Make no mistake about it, U-571 was designed to be a Hollywood blockbuster, not an intelligent, thought-provoking film, and certainly not a historically accurate homage. Any possible notion that the film could be more than this is immediately overshadowed by high-priced stars, dangerous stunts, and costly, extravagant special effects. As a popcorn movie produced purely for entertainment value, U-571 moderately succeeds by combining its effects with a fairly intense storyline and a deeper plot than expected.
Writer / director Jonathan Mostow is definitely talented, as exhibited by his previous work in 1997's Breakdown. In this Kurt Russell vehicle, Mostow used a Hollywood ready film concept, but greatly enhanced it with an excellent script and incredible suspense. If you get nothing else out of this review, do yourself a favor and seek out this underappreciated gem the next time you are at the video store. Unfortunately, Mostow's script for U-571 cannot even compare to his earlier work in Breakdown.
Matthew McConaughey (A Time To Kill, EDTv) gets top billing in U-571 as US Navy Lt. Andrew Tyler. Tyler wants to command his own crew, but the powers that be, namely Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren (Bill Paxton - Twister, A Simple Plan), do not feel that he is yet ready for the job. Interrupted from their brief leave ashore during WWII, Tyler, Dahlgren, and their crew find themselves on a terribly important mission to steal an Enigma machine from a German U-boat that will enable the Allies to decipher the secret German submarine code.
Dahlgren knows the location of a damaged German sub that is waiting for a repair crew to slowly make their way to it. Dahlgren's plan is to disguise his sub as the German rescue sub, act as German sailors, and somehow find and obtain the Enigma machine well before the real rescue sub can even get to the scene. While I originally suspected that this would be the entire plot, there is thankfully a whole lot more to the movie, details of which I will not reveal here.
While a few of the crew members can be differentiated on a very basic level, veteran Chief Klough (Harvey Keitel - Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Cop Land) is the only other character given much thought. The entire American crew functions as one, as our hero, with little characterization attempted beyond names. That said, it is no surprise that there are no winning performances found in the movie. This is quite a shame because a very talented cast of McConaughey, Paxton, and Keitel are practically wasted with such trite material and limiting dialogue as they are given here.
Historical inaccuracies aside, way aside, and weak script forgotten, U-571 serves up a pleasant dish of action, a side of plot surprises, and a dash of suspense. Although it leaves the "thinking" audiences with a lot to desire, for the mainstream public, U-571 can be an entertaining diversion.
6 out of 10.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language
DVD Extras: What U-571 lacks in substance, it makes up for, at least to an extent, with very substantial DVD extras. The DVD boasts both 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks to show off its very impressive sound, and the film is presented in its original, beautiful 2.35:1 widescreen format. It is in the bonus materials section that this DVD really proves what it is worth. There is a full length commentary track by Mostow, a Spotlight on Location 15 minute featurette, a Creating and Constructing U-571 shorter technical featurette, an Inside the Enigma informational piece, two interview segments on historical information (though the actual movie really missed out in this area) with WWII Allied veterans, a historical footage piece entitled "U.S. Naval Archives: Capturing the U-505," and the fairly standard theatrical trailer, production notes, and cast and crew bios. It would be nice if all the really good movies were given this grand of treatment on DVD.
U-571 is an action-packed, white-knuckle story about an American submarine crew s battle against time - and their own fears - while carrying out a dar...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.