US sub captained by Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey set out to capture U-boot with Enigma coding device

Rating: 7/10 (12 March 2011)

The yarn is interesting and based on real deeds with thrilling screenplay and authoritative direction by Jonathan Mostow. There are suspense, thriller and action, though the scenario is mostly into submarines . This exciting underwater drama concerns about stirring battles between US and German submarines . Bill Paxton stars as a veteran commander who is scheming a dangerous voyage to capture a stricken U-boat carrying the enigma coding device and solid Mathew McConaughey as the second in command who attempts anticipate his every move. Tensions run high and rise between commandant Mike Dahlgren and Lt. Andrew Tyler and the crew as they set out from a port to take and destroy the German sub . The crew as Harvey Keitel , Jake Weber , Jon Bon Jovi , Tom Guiry , Will Estes , Erik Palladino are pushed to the brink of death by risked mission full of dangers , twists and turns. The film is famous as one of the best and recent WWII submarine movies .
This nail-biter is a tightly-knit drama centered on the sea maneuvers going after the mightiest battle submarines of the Atlantic Ocean that are decimating the Allied convoys . The motion picture is meticulously mounted by Jonathan Mostow who always manages to make a course correction in the nick of time and deliver another direct success . Impressive, rousing musical score by Richard Marvin and appropriate, colorful cinematography by Oliver Wood. Perfect production design by Gotz Weidner who also made 'Das Boot' .
The film belongs to submarine genre, along with : ¨ Torpedo(1958) ¨ by Robert Wise with Burt Lancaster and Clark Gable 'Torpedo run(1958)' by Joseph Pevney with Glenn Ford and Ernest Borgnine; 'Das Boot(1982)' by Wolfgang Petersen with Jurgen Prochnow; 'Hunt for red october(1990)' by John McTiernan with Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery ; 'Crimson tide' by Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; 'K19' with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and in similar style ¨U-Boat(2004)¨ by Tony Giglio with Scott Caan , William H Macy and of course Tomas Kretschmann who in U-571 also stars a German officer , as usual .
The movie produced by the great producer Dino De Laurentiis is based on historic deeds , thus the construction of new U-boats continued at a record -breaking during WWII. In 1942-43 Hitler raised enormously his U-boat strength,the German submarines sank numerous ships,in early 1943 the called ¨Wolf packs¨sank 90 ships in 20 days.Then,suddenly ,between March and June 1943,an exceptional change took place .The Allies began to win the war against Hitler's underwater in the Battle of the Atlantic . By this time the technique of submarines warfare had advanced far beyond that used in the beginning the war.The Allies pitted thousands of boats,seamen,destroyers,cruisers,subs,cannons and billion of dollars against the undersea craft .As early as December 1943 Karl Doeniz ,the architect and designer of U-boat campaign,admitted the grave turn in events . The cost was great on both sides .In the six years of war ,the Germans,by their own statistics,destroyed more than 2000 British,Allied ships in the sea.Hitler had built 1162 subs ,of which 783 were lost.Of the 41000 men recruited into the underwater service ,between 28000 and 32000 lost their lives and 500 were taken prisoners.The film provides a realistic detailing of life aboard and a portrait about the crews subjected to stressful and psychological tensions . In fact the sailors had sleep in shifts.For months they were lodged in close quarters because every inch the space was needed for machinery,supplies and torpedoes.The air was heavy with odors from bilges,diesel oil and unwashed bodies.The men faced sudden death from depth charges ,aerial bombing attacks or the sharp bow of a swift destroyer as happen in this film. The movie that achieved big hit , will appeal to action enthusiasts and WWII aficionados. Rating 7/10 , above average .