Surprisingly entertaining

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2000)

When I first saw ads for this film, I thought "Oh Great, a crappy war movie about explosions." But, for some reason I decided to pay $5 and give it a shot. To my surprise, I didn't waste my money. The film was action-packed with twists, turns, and a great ensemble of actors who were not only good-looking, but talented as well. Matthew McConaughey gave a superb performance as Lt. Andrew Tyler. Bill Paxton (Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren) and Harvey Keitel (Chief Klough) were excellent as well, but that was really no big shocker. The huge surprise of the whole film had to have been Jon Bon Jovi as Lt. Pete Emmett. Who knew that a rocker could actually act? Other standouts include Jake Weber (Lt. Hirsh), T.C. Carson (Eddie), Jack Noseworthy (Wentz), Erik Palladino (Mazzola), and Tom Guiry (Trigger). Dave Power (Tank) also proved to have quite an acting ability in his film debut.

German soldier Wassner played by Thomas Kretshmann was one of the characters that proved how well this film was written. Even though the audience is supposed to be against the Germans, these soldiers are not portrayed as evil beings with no humanity at all. Wassner was portrayed as a brave soldier who fought for his country with all his might just like the American soldiers. U-571 might have done a better job with that than Saving Private Ryan. Don't write me if you disagree; it's just my opinion.
I must say that I didn't care much for the ending of the film. There wasn't much of a resolution. The movie just kind of ended after two hours. But, the rising actions that sucked the audience in completely made up for this ending. Another minor problem was how certain characters look alike. If you haven't seen this film yet, there are two characters you must be warned about, Trigger and Rabbit. These are two completely different characters who look exactly alike (in submarine light anyway). So, if you think McConaughey just feels like calling Trigger by the name Rabbit, think again. It's a different guy. I guess Tom Guiry and Will Estes just have that similar cute, boyish look (according to me, a 15 year old girl).
But, the movie is great and worth your five bucks so don't pass it up! You'll have a great two hours.