U-571 is the latest in a string of World War Two pictures out of Hollywood recently, but it is the first Naval movie in quite some time. It's also one of the best, putting a lot more teeth into its action than its recent counterparts.
U-571 details a submarine XO (executive officer) who's been recently turned down for a command of his own. Told that he's not ready for command by his direct superior, he's a bit disgruntled but carries on, being career Navy. The crew of this boat has just been dispatched on a new mission--one that has drastic ramifications for the war effort: capture an Enigma code machine and accompanying code books. With a viable Enigma, the Allies have all the information they need to blunt the Axis assaults and win World War Two.
I know, a smidge predictable, and a bit hackneyed besides, but not without its charm. They carry on with their mission, but lose their original sub and are forced to take this U-boat, U-571, back toward Allied country. At first, I thought U-571 was going to be a reverse Hunt for Red October, with an enemy sub heading into friendly waters crewed by friendlies. But most of the film after the capture of U-571 revolves around combat with a Nazi destroyer. As unlikely as a submarine fighting a destroyer in single combat sounds, this submarine is severely damaged and crewed by a staff with only one German-speaker on board.
U-571 is jam packed with action, though there are some logic lapses that may well offend authentic WWII Naval servicemen. At one point, the sub reaches a depth of over six hundred feet below sea level. From my rather limited knowledge of physics, six hundred feet is several thousand PSI of pressure. Which is plenty more than a 1940s-era submarine should be able to tolerate. (Physics majors feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.)
And I'm not too knowledgable about Naval rank structures, but I'm not exactly sure how a lieutenant gets to be the XO of a submarine. Shouldn't there be a commander or lieutenant commander between lieutenant and captain? (Current naval servicemen feel free to correct me.)
I look for two things when I watch a war movie, Authenticity and Action. If one heavily outweighs the other, I can generally live with it. If both are high, fantastic. If both are low, then it's an insult to servicemen. U-571 is long on Action, with all kinds of battle sequences and brilliant strategems. It's a bit shorter on authenticity, with some goofy logic lapses and inconsistencies that only experts may well find. So for civilians like myself, U-571 is a fantastic naval war picture, jam packed with action and gunplay, ship-to-ship and personal combat. For the servicemen, they may get a kick out of this dose of potentially flawed history. Long on Action and somewhat short on Authenticity, U-571 is good quality through and through.
As an added note, you really need to see this on the big screen. The sounds are magnificent, the explosions will rattle your stomach in the middle of the theatre. Unless you've got a theatre-grade sound system, you'll miss out on the spine-shocking realism of the soundtrack.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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When the Americans make a WWII film its as if they throw the history book out of the portal and forget about who truely captured the enigma machine. Nice opinion, I'll have to watch out for this film. Thank you.
If you've never seen a submarine drama before, thenU-571will probably make a good ... more
impression as a tautly choreographed piece of entertainment. A strong cast led by Matthew McConaughey's sympathetic Lt. Tyler undertakes a perilous mission to seize a Ger...
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If you've never seen a submarine drama before, thenU-571will probably make a good ... more
impression as a tautly choreographed piece of entertainment. A strong cast led by Matthew McConaughey's sympathetic Lt. Tyler undertakes a perilous mission to seize a Ger...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
If you've never seen a submarine drama before, thenU-571will probably make a good ... more
impression as a tautly choreographed piece of entertainment. A strong cast led by Matthew McConaughey's sympathetic Lt. Tyler undertakes a perilous mission to seize a Ger...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A U.S. Navy captain and his crew are just beginning to enjoy 48 hours of leave when they ... more
receive word to immediately return to duty. On a top-secret assignment they must disguise themselves as Nazis and infiltrate a severely damaged Nazi U-boat. Once ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
If you've never seen a submarine drama before, thenU-571will probably make a good ... more
impression as a tautly choreographed piece of entertainment. A strong cast led by Matthew McConaughey's sympathetic Lt. Tyler undertakes a perilous mission to seize a Ger...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![U-571 [DVD] [2000]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78522839.jpg "U-571 [DVD] [2000]")
![U-571 [DVD] [2000] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/69887853.jpg "U-571 [DVD] [2000] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
Apr 6th, 2001
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![U-571 [HD DVD] [2000] [US Import]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/70670223.jpg)
