As good as it is...

Rating: 7/10 (14 February 2005)

** Warning. Torpedoes with spoilers here **
Recap: Lt. Tyler (McConaughey) is upset. He has just been denied a ship of his own, and that can only be because his superior Lt. Cmdr. Dahlgren (Paxton) advised against it. Suddenly the entire crew of their submarine have their leaves cancelled and the sub is sent off on a covert mission. A possibility to capture a German encryption machine, called the Enigma, has arisen. A German U-boat has been critically damaged during combat and is immobile at sea. The American sub is disguised as a German U-boat, and the plan is to pose as a relief boat to the damaged u-boat and then board it. However, during the boarding the real relief boat turns up and a sinks the American submarine. A few of the boarding party now find themselves stranded on the damaged German U-boat...
Comments: The greatest strength of this movie is that it doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. Cryptic enough? Need an Enigma? Let me try to explain. This is a war/action movie, with some thrills and nice effects. It does that very well. It never tries to send an message or be philosophical or anything. Just plain action. As an audience it is just to sit back and enjoy. The cast is full of competent actors and they don't disappoint. I especially like McConaughey's and Keitel's performances. A good entertaining story with as mentioned good effects to augment. An extra plus for the language difficulties that the movie portrays, i.e. that the Germans do not speak English nor do they make any English manuals to their subs. All in all, good entertainment.
7/10