U-571 (2000)

Director:

Jonathan Mostow

Writers (WGA):

Jonathan Mostow (story)
Jonathan Mostow (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 April 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

You won't come up for air until it's over!

Plot:

A German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.

Plot Keywords:

U Boat | Sos | Code | Submarine | Mission

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Matthew McConaughey	...	Lt. Andrew Tyler, Executive Officer
Bill Paxton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren
Harvey Keitel	...	CPO Henry Klough
Jon Bon Jovi	...	Lt. Pete Emmett, Chief Engineer
David Keith	...	Maj. Matthew Coonan, USMC, Office of Naval Intelligence
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Capt.-Lt. Gunther Wassner
Jake Weber	...	Lt. Hirsch, USNR
Jack Noseworthy	...	Seaman Bill Wentz, Radioman
Tom Guiry	...	Seaman Ted 'Trigger' Fitzgerald, Radioman
Will Estes	...	Seaman Ronald 'Rabbit' Parker, Torpedoman
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Steward Eddie Carson
Erik Palladino	...	Seaman Anthony Mazzola, Planesman
Dave Power	...	Seaman Charles 'Tank' Clemens, Machinist Mate
Derk Cheetwood	...	Seaman Herb Griggs, Helmsman
Matthew Settle	...	Ens. Keith Larson, Chief Torpedoman

Also Known As:

U-571 (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for war violence.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:12 | Singapore:PG | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Canal Plus Image International

Trivia:

In the original script, when Tyler is thoughtfully looking at the pictures in the German submarine's mess, he recognizes the prisoner wearing a captain's uniform.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The S-33 starts from Kittery, Maine ("PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD" on building behind welders), but in Lt. Hirsch's briefing, the map clearly shows the U-571's triangulated position at 52°N, 29°W. This is over 2,000 miles from Portsmouth, NH, but only about 1,200 miles from Lorient, France. The resupply sub left Lorient before the S-33 left Portsmouth (known from the times of day and also because Hirsch knows about it), and the U-571 is drifting east, too, so how could the S-33 possibly get there first?

Quotes:

Marine Maj. Coonan: How deep does this thing go?
Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren: Oh, she'll go all the way to the bottom if we don't stop her.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#25.9)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Lover, Come Back to Me

Hollywood history

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