the audience applauded

From my favorite movies..

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Awesome Movie

Apparently everyone who reviewed this movie expected to see a historically accurate movie in every respect. Nowhere did the makers say it was an accurate portrayal of an actual event on any particular U Boat or any actual patrol. The film was made in the USA to make money, not be a historically 100% accurate film about any Nazi U boat. As far as whether the US Navy ever captured a U boat, yes they did on June 4, 1944. They arrested the crew and got the enigma machine which was sent to Bletchley Park England. The boat U 505 was then towed the boat to Bermuda. It now sits in Chicago at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. The US under the Lend-Lease Program gave the United Kingdom $31.4 billion (equivalent to $427 billion today) during WW 2. I guess that was a mistake according to most respondants here I see. Perhaps the US should have stayed out of Europe and let France and England defeat Hitler by themselves while we took on Japan.

U-571 garnered a lot of negative publicity on first release, due to the fact that it's completely historically inaccurate – the Brits were the ones who captured the first Enigma machine, not the Yanks. Still, inaccuracies aside – and let's face it, a LOT of Hollywood films are far from the truth – it's best to remember that this is a movie, nothing more, nothing less, designed to entertain and that's it. And I'm pleased to say that it's VERY entertaining.Submarine thrillers have been fairly rare over the last couple of decades; everyone remembers DAS BOOT, the classic German miniseries, but there are no films so to speak of other than THE HUNT FOR RED October and CRIMSON TIDE. U-571 seeks to re-address that, presenting a taut thriller that mainly takes place in a single location. The good news is that Jonathan Mostow is the director, and he wrings every ounce of suspense, tension, and atmosphere from his confined setting. Mostow is that rare beast – a director who manages to turn even lacklustre scripts into entertaining movies; see TERMINATOR 3 for a case in point. His earlier BREAKDOWN, a fantastic thriller with Kurt Russell, remains a favourite and U-571 is just as entertaining as that movie.Being a Hollywood movie, there are the requisite number of clichés and outlandish situations, but the premise seems fresh and the film is bolstered by some brilliant action scenes that make great use of CGI effects for a change. The cast have no choice but to give it their all; this is an ensemble outing and there's no hiding from the camera. Harvey Keitel is fine as the elder statesman, letting his younger co-stars do the hard work; Matthew McConaughey, an actor I usually dislike, is actually very good as the wannabe-captain. Elsewhere, the well-established likes of Bill Paxton and Elias Koteas fill out character roles, and there are two unusual casting choices: a bit part for cheeky chappy Robin Askwith, best known for his performances in '70s comedies like CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER, and a supporting role for musician Jon Bon Jovi, who is actually pretty decent. This is a frequently edge-of-your-seat film that packs in some great twists. After the initial set-up it keeps pounding away until the ending, and I enjoyed every minute; a minor classic for sure that just looks better and better as the years pass.

While this film stirred some controversy regarding its portrayal of history, particular in the media in the UK, this needs to be totally ignored and there was a complete lack of understanding that this was a work of FICTION. Some of the hysteria around the release was to be frank, totally irrelevant and the focus needed to be on whether the film was any good or not as a story.So, as a old fashioned adventure film, it's very good indeed. The film's plot is simple and straightforward, helped a lot by portraying both the American and German sailors in a rounded and grounded way. Performances are solid all round, with Matthew McConnaughey in good form as the lead, with excellent support from both Jack Noseworthy, Jake Weber and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The script by Director Mostow, Sam Montgomery and writer/director David Ayer is lean allows that action to zip along at breakneck speed, supported greatly by excellent and authentic directing on the part of Mostow and excellent photography by Oliver Wood. Wayne Wahrman's outstanding editing, convincing production design with Richard Marvin's thunderously rousing score helps create a thrilling and exciting experience full of tension. Kudos also need to go the to the visual effects crew, who make excellent use of life size submarines and truly excellent sets, to highly effective underwater miniature photography. However this film's biggest technical credit is the excellent atmosphere created by the excellent sound work, with Jon Johnson winning an Academy Award for his sound editing. His work contributes massively to creating a genuinely real and claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the submarines that feature in the story, and helps put the viewer in the action. He had already worked on a number of high profile films prior to winning the Oscar, including Star Trek Generations, Independence Day, Breakdown (Mostow's previous film as director), and Payback. Subsequent to U571 he would go on to work on other high profile pictures such as A Knight's Tale, The Rookie, Amazing Grace, Captain American, Saving Mr Banks, The Blind Side and Surrogates – yet another collaboration with Jonathan Mostow. If there are any quibbles, the way the core crew get out of an initial rendezvous with an enemy destroyer does stretch credibility. The fact that a supply submarine would still have space to carry torpedoes also comes as a bit of a surprise, as does the use of a spotter plane that looks suspiciously like a short range Messchermitt (which you would never find out in the middle of the Atlantic – or a German destroyer for that matter – Germany only tended to send it large battleships into this region). However the fun and enjoyment of the film will grab you to will tend to overlook any flaws. So in summary if you just accept and experience it as a work of fiction, you will have a great time

Once in a while there comes a time when a film lover has their patience snapped, that we can't surely accept in this instance that poetic license is OK as an excuse purely for Hollywood to make a piece of entertainment. U-571 pretty much rips up the history books for its own ends, something that would see even the film makers themselves bow their heads during the years that followed. However... As a drama - cum - thriller, Jonathan Mostow's film is top end. There's some iffy acting in the support slots, but the production is still excellently put together. Suspense down below in the submarine is high anxiety, the tactics of war in the Atlantic superbly written, while the finale face off is edge of the seat gripping. It's these things that has let U-571 gain decent ratings on the main internet movie sites. Taken as a piece of Hollywood guff, it's a rocking war movie, one that also sounds absolutely tremendous through home cinema systems. As long as you accept it as guff - regardless of your nationality, then there is a great time to be had. But just as with films like Braveheart, do familiarise yourselves with the facts afterwards. 6/10