10 Brilliant Historical Movies With Unforgivable Inaccuracies

5. There Was No Major Erwin König - Enemy At The Gates (2001)

Jean-Jacques Annaud's World War II epic claims to tell the 'true story' of a Russian sniper, Vasily Zaitsev (Jude Law) as he faces off with his German counterpart, Major Erwin König (Ed Harris). Set against the backdrop of the Battle of Stalingrad the central plot revolves around the duel between the two snipers as they become symbols of their receptive nations.

Annaud's depiction of Stalingrad was one of a twisted hellscape. It was the bloodiest battle of the War resulting in an estimated two million casualties over a five-month period. Although the film does a brilliant job of depicting the tortured existence of the soldiers and civilians stuck inside the city, it got several things wrong.

Most notably the central plot never happened. Vasily Zaitsev was indeed a highly celebrated Russian sniper, amassing a confirmed 225 enemy kills during the battle. Zaitsev even wrote about the famed duel in his diary after the war, but German records show that his supposed opponent never existed. The story of Zietsev's heroic duel with Major Erwin König was most likely drummed up as a bit of Soviet propaganda.