U-571 (Theatrical Release USA 2000)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 2.7|5.0 Stars ìì

U-571—a disappointing, entirely fictional submarine film—offends the British NavaI forces with its presumption that Americans enabled Britain’s acquisition of the Enigma coding machine and documents. The casting department fails to establish a good, charismatic team that is so necessary to pull a movie from mediocre to great.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The German submarine boat U-571 is known to carry a coding device and books for sending coded German military messages during World War II. American submarine S-33 is ordered to capture German U-571 and retrieve both the coding device and the code books. The German submarine U-571 is disabled by the Americans and part of the crew of the American submarine S-33 board the German submarine U-571. After they have boarded the U-571, their own submarine is scuttled by a second German submarine which is in the area. The Americans are stranded aboard the German U-571. They submerge and engage the second submarine in battle. During the battle the German U-571 sustains damage, but the Americans are able to repair the submarine to the point of enabling travel. As they make their way back to England, a German destroyer intercepts them. Battle engages. The submarine submerges. The German destroyer drops depth charges. The U- 571 surfaces and enables sufficiently to fire a last torpedo to destroy the German destroyer. The Americans flee the U-571 in a lifeboat with the coding machine and coding books secure.

Additional Thanks

Fair Work for Director Jonathan Mostow. Thank you to Executive Producer Hal Lieberman for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Lieutenant Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey), Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren (Bill Paxton), CPO Henry Klough (Harvey Keitel), Lieutenant Pete Emmett (Jon Bon Jovi), Major Matthew Coonan (David Keith), Captain Lieutenant Gunther Wassner (Thomas Kretschmann), Lieutenant Hirsch, (Jake Weber), Seaman Bill Wentz (Jack Noseworthy), Seaman Ted ‘Trigger’ Fitzgerald (Tom Guiry), and Seaman Ronald ‘Rabbit’ Parker’ (Will Estes).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

                                               

No. The Hunt for Red October or The Spy Who Loved Me present significant entertainment that far surpasses the entertainment value of U-571.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers