While the Nazi and Russian armies hurl rank after rank of soldiers at each other and the world fearfully awaits the outcome of the battle of Stalingrad, the celebrated Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) quietly stalks his enemies one man at a time. His fame, however, soon thrusts him into a duel with the Nazi's best sharpshooter, Major Konig (Ed Harris), and the two find themselves waging an intense personal war while the most momentous battle of the age rages around them...