Rousing, exciting and loud WWII submarine adventure

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2000)

Matthew McConaughey stars in this rousing submarine adventure, `U-571'. Using state of the art special effects and multi-channel surround sound, Jonathan Mostow directs the viewer into the World War II claustrophobia of American and German underwater battleships. McConaughy portrays the first officer of a U.S. sub that has been given the mission of capturing the German coding machine named `Enigma'. In the process of accomplishing their mission, he and his cohorts are stranded on a wounded German U-boat and are under attack from above by a German battleship. Harvey Keitel is his second in command. This is an unusually heroic role for Keitel who usually plays in quirky independent films. Bill Paxton as the American sub skipper, Jon Bon Jovi, and Erik Palladino (of TV's `ER') also acquit themselves well.
Mostrow uses the wide Panavision screen to draw the audience into this scary world where depth charges are dropped from above exploding loudly all around them (and us). These Dolby Digital explosions are deftly contrasted to the deadly silences. These are punctuated by the periodic sonar `pings' and the creaking of the aged sub as she plummets the ocean to levels where the crushing weight of the water above threatens to squash the steel like a weak tin can.

Like many World War II films of the past, `U-571' is a bit weak on characterization. However, that's not what this film is about. The action and adventure are the reason for this film, and here, the filmmakers have delivered!