SAVING PRIVATE RYAN refreshed a tired genre by throwing out old war-movie conventions, but it was only a matter of time before its innovations became clichés all over again. And sure enough, this fact-based WWII romantic drama opens with a brutal, real-time battle full of semi-incomprehensible dialogue and first-person point-of-view shots that looks startlingly like RYAN’s visceral Omaha Beach landing. Autumn, 1942: Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a real-life soldier at the apocalyptic Battle of Stalingrad, attracts the attention of ambitious young propaganda officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). The fate of the industrial city marks a critical juncture for both the Soviets ...
Released:
2001
Rated:
R
Length:
133 mins