Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13597 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-22
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you've never seen a submarine drama before, then U-571 will probably make a good impression as a tautly choreographed piece of entertainment. A strong cast led by Matthew McConaughey's sympathetic Lt. Tyler undertakes a perilous mission to seize a German Enigma machine, and encounter many dangers along the way. For anyone who has seen any other submarine movie, however, U-571 quickly turns into a succession of genre clichés: there's the depth-charge dropping scene, the diving so deep the reading goes off the scale scene, the near-mutinous tension among the crew, the sacrificial lamb who must save the day, the one torpedo left in the tube, assorted pipes bursting, and so on. The formula is set up by Bill Paxton's hard-nosed Captain, who tells Tyler what he must be prepared to do if he ever has his own command: a series of prophecies that, of course, all come true before long. From then on it's predictable action all the way.

Where U-571 scores highly is in its wealth of period detail: every cog and lever that operates the U-boat is dwelt upon lovingly. It looks and feels completely authentic. The central historical inaccuracy, that the first naval Enigma machine was in fact captured by a British ship, is apologetically mentioned in the end credits. The movie makes no claim to be a true story, admittedly, but other fictional dramas have dealt with the same subject more effectively. Try the magnificent Das Boot, for example, then The Cruel Sea, after which U-571 will seem very unambitious indeed. --Mark Walker

On the DVD: The director himself interviews two naval officers, one American and one British. The British officer is Lt. Commander David Balme, the very man who captured the first naval Enigma machine from U-110 in 1941; the American is the movie's technical adviser, Vice Admiral Patrick Hannifin. The Enigma machine itself is described briefly by an American cryptologist. There's also an old American documentary short about the 1944 capture of the U-505 in the Pacific and a "making of" featurette. The director provides a detailed commentary. --Mark Walker

Video Description
DVD Special Features:

Story of U-571
The Enigma
Director's Commentary
Anamorphic 16:9
Dolby Digital
English Subtitles

Synopsis
Faithful to the conventions of the World War II genre, Mostow's (BREAKDOWN) submarine thriller pays earnest homage to the pluck and determination of ordinary people forced to overcome extraordinary odds. The mostly young and inexperienced crew of the S-33 is deployed on a top secret, high-priority mission to intercept a disabled German u-boat (the titular U-571) and capture the ship's encryption system--the Enigma--in order to crack the Nazi's communication codes and hasten an allied victory in the North Atlantic. Racing against a German rescue effort, the S-33 stages a daring raid on the U-571. But after capturing the U-571, the Americans find themselves its prisoner as they must pilot the leaky, disabled vessel through hostile enemy waters. McConaughey (EDTV, DAZED AND CONFUSED) leads a strong cast (Keitel - HOLY SMOKE, Paxton - A SIMPLE PLAN) in this fast-paced, tense, submarine adventure.

Customer Reviews

One of the worse war movies I've ever seen
Apart from some very good sound effects this is one of the worse WW2 movies ever made in Hollywood.

Firstly is grossly inaccurate and is a painful distorsion of what really happened , the acting is dreadful and the action scenes are SO BAD.

From the point of view of the accuracy of military actions you can see how a cruiser fires 10 or 20 shots a close range ( 800 yards ) and misses then hits a submarine in the pro and ( the submarine ) continues sailing as it nothing had happenned ie it does not blow up , then a torpedo hits a cruiser in the pro and it ( the cruiser ) desintegrates in a second ( !!?? ).

What were they thinking ? I have watches many action /war films but this is one of the that will earn the wodden spoon , if you are really thinking about watching it please consider renting it.

Pathetic, idiotic travesty of truth
What can I say except this is a typical Hollywood-view of History, based on American Patriotism rather than the factual events of World War 2.

Consider the facts!

1. America had not even entered the War when the events contained in the film took place! Pearl Harbour had not occured yet!

2. The Enigma Machine was captured using information gained from the Polish Free Army and British forces!

3. The Germans had the best trained Submariners in operation until 1944. So how a U-Boat could not be repaired by its own crew is a mystery, even more so the fact that an American Submarine crew can fix it!

4. The U-Boat was crewed by 37 crew, how can the Americans operate a submarine in battle conditions with eight people is amazing!

For once I agree with the French on the grounds that Hollywood should be stopped from rewriting history and promoting the insane fantasy that America won the war solely!

Besides that the film contains one of the most irritating soundtracks that seems to conjure up the the typical expressions of American Patriotism at every opportunity!

If you want to see an accurate portrayal of World War 2 submarine life watch Das Boot - a mature, honest account!

If you really want to swallow the American Dream watch this and remember people died in capturing the Enigma machine - this film does not pay any respect to those individuals nor credits them!

Shame on you Hollywood!

A disgraceful rewrite of history
I think this film is best summed up by the writing on the front of the DVD packaging: "nine ordinary men are about to change history." - yeah, literally.

Why? What is it that makes Holywood producers want to piss on the memory of the heroes of the Royal Navy by pretending that it was someone else who did it? In fact, why does Holywood seem to want to write the British out of just about every single war movie?