A great submarine adventure

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2000)

U-571 gives us the chance to feel what it was like to serve on a submarine during WWII. Playing a very dangerous game of cat and mouse, subs would sneak up on an unsuspecting ship and torpedo them out of the water. But, the subs would have to be careful not to be detected, because any surviving ship would find them, and sink them. U-571 sets up the plot very quickly, a Nazi U-boat is disabled, and an American sub has a chance to capture the Enigma device. With the Enigma device in hand, the Allied forces would be able to break the U-boat's codes. However, things don't go well for the American sailors who commandeer U-571. They have to evade the Germans in order to make it back to safe waters, and the submarine is not in the best shape. The cast works well, and you can see the tension in their faces when depth charges start rocking the ship. The film works well on several other levels, especially when there is no sound. The lack of noise brings out the most tension during the film. You wait in anticipation for a charge to go off, and you never know when one might. Be sure to see the film in a theater that has digital sound. This way, you'll hear every pop, ping, creak and the whine of a torpedo the way you might hear it on a submarine.