The best submarine flick since "Das Boot"

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2001)

Nothing can or will ever measure up to "Das Boot," but "U-571" comes pretty darn close. I've seen about two dozen submarine movies, but this is the first one to leave me with no fingernails. I can't help but scoff whenever some hypercritical so-and-so gripes about it being historically inaccurate. To appreciate the movie for what it really is, you need two things: an open mind and an utter lack of cynicism. I saw absolutely nothing--not a prop, not a line, not a premise--in that movie stating that this was the first attempt ever at capturing an Enigma machine. Remember the dedication at the end? May 9, 1941, the British took the Enigma for the first time. Now, almost every time such a machine was captured, the Nazis eventually got wise and CHANGED THE CODE. They kept on changing it and changing it, and the Allies kept having to try again. So, who says the Americans can't try again a year later, fictionally? They tried and succeeded factually with the U-505--a lot of people seem to be ignoring this.
"U-571" also has the best sound and underwater photography I have ever seen in two dozen submarine flicks; it deserves the Oscar it received for sound editing. When I first saw it in the theater, the sounds were edited so that certain sounds came out of certain speakers; for instance, if the crew heard a noise in the rear section of the boat, that noise came out of the speakers at the rear of the theater. WOW!! Together with the terrific photography, it was just like being inside the boat with the characters. All told, the sound effects in this movie are mind-boggling.
This gets an 8.75 from me, the -1.25 due to pithy little things like mooring lines and diving alarm. Other submarine movies have gotten a lot more wrong than that. "U-571" is realistic, mostly well-acted, and wholly well-written--to fans of submarines and submarine movies like me, it's a treat and a half. And there wasn't much character development going on, so what? There was too much else going on without making the movie overlong. As I say, it's no "Das Boot," but it sure follows that new standard. So, watch "U-571" with an open mind and no cynicism, and you won't even be able to go to the washroom till it's over.