Review of U 571

Introduction

The setting is World War II and the Allies are losing the war. Unable to crack the German codes there seems to be little they can do, that is until the Allies intercept a radio transmission from a crippled German U-boat. This is the Allies chance to get their hands on the “Enigma” coding machine, and the chance to be able to decrypt German code unknown to their enemies. With the opportunity to turn the tide of the war a secret team of American commandoes are dispatched to take over the U-Boat and retrieve an Enigma machine intact.

So far so good, the story sounds interesting. The cast, however, is a bit of a mixed bunch and includes Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi. This movie caused a bit of a stir in the UK as apparently it was the British which captured the first Enigma device and not the Americans but who really gives a s***, I’m more concerned about whether it’s a good movie or not.

Video

A sharp anamorphic transfer as we have come to expect from recent movies such as this. Although much of the film is shot in dim light it never loses any clarity or definition. The visuals themselves are very authentic looking for the period and the effects shots are generally very well done. I say generally well done because there is one effects shot towards the end of the movie that looks so false it’s embarrassing.

Audio

Excellent use of the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It really is very atmospheric and totally convincing. The eerier creaking sounds of ancient submarines envelope you as you start to get some sort of idea just how truly terrifying serving on one of these submarines must have been.

Features

The extras on this disc give you a very good overview of the historical background behind this movie. You get 4 different historical mini documentaries/interviews totalling 27 minutes which help to fill you in on the real story. Along with these you also get a 15 minute “spotlight on location” featurette, a trailer and a full length Director’s commentary track.

It’s nice to see the historical background provided with a true story such as this, it really adds to the experience so a big thumbs up.

Conclusion

It’s impossible to talk about a submarine movie without mentioning the excellent Hunt for Red October. Unfortunately the similarity begins and ends with submarines. Whilst Red October is an excellent movie, both entertaining and intelligent, U-571 is both dull and dumb. Through some of the most obvious sign posting ever used in a movie’s plot you aren’t left with anything to think about at all, in fact you know exactly how the movie will end after the first 15 minutes or so.

The pacing of the movie is all wrong as well. It takes them an hour to actually reach U-571. You know that they reach the U-boat before you even see the movie so why on earth waste so much time getting there? There is little of interest that goes in during that first hour as well so what you are left with is little over 45 minutes to get something interesting going. The remaining 45 minutes holds very few surprises either with far too much of the tension relying on listening to depth charges going off outside of the U-boat and watching the sailors soil themselves as a result.

The cast don’t seem at home with their roles either. Matthew McConaughey tries hard but ultimately fails as the lead role, Bill Paxton is capable of much more and Harvey Keitel simply shouldn’t be in this movie at all. The only person who I thought did a good job was Jon Bon Jovi as Lieutenant Pete Emmett. This probably has more to do with that fact that you don’t expect him to be able to act at all but he does well with what he’s given.

A good quality DVD with interesting extras let down by a tiresome movie that crawls along at too slow a pace with no real excitement. The real proof of how tiresome this movie is lies in the fact that it took me 2 sittings to actually watch it right through as I fell asleep during the first viewing. Need I say more?