Joseph Fiennes as Danilov and Jude Law as Vassili in Enemy at the Gates

As war movies go, Enemy at the Gates is as grim, brutal and relentless as they come. It's also a damn fine film, inspired by the life of Vassili Zaitzev (Jude Law), a Russian sharp shooter whose heroics during the Battle of Stalingrad inspired his people to stop the invincible German army in their tank tracks, ultimately winning a fight that was all but lost.

Never mind the gunshots and explosions, Enemy at the Gates wouldn't be a true emotional blockbuster without a love triangle. So, Rachel Weisz stars as Tania, a courageous and cunning linguist who has volunteered for battle to protect her country. Along the way to the front lines she meets Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the propaganda specialist whose reports of Vassili's exploits, in the Russian army newspaper, have given the Russian troops a standard of valor in their blackest hour. Danilov wants to protect Tania and would rather have her intercepting German transmissions at army headquarters (and perhaps decoding a few of his own secret messages) than see her throwing her lithe young life away in a potentially futile battle. But, of course, Tania is in love with Vassili. She's charmed by his wolf-like skills, when it comes to hunting his enemy prey, and his goofy yet gentlemanly ways, when it comes to celebrating with cigarettes and vodka at night in the company of their surviving comrades. They party tonight, because they may not be here tomorrow.

Fortunately, for the story and the audience, Enemy at the Gates doesn't devote too many frames to a romantic tangent that's as necessary as a kickstand on a Panzer tank. The heart of the story is the deadly cat-and-mouse game played between Vassili and Major Konig (Ed "Pollock" Harris). Konig is the Third Reich's finest marksman and has been brought to Stalingrad specifically to terminate Vassili, who was once just a trifling annoyance to their party, but is now a major threat to their quest of conquering all of Europe and Russia. Harris's performance is high caliber, as always. His character manages to balance both a quiet humanity and an unyielding devotion to duty. The scenes of Vassili and Konig stealthly squaring off against each other – via the cross hairs on their rifles and across the bombed-out wreckage of what was once a thriving city – are as tense as anything in U-571, Full Metal Jacket or even, dare I say, Private Benjamin. Though Rachel Weisz is no Goldie Hawn, at least she's not without a decent perm and a thorough eyebrow waxing.

Enemy at the Gates is everything a war movie should be. It reminds us of the inspiring events that can happen when good people put their mortal fears aside and perform what needs to be done when there is nothing and everything to loose. If one tired, terrified soldier can rise above and beyond the call of duty, then there's hope for us all: whether the terror comes in a Swastika armband or just dressed as another Monday morning.

Above all, Enemy at the Gates is a grim, but gallant reminder of the horrors the world was going through only a generation or so ago. History, they say, repeats itself. A quick look at the headlines today and it's clear to see a world on the brink of catastrophe. Hopefully, with inspiring films like this, we can keep from hitting history's replay button for a little while longer.