ID4 in a can.

Rating: Null/10 (3 November 2000)

I agree with other comments that this movie and Das Boot cannot be compared. Das Boot is a great study of the lives of the U boat crewmen and this was a big Hollywood blockbuster. Like ID4, it has melodramatic faux sentimentality, poor writing and cheesy music but if the explosions are big and loud enough, we'll forget that stuff right ? Well, maybe the 13 yr old sitting next to me will. Yes Das Boot is a far superior movie, if you like this movie, do yourself a favor and go rent it. The DVD is outstanding. My favorite errors regarding U-571: the scene early on where the disabled U boat just happens to meet up with a boat full of people and thus must destroy them. I am sure this is a common occurrence in the middle of the Atlantic. Let's see, its PG-13 so anyone with half a brain can't figure out the whole good-guy-vs-bad-guy thing. Such an obvious plot device to sway our opinion is a sign of poor writing. It was WW2 for pete's sake. We know who we were fighting ! As the crocodile hunter would say: Craiky ! The acting is oh so stiff. See Ebert's take on the whole questioning orders thing. I prefer movies to be accurate. It is possible for a movie about historical events to be accurate and engaging. This movie rewrites history with the obligatory "we made it up" prologue. Note to Hollywood: dont do anymore sub movies. You cannot better Das Boot. (note to self: this movie made a ton of money, oh yeah...ok, please dont make another sub movie, instead how about a remake of Rocky only this time its a girl, and she's really rich but can't get a man, and so she goes ice-skating with a poor guy who is a janitor but is played by some calvin klein model, and she wins the title fight and gets the guy but also gets a scorching case of herpes which must be cleared up in the sequel.)