marches, archery contests, chess games and a walk along the rope of death, Walter is sent to the Chinese court to explain how powerful Bayan is and why the Chinese should surrender the imperial city. Now we have luxurious surroundings, manicured gardens, treacherous mandarins, jewels sewn into coats and a harrowing escape in which Walter and Maryam are separated. Finally, we're back in England, where the king honors Walter for his bravery and for bringing back the knowledge of the Chinese. All seems settled except for his lost love for Maryam. Will they be reunited? And how? See the movie.

Tyrone Power was Zanuck's champion swashbuckler. Power was, for me, a very earnest actor. In his early years he had great good looks. As he aged, his face thickened a bit, his eyebrows grew dense and his five-o-clock shadow must have been a real challenge for Fox's make-up artists. He was an actor who longed to show he could do more than prance around the scenery with a sword in his hand. In two movies, Nightmare Alley and Witness for the Prosecution, he fought for the chance to show he could handle unpleasant roles, and he did very well. Yet for the most part he stayed safely playing conventional star heroes. He died of a heart attack when he was only 44. He was filming, what else, a dueling scene for one more big, expensive and forgettable adventure movie.

For those who enjoy reading sweeping historical adventures, you might like the source book, The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain. It's one of those big, fat novels that goes from adventure to adventure. Costain probably is barely remembered now. He was a Canadian journalist who, in his early sixties, unexpectedly struck it rich as a popular novelist. For ten years he wrote best selling fiction and well-respected popular histories. His fiction is packed with well-researched history and his histories read like well-written novels. The Black Rose is still a good read. The Black Rose

The DVD transfer does not have the crispness and rich color we've come to hope for. It looks like the DVD was made from a reasonably well-maintained source print which received no restoration work. One of the extras is a feature with Power's children and a former wife discussing him and his work. I only sampled it.

If Marco Polo were a Saxon.......2007-04-19

This is one of those old Hollywood saturated-color films that successfully transports me to another time and place, even on subsequent viewings. The plot steamrolls over its problems, leaving me with the sense of having had an exciting journey from England to North Africa to China.

It's based on a Thomas B Costain's novel of the same name and it brings from its source enuf 13th century details to give the story a historical feeling. The exquisite location photography of Jack Cardiff (in England and Morocco) completes the phenomenon.

Tyrone Power (as a Saxon embittered with Norman England) heads a fine, mostly British cast. He may be a tad bit too old and too stiff, but he's personable and has good chemistry with Jack Hawkins as a fellow Saxon runaway, and with the massively charismatic Orson Welles as Bayan of the Hundred Eyes (a historical Mongol General).

Cécile Aubry as "The Black Rose" is a mixed bag. She's gives a very good performance as the over-eager half-English, half-Arabic girl trapped in the Mongol caravan. But she's blonde and blue-eyed! She has a French, not an Arabic accent. And she's too little-girl-cute for my taste.

This is not a action/adventure movie by today's standards. It's too thoughtful. But that's why I like this film more.

Average customer rating:

Cat and Mouse
not bad but not as good as the original novel
A classic war movie!
A Battle that was won by other means
An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives

Enemy at the Gates
Starring: Jude Law , Ed Harris , Rachel Weisz , Joseph Fiennes , and Bob Hoskins
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005LQ0R
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Amazon.com

Product Description

An all-star cast lights up the screen in this riveting epic hailed as "a vivid dramatization of one of history's titanic turning points". (Gene Shalit, TODAY) The year is 1942 and the Nazis are cutting a deadly swath through Russia. Under the leadership of Kruschev (Bob Hoskins), the citizens of Stalingrad are mounting a brave resistance, spurred by the exploits of their local hero, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law). An expert sniper, Vassili's deeds have become legendary - thanks to propaganda produced by Vassili's best friend, a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). To stop Vassili, the Germans dispatch their best sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), to Stalingrad. When Vassili and Danilov both fall in love with a beautiful soldier (Rachel Weisz), Danilov deserts his friend, leaving Vassili to face his German counterpart alone. As the city burns, Vassili and Konig begin a cunning game of cat and mouse, waging a private war for courage, honor and country.

Customer Reviews:

Cat and Mouse.......2007-05-10

not bad but not as good as the original novel.......2007-04-27

A classic war movie!.......2007-04-03

I love WWII movies. This one is a modern classic. Don't miss it!

A Battle that was won by other means.......2007-03-25

An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives.......2007-03-14

Average customer rating:

Three cheers for Yankee tenacity!

A Case of Honor
Starring: Marilyn Bautista , Timothy Bottoms , Jeff Griffith , John Phillip Law , and Robert Marius
Director: Eddie Romero
Manufacturer: Madacy Home Video
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Three cheers for Yankee tenacity!.......2007-01-25

A group of soldiers escape from a Vietnamese prison camp and meet danger, mayhem, prostitutes, and adversity in the jungle. Then they find a broken down airplane that can get them to safety -- if the plane can be repaired. Oh boy! Do they make it to freedom? John Phillip Law is just as charming, disarming and brave and incredibly handsomed and rugged as can be. All JPL fans -- you'll enjoy this movie. I'm glad I own a copy!

Average customer rating:

Enemy of the Law
Starring: Edward Cassidy , Ben Corbett , Frank Ellis , Karl Hackett , and Kay Hughes
Director: Harry L. Fraser
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
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Average customer rating:

Death Rides a Horse
Worst playing video I've seen to date.
Surprisingly good Spaghetti Western
Nice Film. As For the DVD...
a 4 star movie,but a no star transfer

Death Rides A Horse
Starring: Lee Van Cleef , John Phillip Law , Mario Brega , Luigi Pistilli , and Anthony Dawson
Director: Giulio Petroni
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Customer Reviews:

Death Rides a Horse.......2007-05-07

Unfortunately the disc was not playable. I had to just throw it away!!!
I recieved a copy through Netflix and all is well. The new disc I recieved from Amazon was badly scratched. You might want to check with your supplier who shipped you damaged goods. Thank You DJN

Worst playing video I've seen to date........2007-03-09

This review is mainly to warn all of the poor video quality I experenced with the VHS tape by the studio: 'Diamond Entertainment'. The video started out playing so dark I had to set my TV's brightness controls up all the way just to see anything. It also had poor tracing and just overall poor film quality. The DVD version is probably a better bet. I've seen the movie before on 'Mean Guns 20 Movie Pack - DVD' and there the movie looked pretty good. The Movie itself was not bad when seen with a nice quality DVD or maybe another studio's video.

Surprisingly good Spaghetti Western.......2007-02-04

I am no expert in the genre, but lets tick off the boxes here - Ennio Morricone score, morally dubious heroes, revenge driven story, nasty Mexican bandit baddies who laugh at anything remotely unpleasant, terrible dubbing -yep, must be a Spaghetti Western!
If you are a fan of Spaghetti Westerns, this is among the best, and if you have just been tempted by the Clint Eastwood / Sergio Leone, then I thoroughly recommend this as the next step (right after `My Name is Nobody', the next best thing to a Leone Western).
This is a fast moving revenge Western with an apparently simple plot filled out with memorable characters and situations, and a genually satisfying conclusion. Sure, it does not have the style or panache of Leone, and Morricone's score is not his best - but a less than perfect score from Morricone is still better than most others, and it is a memorable distinctive musical treat. The alternating themes of strumming guitar and choral voices bring his usual uniqueness to the movie, and the movie benefits greatly from it.
The story follows a young boy who witnesses the brutal rape and murder of his mother and sister, and murder of his father. He grows up as a respectable community member (John Phillip Law), but shuns responsibility while he harbours one thing in mind - revenge. This lies latent until he crosses paths with Ryan (Lee van Cleef), an ex con whose similar drive of revenge seems to coincide with Ryans goal. They form an uneasy alliance which teeters between help and competition to be the one who kills the bad guys.. mostly competing to make sure they get there first.
The movie is not fantastically shot, but not bad - the story is good, but quite epic - what redeems the movie above all else, is the fantastic turn by Lee van Cleef, who easily equals his work in Leone's Westerns here. This is the mode he was seemingly born to play, and he has immense screen presence, especially with all those close ups of his craggy but clear eyes.. Law on the other hand is a charisma free zone, and the movies weakest point - you can almost imagine how those shoes filled by a greater or even more interesting actor could have made this a classic - but Law walks through the role failing to convince - his only acting trait seems to be when his eyes go wide and his body goes rigid, and you know he has seen one of the bad guys! The rest of the cast are mainly bad guy ciphers, but you can spot a familiar face or two (Mario Brega - who appeared in every one of Leone's movies I am aware of..).
There are some great set pieces - not as epic as they might be, but inventive - the final shootout in the middle of a dust storm must have been a nightmare to shoot, but is very effective - best of all, the director does not linger too long, and gives the film a nice pace which make the movie a well balanced thoroughly enjoyable 1hour 50 minutes.
In short - no extras, but a cracking good film, with an excellent transfer (hardly a blemish on it). Lee van Cleef is on top form, and it's one of Spaghetti Westerns finest moments.

Nice Film. As For the DVD..........2006-09-07

Death Rides a Horse is one that Spaghetti Western fans (and fans of Lee Van Cleef) would thoroughly enjoy. The FILM is most watchable (read below about the DVD), and Van Cleef is at his best in this one, playing a thug who is betrayed by his compadres. We usually see him playing the ultimate bad guy in most of his films, with his knife-deep stare filling the screen. At times, though, Van Cleef exposes his compassionate side for just a tease, and then just as quickly masks his inner humanity behind The Stare, as he plays Ryan, who arm-wrestles throughout the movie with stubborn youngster Bill, played by John Phillip Law, who has foresaken his lady and his life by embracing only revenge - and a single spur - after watching his father murdered, and then bearing witness to his mother and older sister brutalized at the hands of an out-of-control gang, greedy for gold.

The matchup between Ryan and Bill is one that plays itself out quite well, as Ryan acts as surrogate father, dishing out advice through some memorable quotes, teaching young Bill with his words and actions. Bill's anger is worn heavily on his sleeve, while Ryan steadily and calmly works out his own dishes of revenge, suppressing his anger even better than his empathy for Bill, which he touches on even as the pair first meet. Phillip Law was okay, but not thoroughly convincing as a bitter young man who witnessed his family's killing. Every once in a while, he might could have done just another take or two.

I wouldn't want to go deeper into reviewing the movie, except that there's a nice plot twist somewhere inside the film. Many of the actors seen in this 1968 film have been in films by the great Sergio Leone. It seems that there was a core of actors who performed in a number of Italian Westerns, and for good reason: the chemistry was there. Add a good dose of Ennio Morricone film scores, and you have the potential for a quite watchable film. Most spaghettis would crumble if not for Morricone music, which acts as an unseen, yet incredibly talented main character.

Once in a while, the dialog (like Bill's hokie delivery: "I'll find out who he is. If he is who I think he is...get ready to get mad") detracts from the pace of Death Rides a Horse (that line makes me want to Kill Bill, myself), but the overall storyline works well enough to entertain Spaghetti Western fans. There are very few plot holes to discover in the film, which has an air of dread or darkness throughout much of its length. A lighter moment always seems to pop in just when the viewer might like to come up for air (like the old man who offers Bill a kiss).

For those concerned about bad or unbelievable endings, Death Rides delivers without disappointment.

Now, for the DVD: Sadly, there seems to be no region 1 release that does this nice yet overlooked film, justice. Mine, which is a 2-4-1 DVD with "God's Gun" on the same side, and "Quality" as the title logo, is horribly lacking in anything but bad quality, perhaps one of the worst DVD productions I have EVER seen. The letterboxed picture is cropped to pan/scan, and there is not one frame that has any kind of decent image quality with respect to color, tone, or saturation. Its terribly washed out and either too contrasty and bright, or muddy and dark, without any texture. And in some scenes, the image degrades to a pixelated mess, which you'll see in the opening scene, and it returns of and on throughout the presentation. The only reason I watch it again and again is to enjoy the Morricone tracks and view an entertaining film. MGM has released a PAL-Region 2 DVD, which was well-received. It has the original letterbox (2.35:1) and infinitely better video quality. Check amazon.uk as I will, and once I get it, I'll burn my copy.

a 4 star movie,but a no star transfer.......2006-04-20

i have always liked this movie and i think lee van cleef was a very underated actor so i couldn't wait to watch this one again.
i know for this cheep a price that i shouldn't think i'm going to get a great copy but come on,no widescreen,washed out color audio that pops and sometimes drops out completely,and so dark in some scenes that you can't see anything at all!
don't waste your money on this badly transfered disc,find a better copy

Average customer rating:

Cat and Mouse
not bad but not as good as the original novel
A classic war movie!
A Battle that was won by other means
An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives

Enemy at the Gates [Region 2]
Starring: Jude Law , Ed Harris , Rachel Weisz , Joseph Fiennes , and Bob Hoskins
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005OLA6

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Customer Reviews:

Cat and Mouse.......2007-05-10

not bad but not as good as the original novel.......2007-04-27

A classic war movie!.......2007-04-03

I love WWII movies. This one is a modern classic. Don't miss it!

A Battle that was won by other means.......2007-03-25

An Engrossing Story of Two Man Hunters: Deserves More Credit Than it Receives.......2007-03-14

Average customer rating:

Kye: Kill Your Enemy
Starring: Robert B. , Tedro Witfield , and George Montgomery
Director: Max Law
Manufacturer: Visionary Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000LW7L3Q
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Description

KYE follows three men - Remey, 38, and Tim - as they go about the business of killing their enemies on the last day of freedom. Remey sets up the one guy who turned on them for a deal with the D.A. 38 is out for revenge against his girfriend's new boyfriend. And Tim is after a gang that call themselves the Zoo Boys.

Enemy At the Gates (2001) / Uncommon Valor (1983) (Double Feature)

Average customer rating:

Enemy At the Gates (2001) / Uncommon Valor (1983) (Double Feature)
Starring: Jude Law , Ed Harris , Rachel Weisz , Joseph Fiennes , and Bob Hoskins
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud , and Ted Kotcheff
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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