I need some ideas for my 50th op, so why not give me some please!
I need some ideas for my 50th op, so why not give me some please!
Member since:28.02.2001
Reviews:48
Members who trust:15
This fictional story tells us how the US Navy stole the German Enigma machine. For those people who do have not heard about this piece of machinery, I will explain. The Enigma machine was a secret German encryption device used during WW2, which the allies found bloody difficult to crack, and as a result lost thousands of lives, until it was finally cracked.
The film stars Bill Paxton, Harvey Kietel and Matthew Mc Conaughey, and the story swings into life when a British destroyer cripples a German U-boat in the Mid-Atlantic. The brave US Navy decide that they would like a lend of the Enigma device aboard and set off to see if the nasty Germans (no offence intended) will let them borrow it.
The Yanks turn up in a very cleverly disguised submarine and storm the U-boat, capturing the Enigma. At this point in the film the poo really starts hitting the fan! Another U-boat turns up and sinks the US submarine just as they were about to board the sub, so the plucky Yanks are stranded aboard the crippled German U-boat, with the Hun breathing down their necks.
In pure Hollywood fashion they manage to get the U-boat going, (something which the Germans couldn’t manage in 36 hours!) and sink the advancing U-boat. With Mc Conaughey in charge as the new captain they decide to head for home, except they cannot signal anybody as the Germans would hear, and then know about the capture of the Enigma machine. (Complication galore hey?)
One the way back to the land of maple syrup and Mickey Mouse, to become hero’s to the nation (if the nation was allowed to hear about their adventure). They run across another small problem, probably about 3,000 tonnes to be precise, and as you’ve probably guessed, its a German destroyer, who think that’s its friendly, until they shoot at it, so they end up being chased half way around the Atlantic. The destroyer however did sneak up on them which is quite surprising considering its size, and the fact that normally they can hear barrels falling of the back of a ship. (Americans they just don’t figure)
Eventually they destroy the German destroyer with only one torpedo left, and a broken firing tube, amazing! How do they manage to do that, it’s almost as brilliant as the A-Team who always got locked in some mineshaft or something, with the bad guys outside, and BA produces a tank out of old oil drums. True Hollywood genius.
All ends well and most of them get home safely, and the war is won. The film itself is very good, and is filled with some brilliant special effects, and action. I was particularly impressed with Mc Conaugheys performance, as his style usually bores me to death, and Kietel again delivered another sterling performance.
The only grudge against the film that I have is that it is not fictitious, in 1941 off the coast of Iceland the Royal navy ship, HMS Bulldog captured the first Enigma machine from a German U-boat. The Royal Navy went on to capture four more Enigma machines during the war, before the Americans captured their first in 1945, in the final throws of the war.
I know that we were both on the same side, but it has annoyed me that the big budget Hollywood bosses have once again attempted to re-write history, to make America seem as brilliant as possible (I’m sure the Indians weren’t as bad as most westerns portray them). This type of action does nothing to honour the brave people that risked their lives, and even died fighting for our freedom. This is wrong and Hollywood should take a look at themselves and ask is it better to put money before doing the right thing. I’m not holding my breath!
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Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
How dare you take BA Baracas' name in vain?!?!?! Apologise at once and hang your head in shame for doubting his mechanical genius. Great review and it echoes my own feelings about it perfectly
Marechal_Grouchy 02.06.2001 20:01
Sorry to be the first in 20 members to rate this as anything less than very helpful. I mainly did this because of your claim that the film "is not fictitious". Just because the film is based on a real historical backdrop does not mean it is "not fictitious". The writer and director, Jonathan Mostow, was not aiming to make a historically-correct, non-fictitious film, nor did he twist history by replacing Brits with Americans. True, the Brits captured 2 out of 3 Enigma code machines (to the Americans' considerably less important 1), but since U-571 is a wholly fictitious story set in an accurate historical backdrop, Mostow had no obligation to make the stars of the story British.
Also, much of your review was devoted to actually re-telling the story of the movie, something I do not want to see in a movie review (and this is even more true if I have not seen the movie yet, which fortunately was not the case here).
Miss-D 03.05.2001 16:50
Good op! I know what u mean about the Americans saving the day all the time! More examples are Amageddon & Deep Impact!
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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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 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 9th, 2001
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![U-571 [HD DVD] [2000] [US Import]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/70670223.jpg)
