U-571 (2000)

A German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.

Director:

Jonathan Mostow

Writers:

Jonathan Mostow (story), Jonathan Mostow (screenplay),

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Lt. Andrew Tyler
Bill Paxton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren
Harvey Keitel	...	CPO Henry Klough
Jon Bon Jovi	...	Lt. Pete Emmett
David Keith	...	Maj. Matthew Coonan
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Capt.-Lt. Gunther Wassner
Jake Weber	...	Lt. Hirsch
Jack Noseworthy	...	Seaman Bill Wentz
Tom Guiry	...	Seaman Ted 'Trigger' Fitzgerald
Will Estes	...	Seaman Ronald 'Rabbit' Parker
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Steward Eddie Carson
Erik Palladino	...	Seaman Anthony Mazzola
Dave Power	...	Seaman Charles 'Tank' Clemens
Derk Cheetwood	...	Seaman Herb Griggs
Matthew Settle	...	Ens. Keith Larson

Storyline

In the midst of World War II, the battle below the seas rages. The Nazi's have the upper edge as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. That is, until a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, and the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'. But masquerading as Nazi's and taking over the U-boat is the smallest of their problems. The action really begins when they get stranded on the U-boat.

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Plot Keywords:

u boat | sos | battle | submarine | crew | 

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Taglines:

Heroes are ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for war violence

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Pictures West Video / Videoguide Company (russian)

Country:

France USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

21 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Submarino U-571

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$62,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$104,829 (Sweden) (10 November 2000)

Gross:

ESP 310,144,356 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Canal Plus Image International, Dino De Laurentiis Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original script, when Tank is discussing the U-571's condition he reports that the submarine has only six tonnes of fuel, which is insufficient to return them to the United States. That is why Lt. Tyler sets a course for England.

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Goofs

In one scene several American sailors are wearing German uniforms with the swastika insignia on opposite sides of their shirts. In another scene, American sailors in dress uniforms are wearing ribbon bars for awards that did not exist in 1942.

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Quotes

Lt. Hirsch: Last night at 0300 hours a British destroyer reported depth charging and sinking a German U-boat. However, sometime thereafter, Allied direction finding station triangulated a coded enemy radio signal to this position here near the chop line.
[indicates position on map]
Lt. Hirsch: We believe the U-boat was disabled, not sunk, and is drifting eastward on a four-knot current. Now, French resistance reported a resupply submarine sailed from the Lorient U-boat pens yesterday afternoon with engine parts and ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #25.9 (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Lover, Come Back to Me"
Written by Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II
(performed at the wedding reception while Dahlgreen is talking to Tyler)

User Reviews

Offensive & revisionist, it should not have been made.

I have only one comment about the movie and it isn't about its suspense, direction, acting or musical score. It's about deceit. Reading through user comments, I see that many are in touch with the idea that this is a British story, not American. But do they grasp how much more ignorance this is fostering?

People are saying that the supply lines between America and Britain were being threatened by the U-Boats and that America had to come to the rescue. This folks, is simply untrue, revisionist garbage. And people are buying it. It offends me, because as a Canadian, I am painfully aware of the fact that America risked nothing at all to supply Britain in its hour of need - that was Canada's great claim to fame, and America's claim to shame. The British captured the enigma first, the Canadians caught another later and the U.S. WASN'T EVEN IN THE WAR YET!

This is beyond "just entertainment" as Americans are now laying quasi-historical claim (and we all know how many will take some or all of it as true - most) to victories and sacrifices purchased by people of other nations. If you want to spit on someone else's flag, just spit on it, don't steal their histories and dishonor their heroes and their fallen soldiers. Nobody can fall back on "it's just a movie," unless they already feel at home with a British movie about how the Brits won the Battle of Midway and saved the Americans.

Americans have plenty to be proud of, plenty of heroes from that war, plenty of stories they could bring out to show their pride and grit without resorting to such theft.

This movie should have been made as British or not at all. Another sad day for film.