Not as bad as I thought it might be..

Rating: 5/10 (12 February 2005)

I put this DVD back on the shelf as I had heard so much about its historical inaccuracy, and that it was another 'America saves the day! Yeee-ha!' effort, but went back in the spirit of 'Hey, it's only a film'.
I enjoyed it, if they had skipped over the fact the US did not capture the first enigma machine or mislead viewers into thinking this film portrayed any sort of historical truth then I would have been annoyed, but the post-script at the end and interviews (for DVD viewers) make it clear what the truth of the matter was. Sadly a lot of the younger generation might choose to skip all this after the 'action' is all over.
I had also heard many write ups say how poorly it compared to 'Das Boot' whilst ripping many scenes off.. well no, Das Boot does a far better job of instilling a sense of claustrophobia and the feel of being on a U boat (the lighting in U 571 is all abit even for instance and these no sense of crowding, foul air or depth) but most of the situations in U 571 were pretty unique to this film.
If you have to see a U boat film, see Das Boot, if you've seen it and want an adventure film along those lines then U 571 is.. okay, especially if you get past the first 20 minutes.