U-571.

[DanCanovas]

ok guys I sat down last night to watch U571 again. I used to love this film despite it being fantasy. I loved it for its great special effects mainly.
I had to turn the thing off after 30 mins, i just couldn't watch it! I know its not designed to be realistic but i was constantly picking out the flaws or thinking they cant do that. So i decided this was no way to watch a film and switched the damn thing off.
What really made me laugh was the S boat welded up to look like a Type VII. :rotfl:
It was a type VII as far as I could tell with the exception of some details at the front of the boat. Those USN guys have got some good welders.
And how the hell do 2 Submerged subs during the war fire accurate torpedoes against each other? what do they do listen to the hydrophones and say "capitan we have a submerged boat bearing 352...range 400m and its exactly at 90m depth"! I wish I had this sonar guy!
The effects are great but you may as well have flying U-boats.

[goldorak]

Call it cinematic license. :p
Enjoy the film for what it is, if it were an historical documentary I would agree with you but since its a film I accept from time to time some little inconsistencies, or factual errors that don't reduce my enjoyment.

[The Noob]

Well, except of the American Flag waving (Wich is 50% of the movie) i like this movie quite much. :up:

First it was the same then with you, but then i just thought "What the Hell?". I didn't switch my TV of, i did swith my Brain of, then it was very nice. :D

Same with it's successor, "In enemy Hands". You have to turn of your Brain to enjoy this American War Movies.

Want realism? Try "The Enemy Below"! :up:

And of course Das Boot, but i guess i don't have to mentontion this one! :rotfl:

[fred8615]

What really made me laugh was the S boat welded up to look like a Type VII.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that S-boats were in fact quite similar in appearence to German U-boats, so maybe it wasn't *that* far-fetched.

[Dowly]

I´ve seen a painting of a S-class (I think it was on Subart) and it indeed had some similarities to type VII.

[TteFAboB]

If you want to watch this movie you must assume the story is from a parallel universe. Then everything's possible, though much more boring because you might aswell expect people to start flying and firing laser beams from their eyes, etc.
:arrgh!:

[DanCanovas]

:rotfl: I tried really hard to accept it for an action movie but I couldnt help looking in disbelief, i had to give up.

[Yahoshua]

Same here.....couldn't stop picking out the details they were doing wrong (not to mention the horrible storyline that went with it).

[Subnuts]

Anybody remember the troll a few months back who kept trashing Das Boot because they showed a four-rotor Enigma, but had absolutely no problem with WWII subs dogfighting underwater, depth charge explosions causing no damage at 2 feet, every U-boat sailor armed with MP40s, seven Americans operating a foreign sub with no training, German patrol planes in the middle of the Atlantic, or nuclear-tipped EasyAim(tm) torpedoes blowing up destroyers deck-first?

To quote Harry Dean Stanton in Alien, "Right!" :doh:

[FUBAR295]

To really discribe how I feel about U-571, I'll use the immortal words of Bill the Cat...."Acckkkkkkkk!!"

Good Hunting,
FUBAR

[JordanC]

If you can't accept that the film isn't meant in any way to be accurate, you should losen up a bit. I could pick flaws out all day, but the producer and director filmed it for entertainment only, not accuracy. On the Ubi forums, I remember someone was ALWAYS bashing the movie. He wouldn't give it credit for ANYTHING. I started to get REALLY angry since I can't understand why people critizise movies because they aren't 100% accurate to what they're portraying.

[Subnuts]

I started to get REALLY angry since I can't understand why people critizise movies because they aren't 100% accurate to what they're portraying.

Well, I can I criticize it for the cardboard characters and the cliched, borderline-moronic storyline?

[Smaragdadler]

The annoying thing is not, that it's not 100% accurate. Its more the realisation that the people who have made it, have a absolute puberty way to look at the world, but think themself serious...

[Dowly]

A little OT, but here we have a nice review of the Das Boot :rotfl:

Dont make a movie movie glorifying Germans in the US.
They got what they deserved, remember the Germans were fighting so they could kill all the Jews and take over the world, why would we want them to live? WE DONT. Maybe if i was German or they movie was about Americans i could realte, but im sorry they deserved worse then what they got. Its too long, it doesnt have enough action, no drama, the score is bad, the acting is boderline soap opera, and the dialogue is perverted. U571 is better (:huh:)but not much, if your looking for a better Wolfgang film check out Troy (a great great great film) its a million times better, if you want a better war movie check out Saving Private Ryan of course, its the best war movie ever made. 4 out of a 10 for this.

:nope:

[joea]

Arggg:damn: Where did you find that crappy review Dowly?:down:

[The Noob]

Those STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID Americans! :nope: :damn:

[joea]

Errr ONE stupid American. ;)

[The Noob]

Errr ONE stupid American. ;)

Correct. The Problem is that many share his opinion. ;)

[Theta Sigma]

Errr ONE stupid American. ;)

Correct. The Problem is that many share his opinion. ;)

In your opinion. ;)

As for the film, the premise of Americans comandeering a U-boat and using her in combat was what made me a fan of it. Not the special effects, and certainly not the acting. It's certainly flawed, and I think that's due to the producer, Dino DeLaurentis who's infamous for cutting coreners, and even directors, just to make money. Clearly this project would have come off better in the hands of a Speilberg.

Maybe someday we'll get a quality film with a similar premise. Personally, mixing it with Destination Tokyo (Yanks grabbing an enemy sub for a covert op) would be much more enjoyable, even if it's pure fiction.

U-571 is still a fun movie.

[Rose]

First of all, be careful in your generalizations Noob. I am American and my opinion is quite the opposite.

Second, where did he get the idea that TROY is a "great, great, great" movie? What. The. Hell. And also, did he honestly say Saving Private Ryan is the best war movie ever? Try Band of Brothers (not a movie, I know) or... Das Boot.

[The Noob]

Try Band of Brothers (not a movie, I know) or... Das Boot.

Band of Brothers is the only good War "Movie" thingy i ever saw from the US wich seemed really authentic and good.

Here is a truly nice review of U-571!



U-571

1942 - The German submarine U-571 was heavy damaged in sea-combat and drifts around not maneuverable in the Atlantic.

By a lucky coincidence US Navy notices this and makes themselves on the way with a own submarine. They want to pretend to be the German supplying boat with mechanics and then capture the German boat.

On this boat is a copy of the coding machine Enigma, with which the Germans code their radio messages. With this machine the Allies would be able to decode those messages.

http://www.cineclub.de/images/2000/u-571_2.jpg
Depth charges threaten to let the boat burst.

The film is full of cilces and American national pride. One can also still understand that at the beginning, but after approximately half of the film it gets mostly ridiculously.

Jonathan Mostow produced only a Spin-off of earlier submarine films.

Most of the actors are lost behind the story. When the credits scroll down you already forgot most of the role names.

The largest and most sophisticated role has without a doubt the boat U-571. Sometimes it does work, sometimes not, but permanently it stands under the bombardment of depth charges.

At the end the Americans of course triumph. (even if the British actually stole the enigma)

[FUBAR295]

If you can't accept that the film isn't meant in any way to be accurate, you should losen up a bit. I could pick flaws out all day, but the producer and director filmed it for entertainment only, not accuracy. On the Ubi forums, I remember someone was ALWAYS bashing the movie. He wouldn't give it credit for ANYTHING. I started to get REALLY angry since I can't understand why people critizise movies because they aren't 100% accurate to what they're portraying.


Forget accurate... U-571 was not entertaining. Watching the cat hack up a hair ball is more entertaining and suspenseful... Acckkkkkk.

Good Hunting,
FUBAR

[bookworm_020]

The best thing about U-571 DVD was the feature which had an interview with one of the crew from HMS Bulldog, who helped capture one of the first Engima machines.

The DVD is almost saved by this one feature, almost.....:-?

[Sailor Steve]

Band of Brothers is the only good War "Movie" thingy i ever saw from the US wich seemed really authentic and good.
If you want an American movie that tells the truth, with no BS and no schmaltz, and is accurate and entertaining, try Tora! Tora! Tora!

It has no fictional characters, and shows how well the Japanese planned and executed the Pearl Harbor attack as well as the blunders made by both sides.

My vote for best historical picture ever.

[Smaragdadler]

When trumpets fade or Saints and Soldiers are other good examples. No big budget and no naval theme - but nevertheless good war movies. 'Saints and Soldiers' has some mormonic (?) 'agenda' but its ok and don't goes on your nerves. It even shows the Malmedy massacre in a very balanced way... And the story of 'Trumpets' takes place in the Hürtgen...but I'm shure it was not sponsored by the US Army.
A good submovie from USA is 'Ice Station Zebra'. It's from 1968 and not WWII but Cold War. You can shure find many 'mistakes' if you look for it, but I found it fun to watch...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063121/goofs

[joea]

Oh yes, I really enjoyed "Ice Station Zebra" a fun sub-spy-cold war flick. That film taught me how to say "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" in Russian.:up:

[DanCanovas]

what do you mean we should loosen up a bit. The acting and direction was appalling too! "this your first time on a sub"? and they're all smiling. what a bloody copy of Das Boot! Even the semi decent start is plagued by crap. TORPEDOES LOSS!!! 5.4.3.2.1 and you hear a very distant bang lol. I want those 200 knot eels too! i used to love this film and defend it, the more I watch it the more I realise that its accuracy is just one faults, and Im in no way talking about historical accuracy, im talking about technical accuracy. I love it when he jumps down and the chief shouts "everythings in German". Give the guy a round of applause.

[Immacolata]

U-571 is a poor movie. Not just a poor sub movie. Just a poor movie. Saw it last month on tv and was zapping between two other equally boring movies to make the time go. U-571 is just another low grade lump of ore from the hollywood script mines, and this one accidentially ended up being a movie.

It is based on an action template that is so well known to us all that you could possible switch out everything with space ships, busses, airplanes or a school without changing much of the movies premise. Now, you couldn't do that with Das Boot. The tension and odd way to conduct war depicted in this movie is not something you can just transplant into a new setting and see the same result. That is what makes U-571 drivel from the deepest pits of the hollywood mines, and Das Boot a rare gem of a genuine story. Not to mention it creates pleasuring sensations in my submarine / war hardware nerd glands to the fullest :)

[Konovalov]

U-571 is a poor movie. Not just a poor sub movie. Just a poor movie. Saw it last month on tv and was zapping between two other equally boring movies to make the time go. U-571 is just another low grade lump of ore from the hollywood script mines, and this one accidentially ended up being a movie.

It is based on an action template that is so well known to us all that you could possible switch out everything with space ships, busses, airplanes or a school without changing much of the movies premise. Now, you couldn't do that with Das Boot. The tension and odd way to conduct war depicted in this movie is not something you can just transplant into a new setting and see the same result. That is what makes U-571 drivel from the deepest pits of the hollywood mines, and Das Boot a rare gem of a genuine story. Not to mention it creates pleasuring sensations in my submarine / war hardware nerd glands to the fullest :)

Well said. :yep: Das Boot is heaven whilst U-571 is hell. :)