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U-571 Review
Last Thursday I went and saw U-571 at an early
college screening here in Austin. In one week, I
would be seeing it again at a screening to benefit the
Austin Film Society with Matthew McConaughey in
attendance in the same screen, same theater.
But, I really wanted to see this movie with a college
audience. The type of audience the movie was made
to excite. The type of audience that reacts to a movie,
where they get real quiet and real loud. Before the
movie, UFA (University Filmmaker’s Alliance) began
tossing a billion (that’s an exact figure) Milky Way
bite sized promotional bars into the audience.
Ok... What is this? I mean at 28 DAYS they hand out
these champagne bottles filled with candy. At U-571
they throw chocolate bars at me. DAMMIT! I’M
ON A DIET! Where were you people and your
damned candy when I could consume it? Huh?
Where were you?
Well, the candy made the rest of my crew very very
happy. And man, this screening had the full house of
AICNers... Claire Standish, Sister Satan, Father
Geek, Robogeek, El Cosmico, Johnny Wad, RoRo,
Jeannie, Tom Joad, Flesh Gordon, Baby Face Nelson,
Velma, Quint and folks I don’t even have spy names
for. I mean... damn... everyone that was cool was
here. Which means that Peter Blood and Annette
Kellerman must be LAMERS! Ahem....
Well, there I was, on one side Claire Standish going
on and on about her Lord of the Rings fetish and
Sister Satan on the other side looking like a cake in
the oven with way too much yeast in it.
If at all possible, go see U-571 with two ladies on
either side of you. Because this is the type of movie
where if you leave and don’t have bloody fingernail
marks around your wrists, you had the wrong people
sitting next to you.
This is a submarine action film. Now this isn’t the
only type of submarine film. We have the submarine
intrigue flick, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
The submarine intense drama film, DAS BOOT. The
pop-submarine suspense film, CRIMSON TIDE. The
submarine adventure film, ICE STATION ZEBRA.
The submarine suspense film, THE ENEMY
BELOW... and so on and so on.
U-571 is a submarine action film. This isn’t a movie
about character development or relationships. It’s not
about long voyages. It’s a mission film. An in and
out type of mission. What happens, happens fast and
intensely.
If you’ve seen a trailer for the movie, you already
know too much. If you’ve been fortunate enough to
avoid the trailers... good for you. This is an escapist
action film with some intense frigging moments.
If you saw Jonathan Mostow’s first film,
BREAKDOWN, then you have the beginnings of an
idea about what type of film this is. In a lot of ways,
it’s the same film but with one hell of a larger canvas.
This is the sort of film where there isn’t a lot of down
time.
Within it’s just under 2 hour running time, there are
non-stop emergencies. One of the criticisms that the
3 people, in my group of twenty, that didn’t care for
the movie had was how repetitive some of the
dialogue was. Specifically as it had to do with fixing
one particular torpedo tube.
Well... Remember the radio in CRIMSON TIDE?
Well, it’s a similar situation. It was one of those, “Fix
the radio are we are going to die” situations. In
CRIMSON TIDE, Denzel Washington went into this
really quite quotable bit about Kirk and Scotty, and a
Star Trek conversation.
Well, I suppose that Matthew could have gone into
some sort of film reference to motivate his man to Fix
the Torpedo tube. But, I don’t think that would be
terribly realistic.
In a life and death situation, and as a commander, I
think you want the gravity of the situation on the key
person’s mind... not... other things. Sure he could
have said, “You know that wife of yours.... the one
you’ve never slept with? Well private, if you don’t
fix that goddamn tube you can kiss ever parting those
thighs goodbye!”
Except... you know what? Then that sailor would be
thinking about how he was never going to fucking his
wife, and not about FIXING THE TORPEDO TUBE,
which is what is the key issue. The captain doesn’t
need to relate to him... he needs to get him to do what
it is he needs him to do. He doesn’t want him
distracted by any thoughts... all he needs to know is...
Fix it, or we die. That’s it. It’s that simple. And if
that means standing over him and screaming it at him
till he kills himself trying... well goddamn it, so be it.
This movie gets intense. Characters lose their cool.
They forget their place in the chain of command
because... well the situation is completely fucked.
They’re on a boat where nothing is like what they
trained on.
There are more depth charges being fired than you
could possibly believe. I mean, they are up a creek
with little more than a paddle and a leaky boat. You
feel the hopelessness and the intense dread of being...
doomed.
You also get that DEATH STAR blowing up rush a
couple of times in this thing.
The film is a rush.
Now there are a couple of key things you need to pay
attention to before going to see this movie. First...
you MUST see the film in a great sounding movie
theater. The type that has all the digital whiz bang
THX blow your eardrums out coolness. When you
hear the pressure of the ocean pushing down upon
your submarine’s hull which is creaking and
groaning... it gets a little smaller in the auditorium.
Harvey Keitel and McConaughey are really really
good in this. Keitel especially. It’s funny, watching
him in this and FAIL SAFE... you see how much
better he is with multiple takes and the ability to
sculpt his performance. He is really really good here.
Matthew really shines in an action performance,
something we haven’t really seen from him. Now if
someone would only cast him as FLASH GORDON
or BUCK ROGERS or JOHN CARTER!!! Well,
then I’ll be happy as can be. Ideally, JOHN
CARTER.
Now is this a perfect film?
Oh god no. First off, the score needs to be loads
better. In fact, it would almost be better in this film if
there was no score at all. The sound design and
engineering is so good that... frankly, it’d be far more
atmospheric to hear the intensity and quiet moments
as opposed to the lame score here. It’s not so lame as
to hurt the film, it’s just not good enough to help the
film.
And basically that’s my main problem with the film.
If this had the score that say HUNT FOR RED
OCTOBER or CRIMSON TIDE had... holy geez...
Totally kickass at that point. Instead, it’s just really
really really good.
Remember... super digital auditorium... you really
want to hear this movie with it cranked all the way up.
It’s pretty intense.
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Good for you Harry! Come see me in person and I can really make you lose some weight!! I'm glad you liked this movie because I thought it kicked ass too!! I even liked the fuckin score!!! GO SEE THIS MOVIE EVERYBODY!!!! Bi!
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Should be decent. I like the fact that Mostow apparently didn't give in to the pressure to make it longer. Just under two hours? Wow. As far as the controversy about "historical liberties:" it mattered more in "Hurricane" because it was about a real person and real incidents. The only real stuff here is the war, which is a backdrop; everything else is made up. 'nuff said. Give me six!!!
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It goes something like this: "Harry do you want some chocolate?". You reply with a succinct "No." Simple as that. Just imagine someone is asking if you want Joel Schumacher to direct the next two Star Wars films. Reply in kind.
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Now thats fucking funny Swiss!
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But I?m pretty sure this?ll be a great movie? Spell checker my man; become a friend to it.
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If this movie is as tense as "Breakdown" was, then it will rock... and as for Star Wars by Schumacher : it would be nice, Darth Vader will get nipples in the 3rd Episode; there would be a bisexual subplot between Jar Jar, Queen Amidala and Obi Wan, and the lightsabers will be pink and purple.
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I personally would love to see Obi-Wan is a cod-pieced Jedi outfit, Anakin buy his mother's freedom from Watto buy whipping out a Jedi credit card with a "ka-ching" sound effect, have the Sith be dolled up in gay-floorshow style costumes, and have every single scene make less sense than the last. Oh, and Uma Thurman for Mara Jade. But only if she plays her with the same brilliance she brought to Poison Ivy. As for U-571, I think this is going to be the film that pushes the start of the summer season back to April. Geez, first this, then "Frequency", then "Gladiator," ugghgughgh...pleasure overload.
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Apr 17, 2000 10:36:26 AM CDT
"Breakdown" sucked, it was like a crappier version of "Deliveran
by gilmour
Can we stop talking about joel Shumacher? Matt Maconaghuey(sp?) may actually be in a good film that makes some money. Go figure
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what the fuck is that monkey-egg-turd-clench thing going on up there? what happened to the lovely roses one or the gladiator massacre?
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Are you nuts. McConaughey as John Carter. He's a terrible choice. Who would make a good John Carter I'm not sure. Probably some unknown Chirstopher Reeve type. McConaughey is way too much of a good old boy to play that role.Yes, John Carter is a southerner, but you need someone with more class, someone with less white trash in their genes, and someone with a more dynamic energy level. Off the top of my head, I'd rather see Chris Klein (if he had a decent voice), or Thomas Gibson or Thomas Jane in the role. Anybody but Matthew. I'd rather see the animated Disney verison.
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Gilmour, Matt Mc. was good in a film that made money. It was called A Time To Kill, and guess who directed it? Schumacher. You Can't get away from the guy. He's like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of our collective shoes... Who is this John Carter? The only John Carter I know is played by Noah Wyle on ER.
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Apr 17, 2000 12:13:38 PM CDT
No, the next SW episode is made by Zalman King and the last epis
by pips orcille
EP2- Yes, we all know that it's going to have a love story, the one between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Zalman King can make it very sexual and can show Anakin and Padme getting a good "you know what".
EP3- Since EP3 is going to be a dark film, George Romero can make it really slick and scary and especially frighten the shit out of us when Darth Vader appears in the last 5 mins or so at the end of the film. -
I liked the books but it seems
incredibly dated to go to Mars
and find these weird little green
men and...oh shit...that's the weak ass plot of Mission To Mars!!
Maybe they could make M2M2 and reteam Harvey Keitel (as a bad cop who jerks off) and Matthew Mc Conaughey (who plays himself playing bongo drums naked and smokin' weed) BTW: I love Cartuna's work but the Chicken Run
Harry looks like he's taking a dump in his tighty-whities !!
--Syd. -
I saw his face resembled Nick Park's Wallace character (from Wallace & Grommit) and noticed Harry's chicken feet so it must be from CHICKEN RUN. What confused me was why he was making a big load in his underwear until I realized he was laying an egg. It's hard to see that his pants are down (not that I would want to see that anyway) and the egg should have been drawn separate from the body to avoid confusion. Anyway, I loved all the recent big submarine pics and U-571 looks to be amazing even if McCoughnahey is in it (shudder).
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I make a brief quip about Schumacher and Episodes 2 and 3, merely as an example of how to say no to temptation. The Chinese Whispers of the Internet, known to us as talkback, have started actual other topics on these subjects. Why is everything taken so literally on this site???? Sorry anyway cos the subject should be the film.
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seems to be following the trend of truly impressive Hollywood war movies in the last year or so. First Saving Private Ryan, then Three Kings, and now this film. I can't wait. About the whole posting off topic thing, don't do it. Fear the wrath of Harry, it is mighty indeed. Heed my warning. I had no idea that beneath those clothes he was actually an egg-laying three-toed sloth with brown undies. Fear him. Fear himmmmm!
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Apr 17, 2000 2:02:25 PM CDT
When I saw that huge white turd fall out of Harry's ass...
by adrenaline
...I spit water I was drinking onto my keyboard and my U-571 Talk Back disappeared. That animation is as bad as the American Beauty one. Ugh. Anyway, I'm glad Harry liked this film. The review was so right on. I too was a little disappointed with the score, but again, even if it didn't have any music, the sound effects alone were awesome! My seat actually shook and little kids ran out crying thinking the world had come to an end. There is nothing better than a great action flick with great sound. I'm also glad there's no sound effect to Harry's chicken shit...
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Harry's initial expression clearly states he is suffering from a bad case of the dump-sweats. Then, the revelation of his soiled brown underpants is more than I can bear. Set a match to those things at your own risk. I would wager that the last time they were changed, Wham! was still together. Lastly, his passing of the giant egg is really enough to cause me to void my stomach contents. Please, Harry, in the name of all that is holy, change the .gif for tomorrow!
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cant wait for friday... General Cinema Avco THX!! Or General Cinema Galaxy THX!!! i hate both these theatres but since MANN Village or Chinese didn't pick it up, and since I hate Universal City Walk, I don't mind at all...
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Heh, pretty freaky graphic Harry. At first I thought they were going a bit too far but now I think of them as harmless amusement. Me like. U-571. As others have already pointed out, this one's supposed to be loosely based on an actual event involving the capture of an enigma machine from a German sub but me thinks they've decided to take some rather broad liberties with the history books. I'm really going against the grain on this, but I've never been too impressed with submarine movies. I recognize they must be really entertaining for everyone else, but for me the sub formula just doesn't click quite as well except for THE BOAT. Hopefully, this one will turn out to be another exception. I wish Hollywood would make a movie about Jutland or remake SINK THE BISMARK! Wait! All things considered, maybe they shouldn't? Why mess with a war classic.
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One does so hate to be rude, Harry,but are you INSANE? John Carter may be a proper Southern gentleman, which McConaughey could carry off just fine, but once he's on Mars, he also turns out to be a killing machine. If you can imagine McConaughey kicking that much Martian ass, then I salute you: your imagination is much more vivid than mine. Oh, and for the talkbacker who mentioned the "little green martians": the green martians were 10 or 12 feet tall death machines. If anything about John Carter should make it onto the screen, ever, there should certainly be enough violence to satisfy the average audience. As for sex... well, if I remember right, nobody on Mars is much into clothing, and the humanoid martians were pretty built. So, it sounds promising enough! :D
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Can't wait to see this one-UA has it as the opening attaction at their new theatre in King of Prussa, PA in THX, in addition to a IMAX auditorium coming soon. This will rock!
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I agree with you 100 percent Harry! I had the privelege of viewing a print of U-571 tonight here in Los Angeles and I was quite impressed. The suspense is nail biting, the action is intense, and the sound is perfect! It is imperative to see this film in the proper venue, if you don't, you will regret it! I also feel that the score was lacking, I suppose Mostow wanted the film to have a patriotic feel to it. When this movie ends, you feel truly proud to be an American. So much happens in this film and you so want the characters to survive and make it through that when it ends you feel like you have just gone through what the characters have gone through. A filmmaker like Michaal Bay or Antoine Fuqua could learn a lot from watching the editing in this film. It's not too flashy, it's not too fast, it's smooth and even, and not distracting. The movie never calls too much attention to itself. The groundwork is laid out. And the viewer knows the sub, and where everything is. Whereas I get lost in these movies with the flashy cuts and music video style editing. Good job, props to Jonathan Mostow, looking forward to his contributions in the future!
The guy in the Valley--signing off----Peace -
Living in Britain I naturally have not seen the film yet. However, as it is a Hollywood production I presume they get away with the Enigma machine in the end. When people over hear heard that the film was being made there was great concern that fact was being demolished for a more favourable fiction. I'm sure the film is enjoyable but the fact remains that the Enigma machine was captured by a British destroyer in an heroic endeavour (the u-boat was sinking when the officers went on board to look for the machine) before America had even entered the war! It's nice that it makes some of you proud to be American but as a Briton it worries me that history is once again being rewritten to make America's part in WWII even more glorious. You may well be aware of the facts but others may not and it is all too easy for Hollywood to give the wrong impression. I do not doubt that in the future, Americans AND British will watch this film and think that it was America who were responsible for the blow against the Axis that the capture of the Enigma was. I half expect to hear plans for a sequel telling the story of brave Americans who used it to crack the code!
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I agree with Harry once again! I had a blast at this intense movie. Some of the dialogue was cheesy, but that's probably exacerbated by the fact that some of the films best moments come when no one speaks at all...
Plus...Matthew McConaughey in uniform...BONUS! -
DIE "Eeeeeeh!" DIET "EEEEEEEH!"
God I love that show. -
Did the call it the "ENIGMA" decoding machine cuz the," OOH, THIS ONE'S A TOUGHY! NO, HANG ON I'LL GET IT, UMM..." decoding machine wouldn't have sounded as cool???
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... We all live in a Nazi submarine. A nazi submarine. A nazi submarine.
We all live in a Nazi submarine. A ...
.. oh never mind. -
Don't worry, at the end of the film (before the credits) they list the real U-boats that were captured and when they were captured. Hopefully everyone will read this instead of running to the john to get rid of that half gallon size soda they've been drinking for the last 2 hours.
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I saw this flick last Friday at a similar college screening.. unfortunatly, we didn't get the Milky Way's until the end. But I must disagree with Harry's review here. U-571 was just not that good..
Yes Harry, it is a submarine movie, and I know we're not supposed to care about character development or repetitive dialog, or countless scenes where the characters painfully stare look up at the celing of the sub, waiting for the depth charges to hit... (this happens in at LEAST five different scenes..)
Normally I'm very easy to impress with explosion/blow-em-up type movies, but this one was just hard to watch at times. I mean, how many times do we need to see the screen shake, or watch some guy try to plug up a leak, or watch another guy frantically turn dials as fast as they can. There is a LOT of dial-turning in this film.
Anyway, in terms of sub movies, I'd say this one is at the bottom of the pack, far below CRIMSON TIDE or HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. Maybe if they tried to work a woman character in somewhere (No, not on the sub). Maybe if they edited out the painfully long dept-charge scenes. Maybe if they had the characters say interesting things. I mean, they had friggin Matthew McConnhey (sp), and it was completely under-used. Ugh.
-Dan
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Matthew in uniform. 'Nuff said.
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I have never liked submerine flicks so it came as a great shock as I saw the trailer for U-517...... it looks fuckin great.
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Did McConaughey do justice to this sort of role, or should he stick to being a pretty boy? Check this site out:
http://eonline.com/Interact/Backtalk/Posts/1,14,165679,00.html? -
Well there is an inherent problem with Sub movies...YOU CAN"T SEE ANYTHING. Besides this movie has Bill Paxton in it...winner of the worst actor of the decade.
Even Harvey sucked. Rent Das Boot instead...stay away.
kroll -
I saw U-571 tonight, and it was pretty good. Of course, you could see the numerous references to other sub movies, but what are you supposed to do? It wouldn't be a real sub movie without the obligatory dive below the allowable depth, the popping bolts and the drowning guy. What I was left wondering though, was what happened to the characters played by Bon Jovi and David Keith (Keith David?). They seemed to have made it to the U-boat and all, then they just disappeared. Did I just miss something here???
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This movie rocked. It was pure enjoyment. A great action movie, great sub movie. Even the score was good, which I know Harry complained about, but it was actually good. The weird thing about this film is that I practically dragged my wife to see it, and she came out wanting to go back and see it again. Weird, eh? Anyway, it is better than Crimson Tide. There is definitely more action than CT or Hunt for Red October. My wife rated it better than both those films. I'd say it's not as good as October, but it does have more action. This is a must see.
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...If you want to not use your brain for two hours this is the movie for you. I was laughing in the theatre at how stupid and cliched most of the scenes and dialogue were. Nothing original here, not worth your time (rent Das Boot again instead).
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Apr 22, 2000 9:24:19 AM CDT
Yes, there were great sound effects, but that was about it.
by kurt s. e.
AICN absolutley MUST be getting paid to promote this film. The acting and dialogue were SO bad throughout most of it. Bill Paxton is physically painful to watch. I got to where I would pull my hat down over my eyes everytime he came on screen. In the scene where their skipper ends up in the water it looks like he is standing on a platform. The waves rise and fall around him. On top of that he has to say the most ridiculous lines of the whole film. Once the movie finally gets going, there is no real plot or suspense. There were several times that my friends and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the stupid things characters were saying. Even my 19 year old brother, who really only needs a couple cool explosions to think a film is amazing, kept chuckling and groaning at the dialogue. Every WWII movie I've ever seen is better than this, and almost every "intense" submarine situation has been before. Sure, the sound effects are great, and there are 3 cool visual effects shots, but that's it.
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Hey, why was Keitel's character yelling at Masolli (Doctor Dan) in the U boat when McConaughey(can't remember his character's name, dammit) was coming down the ladder? Didn't Masolli say something to the effect that McConaughey was getting kicked out of the Navy? Why?
He also showed up at the 48 hour liberty party pass without a date, and seemed kind of uncomfortable answering the question about it...?
I'm curious if some sort of editing took that subtext out of the movie, or am I just looking too hard here?
And what happened to Jon Bon Jovi's character?
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Apr 23, 2000 2:44:33 PM CDT
i was totally pissed off by that lame CGI explosion at the end..
by wheelie
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I saw the movie over the weekend and I have to say it was just OK... and to follow up a previous talk back: what the hell happened to Bon Jovi and David Keith? They were in the movie one minute and the next, they were gone, with no explanation. If anyone can explain, I'd be just a little happier with the movie (but only just a little). I have to admit, I didn't even think about the fact they were missing through the second half of the movie until the next day, which goes to show how crappy the characterizations were.
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I'm curious, did anyone else wonder when the german's developed nuclear tipped torpedos? That stern tube shot against the german destroyer was a doozy! I personally was dissapointed in the "hollywood" version of WWII sub warfare. Go to the matinee, save a buck or two, get out of the heat for awhile, and enjoy the sub movie "U-gotta-be-kidding."
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I read in an article that he had his head blown off, but the scene was cut to ensure a PG-13 rating. Whatever.
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How the fuck would a single torpedo hit cause such a dramatic destruction of a German Destroyer?
Unless it happened to hit its Ammo Depot. Did it?? -
The BBC's Newsnight program (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsnight/) did an article about this film yesterday, and it's in Real format at http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/video/newsnight/nnlive.ram (skip to the 39th minute). Not too sure how long that will be up though. I think it'll be replaced at 21:30 GMT.
Anyway, it was a debate between the director, who basically repeated the well reasoned arguments from previous talkbacks, and a Professor of history, who repeated the point that for a lot of people what they see on the screen becomes the truth for them. There was also a brief interview with David Balme, the Sub-Lieutenant who lead the first bording action, who seemed okay with it all.
The overall tone was that the issue wasn't hugely important or anything to start complaining about.
The film itself was praised as a realistic submarine movie. -
This was a good movie. Was it American Beauty or The Godfather? No it was not but it was not supposed to be. Star Wars seems to be this sites be all end all but how original was its plot? What I'm trying to say is you got to judge each movie for what it is trying to do. This was not a critical Pvt. Ryan look at war it was a John Wayne movie . It had a cool cut and dry plot some suspense and action. It convayed a sense of panic that must have been on a sub. Plus it was just plain fun. A nice way to start the summer movie months.
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Harry got close to realizing it, but what he didn't quite pick up on was that he liked "U-571" because he'd ALREADY liked it, way back in 1984, when it was called "Star Trek III - The Search for Spock." US Navy crew forced into commandeering old German sub, can't figure out how to pilot her; USS Enterprise crew forced into commandeering old Klingon warship, can't figure out how to pilot her. US Navy crew in a race to secure Enigma box, which could shift balance of power in the Atlantic; USS Enterprise crew in a race to secure Genesis project, which could shift balance of power in the quadrant. I could go on. But you're probably asleep by now. I just wanted to give my Starfleet homeys their props! And, for the record, this flick ain't got nothin on "Crimson Tide"! Sure the depth charges were cool, but, and to strain the analogy further, CT gave us Picard vs. Kirk in Denzel vs. Gene. Think about THAT!
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OK - some other people have been wondering where JBJ went. *I* thought he was the guy in the booth with the headphones who listened for things - the guy who heard the Morse code and such.
If that wasn't JBJ, then where DID he go?
Well, that's not the crisis. My problem is this:
I went to this movie with very high hopes. The reviews were great and I was psyched. And I thought the movie absolutely stank. Is there something wrong with me? Why do I keep seeing all these popular block-busters and thinking they're crap? Don't get me wrong - I like mindless action and get lots of guilty pleasure from Stallone/Segal/Van Damme movies. But those high-action/"dramas" really tend to suck. (Saving Private Ryan sucked. The sets were good and the battles were cool, but I didn't care who did what to whom. Yawn!)
Anyway, as someone else here has already pointed out - if you want a good WWII sub story, rent Das Boot. If you like more flashy action, I recommend Crimson Tide. This movie was superfluous. -
Jheez, what's with all the sad-sack commentary below? You'd have thought they paid $80 to see rotten Hamlet in the East End! This is simple, enjoyable summer fare: maxed-out FX (and yes, the ultimate CGI take-us-out scene is more than merely okay), non-stop action, and no Bergmanesque navel probing to concern oneself with.
Go, park your brain at the door, and feast on the adrenaline rush. Do take heed of the admonition in the review to avail oneself of a great sound system.
And whomever nominated Bill Paxton as the worst actor of the decade surely hasn't seen A Simple Plan. Get real. -
Hey mattmcgrath, Im glad Im not the only one who though Matthew's character was gay. Not only did I catch the same things you did, did you notice that when he went to his cabin, and the camera caught a peek at all his personal belongings, the only picture he had hanging on his mirror, was not a girlfriend, but a picture of his dog!
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This movie was pure fun. I think some of you need to loosen up a little and stop trying to nitpick every movie to death. Why are you comparing this movie to Das Boat or Crimson Tide? The only thing these movies have in common was that there was a submarine in all of them. EVERYONE in the packed theater where I saw the movie seemed to have a great time. Isn't that what going to the movies is supposed to be about?
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The German commander. He was actually a really gutsy guy who did what he should do. I mean, he's trying to sabotage the entire mission, even though that means he'll die. (Otherwise, he would have just been taken prisoner and treated relatively well.) He's been shot in the gut and he's still trying to do what he can to save the code.
His only mistake: he should have tapped out "They have the enigma! Change the code!"
I mean, I was supposed to go "Oooohhh! when M. Mc. was told "If you can't pull this off, you'd better make sure we're all destroyed." But the German commander's bravery wasn't even acknowleged as such. He was just a nuisance via whom that previously wimpy guy earns his cojones by violently axing him to death.
Whatever. -
Another Brit here - again, who's not seen the film cos we always seem to have to wait months for movies over here.
But anyway, I am a little concerned about the way that movies play fast a loose with history. Some people will know that it was a British destroyer that captured the engima, and it was the mathematicians working in Nissan huts in Bletchley who broke the code. But if the advance reports are to be believed the cast is solely American. Same went for Saving private ryan - watching that you'd have thought that the US fought Hitler on its own. Going back a few hundred years, Braveheart was all over the place - Sophie Marceau's character wasn't even in the country at the same time as Wallace (I've a feeling he was dead before she ever set foot here).
Does it matter? Yes it does.
On the one hand, we go to see movies to be entertained and taken to another place for a couple of hours. It's escapism and fun. But on the other, movies are the dominant cultural form of the last hundred years or so.
Each year, the 'importance' of the second world war diminishes; my grandparents were involved, and my parents grew up in the aftermath - my knowledge of it his primarily come from history at school and, yes, TV and movies.
Take the Great Escape - there were Brits, Yanks, French, Poles and however many others in the camp. Today, would everyone be American? It may seem a niggly point, but it matters.
Now we hear rumours of a Colditz escape movie - probably featuring Americans alone against the Nazis, even though none were actually confined there.
I don't want to get too grumpy about this; it IS only a movie. But I hope that directors, producers and writers realise that they have some duty to history.
(And finally, if anyone says, 'well, if you object so strongly then why not get your own movie industry to get it right', then fair point. But 'improving' history to make a better story is fair enough, it happens all over the place, but cutting out all the other countries who gave a generation of young men to defeat the Nazis is just going too loose. We all have a duty to remember the sacrifice that millions of British, French, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, Indians, Russians and, yes, Americans made for all of us) -
What a waste of money. You'd thing that the amount of money that was spent on this film they could have gotten the ribbons and the uniforms correct. The rank insignas on the enlisted uniforms was total wrong as was the ribbons on the uniforms. On the officers uniforms they are post World War II uniforms.
If this wasn't enough the plot line was outright silly. For example exactly how did that Milk Cow sub fire on the American sub since the American sub had German markings.
Maybe the director needs to find another line of work or at least hire some people that know what in the hell their doing.
By the way I thought Breakdown was lame as well.
Ralph K
USN (SS) ret -
I was hoping the movie had some historical accuracy like the capture of the U-505, but it was just another action flick. Campared to The Boat this movie was very poor. In The Boat everyting portrayed in the movie actually happened to a German U Boat in WWII. The last straw for me was when the subs fired torpedoes at each other. We did not have such technology until after WWII ended. I'm looking forward to The Perfect Storm directed by Wolfgang Peterson the same guy who directed The Boat. I think The Boat was the best movie ever made and The Perfect Storm should be a great movie. I'm a US Navy veteran and WWII sub buff.
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May 07, 2000 10:03:28 PM CDT
Here's What Happened to Jon Bon Jovi and David Keith (Spoilers)
by freeprt ranger
David Keith's character had returned to the SS-33 before it was torpedoed by the other sub.l Jon Bon Jovi's character was killed by flying debris when the SS-33 was hit. Remember, Bon Jovi's character was taking pics inside the sub, then was taking Matthew's pic outside on U-571's deck. When the SS-33 was hit, Matthew's character was thrown to the deck by the shockwave, almost getting hit by some debris, which hit Bon Jovi's head and threw him off the sub, presumably killing him instantly. Check it out when it comes on video.
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While this movie had nothing to do with real history it is true that one German torpedo was quite enough to sink a destroyer. Destroyers only displace 2.5 thousand tons vs. 40 for a battleship (crew of 2,500)and 80 for an attack carrier (crew of 5,000). Also destroyers had no armor plate at all! The hulls ware only about .5 inch thick. Destroyers were just expendible escort ships with crews of about 280. I spent 2 years on a 1945 destroyer. They aren't called tin cans for nothing. P.S. The U-505 was captured by an American sub hunter killer group off the coast of Africa after being abandoned by its crew.
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U-571...I saw it just a few days ago and I must agree with the bashers on the horrible dialog. After Trigger is announced dead, Capt. Matthew says...."I guess he didn't give up.." then the black dude on the radio turns around and says with love in his eyes for his captain..."neither did you captain.." GAWD that blew chuncks BUT...I did like intense action, the Job Bon Jovi mystery death, the Nazi Captain who REALLY didn't give up and the ship with the MILLION
and ONE depth charges !!! It shouldn'thave blown up like that at the end...it threw every thing it had at the captured sub. The fake Navy ultra CGI plane at the end was a nice touch too. After
all the mess on the screen...it was still fun. BTW On another note... The Brits NEVER mentioned the job the Canucks, Kwies and Aussies did in any British WW II film I ever saw, so enjoy the payback of watching history re-written.. Thanks for the Dieppe Raid ya limey ego centric bastards!! Next time YOU go first into the Nazi machine guns.--Syd. -
U-571 has got to be the most idiotic title on a movie ever. It would have actually been better if it was called "A film that the producer want you to see". When i hear the title U-571, I get the impression of a soulless film being slapped with a produciton number. Honestly.
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I'd just like to say a big thank you to America for winning WWII single handedly.
And inventing football.
sorry, "soccer". -
..to share your feedback. - - - - - - - - Don't just vent on boards like *this.* Go to this addie and tell 'em straight to their face. - - - - - - - - - - - www.universalpictures.com/emailformblack.html
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May 26, 2000 5:15:32 PM CDT
U-571 ?It`s so bad that I`m surprised it got released by a major
by dima
`U-571` is a movie that is so fundamentaly ill-concieved that I must express my sincere disgust with it.It is a failed WW-2 submarine epic that can be used as cure for insomnia.Mostow wrote it and directed it in such a way that he not only mad a bad movie but he also made me question his overall film knowledge.Because this movie looks like a work of a man who haven`t seen cult classics of the genre.If he had seen submarine epics like `The Hunt For Red October`or `Das Boot` or `The 49th Parallel` he would at least try to use those flicks as a blueprint.But no,Mostow sticks to his own vision which is painfully wrong.He simulates suspense without characters and results are hillarious.The only `character` in this movie that resembles a personality is played by Matthew McConaughey who is extremely uncharismatic and who should stay focused on low-profile direct-to-theater-far-away-from-me-movies like `EdTV`. Direction is dull and script can be described as a collection of missed opportunities.Mostow,Montgomery and Ayer sink the movie when Americans enter the German sub. Authors chose the worst possible path after that potent moment and they turned a suspenser into a massive bore.
By the time Americans meet the German destroyer the audience is brought to the brink of a suicide and the climax is particularly unsatisfying.
`U-571` has other barely believable aspects.First of all,I can`t believe that a major studio actually released this.I also can`t believe that studio payed or blackmailed so many critics to say affirmative stuff about this movie.I mean flops like `Saving Private Ryan` are in line with this piece of incompetence.I hoped that Hollywood wouldn`t let anyone make another `Saving Private Ryan`but here we go they did it again. -
`U-571` is a movie that is so fundamentaly ill-concieved that I must express my sincere disgust with it.It is a failed WW-2 submarine epic that can be used as cure for insomnia.Mostow wrote it and directed it in such a way that he not only mad a bad movie but he also made me question his overall film knowledge.Because this movie looks like a work of a man who haven`t seen cult classics of the genre.If he had seen submarine epics like `The Hunt For Red October`or `Das Boot` or `The 49th Parallel` he would at least try to use those flicks as a blueprint.But no,Mostow sticks to his own vision which is painfully wrong.He simulates suspense without characters and results are hillarious.The only `character` in this movie that resembles a personality is played by Matthew McConaughey who is extremely uncharismatic and who should stay focused on low-profile direct-to-theater-far-away-from-me-movies like `EdTV`. Direction is dull and script can be described as a collection of missed opportunities.Mostow,Montgomery and Ayer sink the movie when Americans enter the German sub. Authors chose the worst possible path after that potent moment and they turned a suspenser into a massive bore.
By the time Americans meet the German destroyer the audience is brought to the brink of a suicide and the climax is particularly unsatisfying.
`U-571` has other barely believable aspects.First of all,I can`t believe that a major studio actually released this.I also can`t believe that studio payed or blackmailed so many critics to say affirmative stuff about this movie.I mean flops like `Saving Private Ryan` are in line with this piece of incompetence.I hoped that Hollywood wouldn`t let anyone make another `Saving Private Ryan`but here we go they did it again. -
BBC Films have just aquired the rights to the 1960 classic, "The Alamo" with Hugh Grant set to star as the Duke of Wellington as he single handedly defeats the Mexican army.
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Why does Hollywood insist on re-writing history ?
U-571 is the latest in a long line of history re-writes from America.
The Enigma machine was recovered by the British Royal Navy onboard HMS Bulldog BEFORE the Americans even joined WWII !
Does anyone wonder how a film like this makes the surviving HMS Bulldog crew and their families feel ? These men risked their lives, and get completely written out of history by a handful of Hollywood producers.
It scares me that Americans appear to learn their history from films like this, Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. -
Hi there. I thought i would drop a line about the U-biquitous U-571 from a British perspective. As you probably already know, there was uproar over here in the little ol' U of K at the fact that the film completely re-wrote history and made out that the discovery of the Enigma machines during WWII was down to the Americans, when in fact it was down to a concerted effort by British and Polish naval fleets. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stand here doing the hard-done to chest beating crap, suspension of disbeleif and all, and hey, it's a movie for crissake. BUT...and it's a big but...I have this overriding fear that although you and I KNOW that it's fiction, aren't we running the risk that there are a lot of folks out there who, without the knowledge of the truth,(think trailer parks) will actually beleive that this is the way things actually happened, ("Ayuh, honest to God")? And I make my point in a general sense, rather than specifically to this film: where do you draw the line between good old fashioned "tweaks" of history for entertainment's sake, and hard-cut "Stalinist Airbrushing"? I know this film isn't about to get the history books re-written, hell, it's a lame film anyhow, but what with these slight tweaks becoming more apparent (U-571, Patriot et al) how long will it be before film makers start to look at other areas of history and decide "nah, I like it better this way"? It's a shame such a poor film incited such bitter feeling over here: the town that homed the sailors that DID find the enigma machine wrote to good old bubba Clinton in protest, and many theaters over here dropped the movie. This kind of public feeling hasn't been seen over here since the days of Straw Dogs and Clockwork Orange. Wow, go figure! As an example, what would happen if a British film company made a film where the Brits won the war of Independence? (okay, technically we DID, as we were, at that point, fighting ourselves, but you catch my drift). Well, better scoot, rant over. On another note, I am really, really glad you enjoyed "Chicken Run", I wondered how 1950's North of England humor would go down over there. I just don't see how they are even gonna start to make an interesting flic out of "the Tortoise and the Hare", though. Take care, and keep it soupy. Foxx
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Anyone aware of director Jonothan Mostow's first film "Breakdown" and now "U57-1" can be certain that he is one of the best young directors in Hollywood. His knack for tightening the atmospheric suspense is brilliant and he knows how to build and build towards a climax rather than just going after cheap thrills at every possible moment. "U57-1 is not so true tale of an American submarine and its crew trying to capture a German code machine during WWII. Loaded with fine young talent, Mostow correctly doesn't concentrate on setting up much character in the beginning. He knows the movie will live and die on the action so he moves to it at the perfect pace. The U.S. crew manages to capture the German U-boat until something goes very wrong. Suffice it to say, the film only gets more intense from there. No scene is without suspense that builds and builds without any unneccassary break. The cast is also first rate. Matthew McConahgay is in his best role, Harvey Keitel and Bill Paxton provide good support not to mention Tim Roth. First rate all the way. My Grade: A
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I'm looking for someone rich to finance a small independent British film I'm making. It's called For the Good of Mankind and concerns the historic British moonlanding in 1946 by the Queen and Elton John.
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