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U-571 (2000)

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558 comments in total

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126 out of 181 people found the following comment useful :-
Mel Brooks does Das Boot, 22 July 2001

Author: Francisco Huerta (fjhuerta@hotmail.com) from Mexico City

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.

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102 out of 150 people found the following comment useful :-
U-571 is a movie with a horrible story and contains a lot of false pathos, 6 July 2002

Author: Alexander from Munich, Germany

Thank god for the US-Navy. The german U-571 is seriously damaged, so that the full, perfectly trained german crew isn`t able to run it. Of course a hand-full american sailors, who even can`t read the (german) instruments of the different machines in U-571 probably manage to get away with the submarine immediately. After being heavily bombed by a german destroyer, they are even able to reach an absolutely incredible depth. But not enough, of course they send the destroyer to the bottom with only one (coincidentally their last) torpedo. Not only the fact, that this heroic voyage is absolutely implausible and ridiculous, makes U-571 the worst movie I´ve ever seen. Also the story, that the Americans found and decoded the Enigma is just a falsification of history. Of course America did a lot for ending the nazi-tyranny, but in this case, it was the achievement of english sailors and scientists. I´m really not a german nationalist and there were a lot of good and even great movies about WWII ( e.g. Saving Private Ryan) but U-571 isn`t. It´s really a disgusting, poor effort of making money with the most primitive sort of patriotism.

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56 out of 82 people found the following comment useful :-
Hollywood history, 2 March 2002

Author: Prosinecki from Croatia

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

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56 out of 87 people found the following comment useful :-
An insult, an embarrassment, an offense, 14 August 2002

Author: Damien-43 from Los Angeles

Defenders of this film, stop whining that "it's just a movie." Fellow Americans, stop being so friggin' defensive when people complain about the pathetic, insipid, insulting posturing we do.

By now anyone who's read anything about this movie knows it was the English and not the Americans who captured the Enigma machine (and also that at the time the story allegedly takes place, the US wasn't even in the war).

But here is the most evil thing about "U-571" -- director Jonathan Mostow in many interviews has complained that the great submarine movie "Das Boot" was a lie because it portrayed the German crew as sailors, soldiers, human beings and not Nazis. This is why he opens his film with the U-boat crew gunning down a lifeboat of helpless, unarmed Allied survivors. Jonathan Mostow perpetuates every lie, every war-time propaganda fabrication, every stereotype ever perpetrated about the enemy. During wartime such propaganda is necessary... but this is sixty years later. No one is in any way excusing the monstrousness of the Nazis. But it is stupid and blind to portray every single German as cut from that same blood-stained cloth. Even English viewers -- who have far, far more reason to hate the Nazis than any American -- have been quick to point out the foulness of Mostow's vision.

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29 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Please forgive us, Brit friends, 4 May 2001

Author: Rev-Maynard from New Jersey

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

***May contain Spoilers***

I was embarrassed as an American seeing this film. Just knowing that it would be seen over seas. It's amazing how a submarine can withstand 40 depth charges while another could be put out by two. And I believe it would also be a virtual impossibility for Americans to commandeer a German sub and vice versa.

But the worst thing about this movie is its arrogant rewriting of history. It was the British who first captured the enigma machine NOT the Americans. We have no right to take credit for other nations accomplishments. Hollywood simply has a historical ignorance. But beyond that it is still just an awful, awful movie. No one with half a brain would be entertained by this garbage.

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30 out of 39 people found the following comment useful :-
Sinks With All Hands, Leaving An Ugly Oily Stain, 6 May 2000

Author: Mike-489 from Motherwell, Scotland

The REAL story behind the films exploits is far more embarasing & not one that Hollywood is going to tell the great American public.

The British cracked Enigma before the US even entered the War! Admiral Doenitz, suspicious that the UK had cracked the 3 code wheel Enigma (used by the German army), ordered a 4 wheel device & the British no longer were able to decode the U-Boat's messages. Sinkings of convoy vessels went up as a result, until a Royal Navy officer had the bright idea of knocking over a German weather ship in the North Sea & pinching the Enigna (they couldn't decode the messages from this ship so suspected, correctly, that it was a new, 4 wheel device). Code breaking recommenced & the U-Boats suffered such heavy losses that Doenitz eventually recalled them.

In "Operation Drumbeat", where the US, now in the war, had the shipping of it's East coast targeted, the British supplied the US Navy with intercepts, giving the U-Boats locations, courses, speed & intended target areas. Also passed on were suggested tactics for dealing with the U-Boat threat, all learned the hard way & shown to be effective. The US East coast commander, Admiral King, IGNORED them!

A bigoted Anglophobe, Admiral King refused to mount any anti submarine patrols & so condemed thousands of his own countrymen (the people he was supposed to PROTECT) to death. So many ships were sunk the U-Boat commanders called it "The New Happy Times".

Contrast this with Canada, also the target of the U-Boats, where the UK supplied intelligence was used & the anti submarine tactics employed. So few were the sinkings of ships & so heavy the U-Boat losses they were withdrawn to the SAFER waters of the US coast!

Only when Admiral King was finally replaced, after losses to shipping which could no longer be covered up, did effective anti submarine operations begin off the east coast of the US & the menace receded.

One man's obstinacy, stupidity & wrecklessness sacrificed thousands of US lives to satisfy the cravings of his ego. No Hollywood studio is going to dramatise that, so crap like "U571" is churned out. This is even more shocking when you consider that the people who died in this shameful episode still have living relatives.

The film Titanic was bad enough, but this is a step too far.I am appaled to think that if this carries on what the next step might be? How about the US wins the Vietnam War really? The US actually invented pennicillin (it was Dr Flemming, he was born in Darvel, just down the road from me)? The US wins the Battle of Britain?

Hollywood needs a kick up the pants for this film. Sadly most will go & see it & believe it's true. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose, but for the Americans killed & the families bereived, it is not the case.

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20 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Glitches?, 4 June 2000

Author: Mark Cordell (m.cordell@ntlworld.com) from Teesside, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

SPOILER-ME-DO

Number 1: It was the BRITISH ROYAL NAVY who first captured an enigma machine from a u-boat, but we don't get to see that now do we because Brits (specifically English) are the evil bad guys in most period movies these days (Braveheart, The Patriot). A recent example of British heroism and American villainy (Amistad where a British lawyer defends the mutineer slaves against the American courts) bombed at the box office. Wake up America, you aren't always the good guys.

Ok, on to the plot problems, but first i admit I have hardly any knowledge of submarines, but the following points are worth considering: 1) Why didn't the Germans lock the hatch to the deck when they were being boarded? 2) Didn't the American crew realise the supply u-boat would show up behind them? 3) Why didn't the German captain order the crew to destroy the enigma machine while they were being boarded? 4) How come the Germans' aim with artillery and small arms was so bad? Stormtroopers in every sense... 5) Why didnt the German captain do more to damage the engine while he had the chance? 6) Why didn't more Germans fight back?

The movie itself is a very straightforward WWII adventure action flick, tense and fast-paced, although the 'being a hard decision maker' subtext was both heavy handed and unnecessary. Also there was some rich manipulation prior to the boarding. The makers thought 'hmmmm not too heroic, sneaking on board a u-boat and then murdering the crew.... we'd better make the Germans look evil by executing a load of adrift Allied seamen'. This little piece stuck out like a sore German thumb. Perhaps those who wrote and directed this should acknowledge the current wisdom that war creates few, if any, real heroes. In war, both sides do bad things.

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24 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
American Military Pornography, 28 December 2001

Author: jpoppenk from Canada

This is yet another epic film about heroic Americans stepping into a situation, destroying everything, and creating an unhealthy and polarized sense of morality (the good Americans kill the evil Germans). You could label this film racist... perhaps acceptable when the propaganda was necessary (in the 40's), but certainly not 50 years after the fact.

The film also fails to capture a good sense of life in one of these submarines... since the film concentrates on military glory and good triumphing over evil, the potentially powerful, subtler moments of suspense are hopelessly lost, and the film degenerates into a muffled confusion of trumpets and excessively justified violence.

It is impossible to watch this without thinking of Das Boot, and how much more powerful the cinematography and directing are, not to mention how much more tolerant and accurate a picture it paints of the morality of warfare and of Germans as real people during the war.

My rating is 2/10 on this film, because it has wasted a potentially powerful concept on mindless and destructive entertainment, questioned Germans as human beings, took millions of dollars to do it, and is essentially a cultural regression from its ancestor Das Boot, made 20 years prior.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A Good Utilization of Sound, 9 August 2001
Author: Kip Wade (pethly@hotmail.com)

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.

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18 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
THIS FILM SUCKS!!!!!!, 7 June 2000

Author: Stuart Kelly from Glasgow, Scotland

Never have I witnessed such a perverse example of rewriting history. Hollywood producers must ask themselves what they are trying to achieve by inflating American egos in this way? Fabricating history in movies for national glorification is something the Nazis did. Boycott this film. It's crude, it's cheap and it's immoral.

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