Rob's Movie Review

Movie: U-571

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Starring: Matthew McConaughey , Jon Bon Jovi , Bill Paxton , David Keith , Harvey Keitel

What it's about: A group of sailors on an American Submarine during WW II are sent on a mission that could make or break the Allied effort in the war. A German U-boat was crippled during an attack on Allied shipping lanes and contains the famous Enigma machine, the typewriter device the Germans used to encode their transmissions and was "unbreakable" by the Allies. During the attempt to capture the device, the plan goes horribly wrong and a group of nine sailors end up having to use the U-boat to escape to friendly waters. During their voyage, they are discovered by the Nazis and become hunted by a German Destroyer.

What I thought: Great! The movie didn't really go that deep into what it was like living on a submarine but if it did then I think it would have detracted greatly from the story. The movie primarily focuses on three events, one being the recovery of the Enigma machine, vitally important to the Allies, two, the escape into friendly waters using an enemy submarine that is so badly damaged that it is almost unusable, and three, the passing up of Matthew McConaughey's character for promotion because his Captain didn't feel he had the courage to send a crew member under his command to death to save the rest of the crew. That last point reminded me of a Star Trek Episode where Troi was going for the rank of Commander. The only way she would pass the test is to send a crewmember to their death to save the ship. Well the exact same thing happens here but I won't tell you how it turns out because you might be surprised.

Another thing that impressed me was the camera action. There were times when the cameras flipped back and forth too quickly for me to keep up with the action but during the depth charging scenes it helped to portray the rocking of the boat and helped to give a better sense of panic the crew was feeling as they were being constantly bombarded by the ships on the surface.

The last thing that impressed me was that for once, an American movie didn't make it out to seem that American technology was better than anyone else's. The submarine that they started out with was old, and leaky and held together with gum and prayers it looked like. The sailors said it was a good ship and I'm sure that all sailors say that about their ships. But when they were on the German Sub, Harvey Keitel's character commented that the Germans know how to build a ship. I'm not sure if it was because in WW II the German subs were in fact better or not but it was nice to hear for once.

So anyway it was a great movie, not as suspenseful as I would have liked but a fun movie none the less.

Rob's Rating (out of five bags)

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Movie:	U-571
Director:	Jonathan Mostow
Starring:	Matthew McConaughey , Jon Bon Jovi , Bill Paxton , David Keith , Harvey Keitel
What it's about:	A group of sailors on an American Submarine during WW II are sent on a mission that could make or break the Allied effort in the war. A German U-boat was crippled during an attack on Allied shipping lanes and contains the famous Enigma machine, the typewriter device the Germans used to encode their transmissions and was "unbreakable" by the Allies. During the attempt to capture the device, the plan goes horribly wrong and a group of nine sailors end up having to use the U-boat to escape to friendly waters. During their voyage, they are discovered by the Nazis and become hunted by a German Destroyer.
What I thought:	Great! The movie didn't really go that deep into what it was like living on a submarine but if it did then I think it would have detracted greatly from the story. The movie primarily focuses on three events, one being the recovery of the Enigma machine, vitally important to the Allies, two, the escape into friendly waters using an enemy submarine that is so badly damaged that it is almost unusable, and three, the passing up of Matthew McConaughey's character for promotion because his Captain didn't feel he had the courage to send a crew member under his command to death to save the rest of the crew. That last point reminded me of a Star Trek Episode where Troi was going for the rank of Commander. The only way she would pass the test is to send a crewmember to their death to save the ship. Well the exact same thing happens here but I won't tell you how it turns out because you might be surprised. Another thing that impressed me was the camera action. There were times when the cameras flipped back and forth too quickly for me to keep up with the action but during the depth charging scenes it helped to portray the rocking of the boat and helped to give a better sense of panic the crew was feeling as they were being constantly bombarded by the ships on the surface. The last thing that impressed me was that for once, an American movie didn't make it out to seem that American technology was better than anyone else's. The submarine that they started out with was old, and leaky and held together with gum and prayers it looked like. The sailors said it was a good ship and I'm sure that all sailors say that about their ships. But when they were on the German Sub, Harvey Keitel's character commented that the Germans know how to build a ship. I'm not sure if it was because in WW II the German subs were in fact better or not but it was nice to hear for once. So anyway it was a great movie, not as suspenseful as I would have liked but a fun movie none the less.