entertaining, but flawed

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2000)

I saw this on saturday, and while entertaining, there are certain hollywoodisms that detract from the story.
I.Historical innacuracy: There was only one incident ever recorded of a U boat skipper ordering his crew to fire upon lifeboats, and it was Heinz Eck of U-852. He was later tried for this crime and executed. German submariners were, by and large, conscripts, not fanatical nazis, and doing the same dirty work our subs were doing in the pacific theater. This is a FACT attested to by Admiral Nimitz at the nuremberg trials, testifying in BEHALF of CinC Uboats Karl Donitz. I guess the Germans had to be so sinister for this plot to work. II. defiance of the laws of physics: If anyone can tell me how a single torpedo fired from a stern tube at the narrow silhoutte of a destroyer can stop the destroyer cold in its wake please email me with this little miracle of physics! I DID actually enjoy this movie. The production company actually built a u-boat from the actual blueprints at Blohm and Voss shipyards in Germany. I was impressed with the accuracy of the models, but the plot was trite and predictable. Tell you what, though.. A type VII uboat only had a pressure hull that was 3/4 of an inch thick. That the sub didn't implode beyond 200meters depth is a monument to German Engineering..