An enjoyably tense war movie despite the obvious issues

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2003)

The Atlantic is a hunting ground for the German U-Boats as the British and Allied forces are unable to crack their codes and their convoys are easily picked off. When a U-Boat is damaged it sends out a distress signal to Berlin for rescue. The signal is intercepted and the Royal Navy is sent out in a S-boat to reach the U-Boat first, board it, claim the Enigma machine that allows the U Boats to translate the code, sink the boat and return to base. They board the U Boat but the S boat is attacked and sunk by another U Boat leaving some of the crew on board the U Boat. With no other way to transport the Enigma home they take control of the U Boat and make the perilous journey home.
I approached this film on the back of knowing about the real life scenario and must admit to being a little snotty about the depiction of the men involved in this part of war history as Americans rather than British. To get it out of the way, those involved were actually of the Royal Navy and these events happened several months before America got involved in WWII. I felt that, because the film was an American film then let them do what they want  as long as they acknowledge the real situation (which they do just before the credits). I'd rather the film was made and audiences inspired to find out more rather than way for the British industry to have the capacity to make such a film.
So away from the controversy (which is understandable after all) the film is actually a solid war movie that mixes silent tension with moments of action (to keep the punters happy). It is by no means a perfect film but it is enjoyable nonetheless. It manages to move along quite well and do the traditional thing of having men valiantly giving up their lives etc for their country. It is not as amazing as I'd have hoped, but I must admit that it is because I'm used to seeing American movie stars doing amazing things  so this felt very ordinary. I countered this by thinking of English sailors doing the same and that enabled me to feel more involved in the film  perhaps a cast of unknowns (British or American) would have been better. However I still enjoyed the film as a solid war thriller.
The cast is probably too all star for it's won good. It has a mix of well known named as well as familiar faces. McConaughey is a good lead and has a more complex character than he might have had in a film such as this. Harvey Keitel has less to do than I had hoped, as did Bill Paxton. Happily Bon Jovi is quickly forgotten and the American crew of the U Boat are all pretty good despite their lacklustre credits outside of this film.
It may take extreme liberties with history and it may over-egg the action scenes somewhat (witness a destroyer go up like a firework factory with just one torpedo) but it is an enjoyable thriller anyway. Yes the flag waving side of it may be wrong in terms of the flag, but at least it does acknowledge who really was responsible for this heroic part of wartime history, albeit it as part of the end credits. Despite all this, as a film it is quite enjoyable and that's that. Watch this as a movie  if you want the real story and the real people involved then there are plenty of good books and documentaries out there on this subject.