Inspired by a true story, Enemy at The Gates, is set in Stalingrad, Russia in the Fall of 1942 during the height of the second world war. The story opens aboard a rail car where soldiers are herded in like cattle to be taken to the battlegrounds in Stalingrad. Soldiers are practically thrown onto small boats that are carrying the thousands of militants across the bay and into the city. As German war planes bomb the boats, Russian captains order the soldiers not to retreat or they will be shot. As the soldiers finally reach Stalingrad, the chaos of and destruction of war quickly overwhelms them. They make it to the battleground where thousands of German soldiers with bigger guns and tanks are waiting. Some of the soldiers realize that they are vastly outnumbered and retreat, but are shot by their own captains. The movie promptly gets to the point that war is brutal and unfair. These similes of war become apparent as the story unfolds. From
             here, we are introduced to characters and situations that define many sociological perspectives.
             Vassili Zaitsev, a Shepard boy from Ural is one of many Russian soldiers herded in to fight. He makes his mark by befriending a Russian political officer named Danilov. Danilov immediately notices Vassili's skill as a sniper after he kills a German general and five of his best men. Danilov reports to General Kruschev of the Red Army of a hero he has found and suggest that he is printed in the papers immediately. Vassili is quickly turned into not only a hero but a symbol of war and Russian pride. By publicizing his name far and wide he gives hope to the communist Russia but also becomes the enemy to the German army. The nervous Germans observe the turmoil Vassili is bringing. Quickly they hire a highly trained German sniper named Major Koenig to try to even the score and eliminate him. Vassili feels he cannot live up to the fame he has gained and his doubts become his worst fea...