User reviews

This is a good submarine movie, and I think I've seen them all. British sailors recovered the Enigma machine, not Americans; otherwise this movie is pretty accurate. Crew interaction rings true, and boat operations are realistic - except those periscope seals leak profusely enough to warrant immediate repair.

U-571 is an action film with quite a budget for the time. It is not a history war action film, although, in the end, they do a fast scroll of historical facts for some reason.

The film is not very accurate with its facts, and I'm not talking about the specifics of submarines or naval battles, uniforms, or something like this but rather general believability. Some of the things we see feel very unrealistic and more Hollywood-like.

The film has an all-star cast, but there are no good characters for the actors to work with. Most of them are very generic, while some are downright ignorant and unresponsible. They build up a lot of general patriotic stereotypes, but these just don't contribute to a good film in my opinion.

This film was clearly inspired by THE BEST submarine film ever made - Das Boot, it has some of the similar scenes, music choices, and more. What it doesn't have though are believable characters. We have just plain basic good guys and the bad guys. One side is pure evil, the other is just good in every aspect. I thought that they would do something interesting with the German captain, but they never did, he's just evil. I thought there will be some internal drama written for Matthew McConaughey, but there really isn't. His character just spills out very basic cliche inspirational speeches and that's it. Nobody on the boat acts like a real human being.

While it had some good tense action scenes... there's nothing in the film besides that. Just lots of cliches, general stereotypes, sugary patriotism, and historical revisionism.

Yet again, Hollywood rewrites history to make it look like America alone won the Second World War! This really is an awful movie that spectacularly distorts the history of the Battle of the Atlantic and, as a proud Briton, I find it downright insulting to my nation and it's efforts during the Second World War. It totally ignores even the basic historical facts concerning the true story of the breaking of the Enigma code, apart from a little mention in the end credits at the point where most movie-goers have already begun to walk out of the theatre and are unlikely to ever see it. And with all of the other factual errors, distortions, and cultural stereotypes, this is about as far from being even a semi-accurate depiction of the war at sea as you will ever get.

If you want a movie that has no basis in reality and just panders to national stereotypes and American patriotic jingoism, then you'll probably enjoy this movie - Just remember that what you are watching is complete fiction and not in any way a representation of true history. However, if you want something that accurately depicts submarine warfare in the Atlantic during the Second World War, you'd be far better advised to watch Das Boot instead.

First, don't call me crazy for the 7/10 rating. I over-rated this movie a bit, I figure I enjoyed it enough from a screenplay and acting prospective to give it only 4. I kept waiting for Bon Jovi to break out in song! However, I like Matthew M. and Harvey K. a lot (Bill P. not so much) and I thought in my mind they propelled (mind the pun) movie a bit for me. Also, my opinions on a film are based on the complete experience - story. screenplay, acting, effects, sound, etc. I find the soundtrack was great and so were the sets, camera angles etc. This created an enjoyable experience in my opinion. It's funny to observe, but if you read ratings on this title from home theater buffs - everybody thinks this is a great movie. But critics such as those on this site hate it. I'd like to think I appreciate films from all sides, therefore my 7/10 score.

I don't know. When you get the message that a submarine can only withstand so much pressure, you know darn well that it's going to exceed it. Can you imagine if the sub had been crushed like the egg when it first encountered its maximum stress. They must have dropped 500 depth charges but the darned thing just wouldn't give in. Then we have the torpedo fired like a dying gunfighter as he breathes his last going right on target; and was that some torpedo. With torpedoes like that, I'm surprised we needed to drop a bomb on Hiroshima. One of those would have erased Japan from the map.

I know I'm nit-picking because I know we need to suspend a little disbelief here, but there is a claim of authenticity that just doesn't work. The other thing that bugged me. Why didn't the guy (the one who gets the "You can do it" pep talk) use a rope or a hook of some kind to pull on the lever.

Why did he have to use a fully extended arm. Also, why did they let that German prisoner live and sabotage things for so lon. They had no trouble blowing away the rest of them. My guess is that the director needed to throw another obstacle and show how devious the enemy could be. Well, you get the point. This is one of those films where I started with a reasonably high opinion and as I thought about it, realized how poorly constructed it was. I liked the acting.

I watched this movie almost on a whim and was very impressed by the intensity of it. All of the actors in the film did a wonderful job and the music, direction, effects, and cinematography lent themselves well to the finished vision. The only thing that disappointed me however was the foreshadowing and predictability of the film. As a result of this, I gave it a 6 out of 10. I would recommend anyone who is interested in action / adventure films, especially those centering on WWII to watch it, however, do not think too hard about it while it is progressing.

A lot of movies use historical events such as wars or tragedies as backdrops for their movies. "Titanic" for instance was completely untrue for the most part. This movie for some reason had lots of people complaining about how Americans were not the first to find the decoder depicted in the film. So what? Really, some people are just so anal. If England wishes for the true story to be told make a documentary on the subject with their money. This is an action movie made with American dollars, this is not to be confused with fact, seriously did you look up the Titanic's manifest and see if that poor Jack or his love Rose was on it. The decoder was just a way to get some guys on a German U-boat so we could have a pretty good action movie. It was nothing to ponder or for historians to dissect, I mean did we believe that Forrest Gump was real too and that he was a very important person in American History too or what? The main problem I had with this one is that Matthew McConaughey is the lead in this one. I think someone else would have been better, though he was not to bad in this one. Just when I see him I usually think chick flick, though I did like him in "Sahara" too. So a nice action movie, with some good submarine battles, I preferred "The Hunt Red October" and I have heard the German film "Das Boot" is the superior submarine film of all of them, but have never seen that one. Would like to though, until then though I enjoyed this one and I realize the English were the first to find said decoder.

Somebody looking for an intense World War II film that has a few shocking twists, can't go too wrong with this movie. My only faults with it are that sometimes it goes a bit long on the depth-charge action scenes and that the language is too rough for a PG-13. Otherwise, this is good entertainment and certainly a different kind of World War II story. Does it stretch credibility? Yes, but most action movies do, so you ride with it.

For a submarine movie, it has far more action than most, with half of it outside the sub instead of inside as so often the case. It also looks great on DVD and offers some outstanding 5.1 surround sound. There is a huge difference in viewing this on VHS and on DVD.

This is definitely a man's movie with an all-male cast of tough seamen fighting tough Nazi seamen in the middle of WWII. Matthew McConaughey and Harvey Keitel are the two main stars and it's a bit odd to see the veteran Keitel taking orders from the "kid."

I enjoyed this movie because it dealt with the complications that can arise during combat. I felt it did a good job with depicting what it would be like to serve on a submarine.

It saddens me to see several reviews that are scathing in nature because the reviewer felt the movie slighted all nations other then the US.

To the credit of the movie makers, at the end of the movie was a message that went something like this, "This movie is dedicated to all the brave sailors of the allies who risked their lives during WWII."

I will agree this movie makes the Americans appear to be head and shoulders above the Germans they were fighting, but it was made by Hollywood, don't be mad at the whole USA.

The ending credits make it clear the British were the first to capture an enigma. I guess the negative comments are from those who didn't wait to see the ending credits otherwise they would know that.

I like to learn where the movie was made and how. Near the end credit was given where due. It clearly stated:

9 May 1941 HMS Bulldog and HMS Aubretia captured an enigma from U-110.

30 Oct. 1942 HMS Petard captures a weather cipher from U-559.

4 June 1944 U.S. Navy task group 22.3 captured an enigma from U-505.

Each incident was important as the Germans would change the codes at any time they suspected the enigma had been compromised. It was a major breakthrough when the Brits were able to figure out how the enigma worked. My hat is off to them.

I hope everyone who watches this movie on DVD in the future will go to the special features and see how much effort went into making this movie as realistic as possible. They actually built a whole copy of a U-boat.

The U-505 is on display in Chicago. I have walked through that old girl and watched the video of her capture. She is one of four U boats that are now a museum piece and she is the only surviving copy of the type IXC.

The companies that made parts for U-505 donated replacements free of charge when they learned she would be a museum piece.

Watch the movie with an open mind and I think you will find it entertaining.

Just as "The Hurricane" should not be discounted for historical inaccuracy, nor should U-571. It is a good and entertaining film, despite being a big, loud, Hollywood production full of special effects (note Wild Wild West). Not the best war film (see All Quiet on the Western Front or even Sgt. York), not the best WWII film (The Great Escape is a better example), not even the best WWII German submarine film (hey, Das Boot). Still, it's a good one, and if this film had been made in 1962 starring Steve McQueen as the XO (McCaughnahey's role) you'd have seen it at least 10 times by now.

This one is worth seeing in the theater and it's worth full fare.

Sure, it's inaccurate. Yup, it's a British story grafted onto the US Navy. Gotcha, Jon Bon Jovi can't act. Yes, black sailors were second-class citizens.

We get it. So shut your trap!

And enjoy Jonathan Mostow's U-571, a fanciful story of the USN trying to steal an "Enigma" machine from the Nazis so that the Allies could read the Krauts' mail.

It's all very derring-do and gung-ho and "You're an officer; you always have the answer!" leadership tutorial. And I loved just about every minute of it.

I like daring, gung-ho, and dammit, when you're confronted with a problem you don't know how to solve and the boys are dependin' on you, you punt!

U-571 is a movie that would fit nicely into WWII because the Yanks are plucky and tough, and the Germans are rotten to the core.

When it's over and the credits are done, you almost expect a graphic that tells the audience to buy War Bonds in the lobby of the theatre.

This is a review written by a specialist on the U-boat warfare:

First off, I am pleased to say my worst fears were not realized. This movie is not a retelling of the capture of the Enigma machine from U-110 with Americans substituted for British. The only thing the historical incident and the movie have in common is that both include an Enigma machine and a U-boat.

The basic premise of the movie is this: It is spring, 1942. (Although not stated explicitly in the movie, this coincides with the implementation of the 4-rotor Enigma machine and the subsequent intelligence blackout which proved quite inconvenient for the Allies.) Allied intelligence learns that a crippled U-boat is awaiting a rendez-vous with a supply submarine. An American World War I S-class submarine and its crew are disguised to resemble that supply submarine, with the goal of boarding the U-boat and seizing the Enigma. Naturally the operation does not go as smoothly as predicted. The American boarding party ends up trapped on the U-boat and must figure out how to get home with their prize.

The special effects, including sound effects, are good, and there are lots of satisfying explosions and interesting underwater camera views. The plot is a bit predictable, and seems to owe a lot to many previous submarine movies, including Das Boot. There are a few technical issues that purists will notice; for example, American S-boats were not actually equipped with radar, an awful lot of bullets were sprayed around the interior of the U-boat without appearing to damage anything vital, and the plan to open the torpedo tubes at a depth of 200 meters seemed ill-advised, to say the least.

One scene was disturbing, however. Early in the film, the U-boat comes upon a lifeboat full of British sailors. The U-boat commander orders his gunner to kill them all, because "The Führer has ordered us not to pick up survivors." It is disappointing to see the myth of U-boats executing occupants of lifeboats perpetuated yet again. The truth about the Laconia order is it did forbid picking up survivors but did not specify that they be shot, simply that they not be rescued or aided as well as the only case on record in World War II in which a U-boat purposely fired on survivors in the water.

In general, this is a good action film. It's no Das Boot, but then I knew it wasn't going to be. For one thing, it lacks the emotional impact and suspense of Das Boot; also, the grim wartime mood that pervaded Das Boot is absent from this movie. In fact, for U-571 the World War II setting seems almost incidental, as the plot could be adjusted easily to fit any other twentieth century war, real or fictional, involving submarines.

In sum, this is not really a World War II movie. It's a submarine movie with nonstop action and plenty of explosions.

29 April, 2000: One more thing which needs to be mentioned. In an interview in the 23 April Washington Post, the director, Jonathan Mostow, states that the movie Das Boot was "based on a lie" because "[...] it pretended that the captains and crews were submariners first, and only incidentally Nazis. They were dedicated Nazis; they had to be to fight that hard."

As anyone familiar with U-boat history knows, this is nonsense. It is well known that the U-boat arm was the least political of any of the German military branches in World War II. While some U-boat men were indeed confirmed Nazis, many were not. Men fight hard in every war, not for reasons of ideology, but for reasons of personal survival and out of a sense of duty and obligation to their group or unit. Mostow's opinion on this particular topic is just that - an opinion, apparently not founded on any knowledge of U-boat history or military psychology

As far as thrillers go, U-571 is a well made film. Although it's historical inaccuracies are awful, it still serves as a great theater experience. It won a well deserved Oscar for it's sound, which, in the right theater, makes the film well worth the admission. Sound is the key essential to U-571.

The characters are simple, the plot is simple, and the film probably won't haunt you long after you've seen it, but that's OK. Just sit back and enjoy the claustrophobic sets, the deafening sound effects, and the non-stop action for what it's worth.

This is so unreal... I like historical movies that are credible, and Rambo-the-submarine doesnt match here. I dont know what they were thinking, there's a bunch of depth charges exploding directly next to the sub and all it does it shaking. Then, when its half wrecked, they go down well over 200 meters underwater, sink even more and "oh surprise" by miracle it suddenly goes up. I'm bored of movies like this. I give it 6/10 for the effort, the idea was good but the way it ended is just stupid (I didnt know a torpedo could blow up a destroyer like if it was a nuclear bomb...)

I usually enjoy submarine movies. Loads of action and precious little romance to clutter up the thing. On that front, this delivers quite well as Matthew McConaughey ("Tyler") and Bill Paxton ("Dahlgren") lead a daring mission to capture the enigma coding machine from an U-Boat. Thanks to a broken down Nazi sub in the middle of the ocean, the initial part of the operation goes surprisingly smoothly, but just at the moment of triumph, well - the rudder comes off. They must now make the best use they can of their captured ship and try to make it home in one piece with their prize. This isn't going to be easy. The torpedo tubes don't work. The thing is held together with chewing gum and willpower and the enemy know that they are out there. If you ignore the fact that this has very little to do with the history of the actual device, well, at least until the few captions at the end - this is quite a passable adventure with plenty of action, some not so great CGI and a competent acting ensemble to do the gung ho, ye ha stuff adequately enough. It can, at times, be effectively claustrophobic and does illustrate just how precarious life could be stuck in an airless tube 600 feet under the surface - especially when some guy on top is dropping depth charges. It's watchable, but equally forgettable.

The yarn is interesting and based on real deeds with thrilling screenplay and authoritative direction by Jonathan Mostow. There are suspense, thriller and action, though the scenario is mostly into submarines . This exciting underwater drama concerns about stirring battles between US and German submarines . Bill Paxton stars as a veteran commander who is scheming a dangerous voyage to capture a stricken U-boat carrying the enigma coding device and solid Mathew McConaughey as the second in command who attempts anticipate his every move. Tensions run high and rise between commandant Mike Dahlgren and Lt. Andrew Tyler and the crew as they set out from a port to take and destroy the German sub . The crew as Harvey Keitel , Jake Weber , Jon Bon Jovi , Tom Guiry , Will Estes , Erik Palladino are pushed to the brink of death by risked mission full of dangers , twists and turns. The film is famous as one of the best and recent WWII submarine movies .

This nail-biter is a tightly-knit drama centered on the sea maneuvers going after the mightiest battle submarines of the Atlantic Ocean that are decimating the Allied convoys . The motion picture is meticulously mounted by Jonathan Mostow who always manages to make a course correction in the nick of time and deliver another direct success . Impressive, rousing musical score by Richard Marvin and appropriate, colorful cinematography by Oliver Wood. Perfect production design by Gotz Weidner who also made 'Das Boot' .

The film belongs to submarine genre, along with : ¨ Torpedo(1958) ¨ by Robert Wise with Burt Lancaster and Clark Gable 'Torpedo run(1958)' by Joseph Pevney with Glenn Ford and Ernest Borgnine; 'Das Boot(1982)' by Wolfgang Petersen with Jurgen Prochnow; 'Hunt for red october(1990)' by John McTiernan with Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery ; 'Crimson tide' by Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; 'K19' with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and in similar style ¨U-Boat(2004)¨ by Tony Giglio with Scott Caan , William H Macy and of course Tomas Kretschmann who in U-571 also stars a German officer , as usual .

The movie produced by the great producer Dino De Laurentiis is based on historic deeds , thus the construction of new U-boats continued at a record -breaking during WWII. In 1942-43 Hitler raised enormously his U-boat strength,the German submarines sank numerous ships,in early 1943 the called ¨Wolf packs¨sank 90 ships in 20 days.Then,suddenly ,between March and June 1943,an exceptional change took place .The Allies began to win the war against Hitler's underwater in the Battle of the Atlantic . By this time the technique of submarines warfare had advanced far beyond that used in the beginning the war.The Allies pitted thousands of boats,seamen,destroyers,cruisers,subs,cannons and billion of dollars against the undersea craft .As early as December 1943 Karl Doeniz ,the architect and designer of U-boat campaign,admitted the grave turn in events . The cost was great on both sides .In the six years of war ,the Germans,by their own statistics,destroyed more than 2000 British,Allied ships in the sea.Hitler had built 1162 subs ,of which 783 were lost.Of the 41000 men recruited into the underwater service ,between 28000 and 32000 lost their lives and 500 were taken prisoners.The film provides a realistic detailing of life aboard and a portrait about the crews subjected to stressful and psychological tensions . In fact the sailors had sleep in shifts.For months they were lodged in close quarters because every inch the space was needed for machinery,supplies and torpedoes.The air was heavy with odors from bilges,diesel oil and unwashed bodies.The men faced sudden death from depth charges ,aerial bombing attacks or the sharp bow of a swift destroyer as happen in this film. The movie that achieved big hit , will appeal to action enthusiasts and WWII aficionados. Rating 7/10 , above average .

Well I enjoyed this film. The plot line is absurd, but so what? So was Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen, Inglorious Basterds and many others.

No, it's a bit of all-action hokum set in a submarine. It doesn't compare well with Morning Departure, Above Us the Waves, We Dive at Dawn, and certainly not with the daddy of them all, Das Boot, but it's entertaining enough.

And to those fellow Brits who take umbrage at the notion that Hollywood is claiming that the US Navy did stuff that they didn't, well I say lighten up. It's just a movie, it's not pretending to be history, it's a story. My suggestion... save up your money and commission a film that shows the British SAS taking Iwo Jima, HMS Ark Royal winning the Battle of Midway and the Japanese surrender taking place on HMS King George V, after the dropping of The Bomb out of a Lancaster flown out of Burmah. Now THAT I'd like to see!

This is not a historical film or even based on a true story. It simply is WW2 themed action flick. For that, it is very good film. I don't understand why some reviews criticize for historic values. That's like expecting historical accuracy from James Bond series.

The movie is well acted, well scripted and well told. Actions are not over the top and although some explosion effects looked fake, it doesn't take away from the story.

Matthew McConaughey is sometimes criticized for his acting early in his career but I actually think he did a very good job portraying the young inexperienced captain in this movie.

Hollywood gets away with so much disgraceful and disgusting stuff. It was the Royal Navy, it was the English who cracked the code it was the English who did all this before the states even entered the war. Some on here are saying get over it, it's only a movie. Well how about if the British made a movie saying the Paras went in and won Viet nam. Or a Yorkshireman was the first man on the moon. Would America be ok with it?. Come on it's only a movie. No it's just wrong to rewrite history and make out only America wins wars and only America can do thing right. It is a slap in the face to those who fought and died and it should not be allowed.

This is a great movie. It's tense, action-packed, and highly entertaining. That's what I want out of this kind of movie. It's not meant to be a documentary. It's not a dramatization of a *particular* mission or incident. The historical context may be true but the story itself is a work of FICTION, just like the central plot of Saving Private Ryan is fiction.

And yet lots of people have given ridiculously low scores because "that's not how it happened" or they object that it "gives credit to Americans for British accomplishments", even though the text at the end of the film clearly credits both British and American captures of U-boats & enigma machines. At least they're honest about why they're unfairly downvoting it.

This movie is another one in a long line of pro-U.S. war films. You know the kind. Those are the films where north american soldiers are the only ones capable of any wit, wisdom, intelligence and courage.

Unfortunately, by now the rest of the world is a bit brighter, and we know that, really, Ben Affleck didn't save Great Britain from the Germans. There is an undeniable and deep love and respect for all veterans and U.S. soldiers that lost their lives in Europe during both World Wars from the rest of the world, the kind of respect that only comes from defending an ideal with their lives. It's Hollywood who is keen on destroying those heroes' reputation by making them seem so superior as to be ridiculous.

In summary, this film is a parody of the amazing "Das Boot". It's quite obvious that the same things will happen in any submarine: depth charges, marine battles, etc. But U-571 makes everything seem sweet: there is no claustrophobia, the crew gets along pretty well, they kill every german in sight, and even a destroyer. Das Boot shows a destroyed boat, terribly strained relationships, a sense of quiet desperation and resignation. Where U-571 plays glorious fanfare, Das Boot counters with powerful silence. Where Das Boot puts grime, U-571 substitutes pretty faces. Where Das Boot has realism, U-571 doesn't.

But most insulting of all, where englishmen should have been, U-571 cleverly substitutes them with U.S. soldiers. Oh, the nerve.

Bottom line: this movie makes for a great surround sound demo disc, or a nice coaster. Hollywood is still clueless when it comes to making war movies. If a future historian only had U.S. war movies to base history upon, he would decidedly declare the rest of the world sub-human idiots, and the U.S. civilization as a more evolved race.

A theory Hollywood debunks quite nicely.