The Film U-571 caused a rather large sensation when it originally was released. It is based in the Second World War at sea, though there is nothing hugely out of place with that. The film has been totally Americanized, though only just a bit. I mean a simple mistake really getting two countries confused, especially when they are on the same side. Changing a story of heroics, stealth, cunning and bravery with British as the main people involved to the Americans. Anyone could make this really, though some find this offensive and so on, and the film is not living up to any thing at all beside the hype.
Ok, maybe that was not exactly taken seriously but I am not too happy about Hollywood’s versions of events. Time for a little history lesson I think. It is the early stages of the Second World War, and the battle for the Atlantic Ocean. German U-boats, submarines are controlling the waters by shooting the ships that are supplying the British Isles and staring the home front. The subs are talking to their base using a top-secret code with an Enigma coding machine. With this top device the Allied forces are unable to work out what the communication is and the U-Boats are wreaking havoc on shipping. The Allies get news of a damaged U-Boat with one of the Enigma machines on board (no
its not a typewriter) the chance is too good to pass up. One slight problem, the Germans must not get wind of the Allies getting the Enigma otherwise they would change the codes. This really happened with the British Navy sending out a force to rescue the machine and they did get it and as a result the Nazi messages were translated with the result that potentially changed the course of the war.
Typical Americans turning up late for every war, saying they won it all and now that Hollywood have suddenly changed stories at will. The film does follow the same things and events that happened, just different people. I hope that I do not offend any Americans out there that could be reading this, nothing personal and I am not being too serious but in principal this is wrong. What makes it even worse is that some people will not even realize this and take it all at face value. Not the true, some blokes idea of what makes good ‘entertainment’.
As I said the film plot follows the story of the Enigma, with some added parts. An American Submarine is set out to capture U-571 with Captain Mike Dahlgren (Bill Paxton) and Lieutenant Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) in charge of the crew. They find the stricken U-Boat ahead of the rescue ship sent from Germany to save the sub, all part of the plan to destroy the evidence to stop Germany knowing they have the Enigma. While aboard the German U-Boat another U-Boat sinks the Americas with all the crew on aboard, leaving just a few people left in the damaged German boat and the precious Enigma. With all this happening all they have to do is take the boat back to England. Simple really, even with all the German navy between them and safety in a sinking boat with all the things written in Germany.
This is a very stereotypical film, the Germans are the bad guys and the Americans as the heroes, simple as that. The Germans are obviously made out to be the lowest scum possible, shooting survivors and trying to kill the American when they have been taken prisoner. The main disappointment was the acting, or lack of it. McConaughey character was turned down for a promotion just before the mission, and takes the disappointment through the film, despite being the hero. He never really gets going, as do many of the others. The other commander looked to be a good character until he dies. The rest of the crew are typically youthful, though as they dies there is little of the emotion or sadness that a really good film would make you feel. There are also some strange moments, great shot to cut communications between a destroyer and anyone else with one shell, same again to sink it with just one torpedo. About four people work the sub in the end, and they manage to overcome the language barrier with only one person speaking German.
One good thing to come out of the film is all the shots of the submarines, plus all the explosions and other effects. The subs look great, realistic and give the sense inside of the cramped and wet conditions that was. Das Boot was one of my favourite things on TV however many years ago that was, so I was keen on getting this just to see. When some of the boats and subs are sunk there are some nice shots with burning and crashes, while when the boats were trying to depth charge the sub out of the water the water explosions were great to watch. There are also a good pace throughout the film, there is some real excitement and tense moments as the crews are staying silent while the enemies above try to blow them out of the water, though the acting really lets it down.
I got the DVD of this film, on the WHSmith special offer price of £7.99. Not a bad price, and there are some good shots for anyone’s DVD out there, especially when things start to get blown up. There are a lot of extras on the film, as the cover boasts there are over 155 minutes of extras. I have not watched them all as of yet, but they seem very interesting. There are some features with the history behind the real story of the Enigma machine, all the usual directors thoughts and comments, which are always worth looking into.
There is little more to this film than a few cool submarine noises and some decent action shots for my DVD there is little to the film. The cast is unconvincing, what action there is comes in bursts and there is of course the mistaken identity.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
Well it was just on BBC1 tonight.
The film was overtly good, the acting not too bad, the special effects were decent, and i enjoyed the film, but only up to the point where i realised they had aericanised it!
Calypte 02.02.2002 16:15
I remember when this came out being utterly unimpressed witht the title - I mean, couldn't they have thought of something better? Great review, though.
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: Check Site. 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: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
From the creators of the hit thriller 'Breakdown', comes Canal+ and Universal Pictures' ... more
U-571. A white-knuckle World War II suspense drama, about an American submarine crew as they battle against time, danger and their own fears. Their mission: a darin...
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]")
Jan 31st, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
