Best spectacle but every old sub movie cliche all over again

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2000)

Yes the DVD is spectacular. The camera-work, cutting, sound, etc. are tops. And, yes, I did enjoy it. But having watched sub flicks since John Wayne first yelled "dive, dive, dive," I gotta say that this one repeats every cliche in the book. There is not a single surprise in the whole thing -- from the going "too deep" to avoid the depth charges and the pipes burst but the sub doesn't sink, to fooling the enemy destroyer by discharging waste and a dead body, to the torpedos that miss by an inch (actually one scrapes the hull but doesn't explode). Deja vu all over again... Among the most piquant unrealistic aspects for me was the placid condition of the North Atlantic Ocean, which even in a supposed storm looked like the Chesapeake with 5 knots of wind. But go see it if you like action flicks, and make sure you do see it with hi-fi surround sound because the depth bombing is too good to miss.