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GoDeep · 09-27-11, 11:41 AM

I too am one of those people that gets annoyed at historical inaccuracies in a movie. If you're going to make a historical movie (even an alternate history one), at least have the decency to get your facts straight.

Things that ruined U-571 for me:

U-571 is disabled closer to European waters than US waters, yet somehow the S-33 departing from the US arrived before the German rescue sub? And with time to modify the S-33 to look more like a German sub?
When U-571 is captured, they have to cross the Western Approaches, which is described as the German's backyard, crawling with U-boats. Fair enough, but explain to me what a single German destroyer is doing there?
How did the single-engined German fighter (ME-109?) get in the middle of the Atlantic?
Depth charges exploding just metres from the hull of U-571, yet the hull isn't even dented.
The chief (Harvey Keitel) tells about being depth charged once, off the coast of Murmansk in WW1. What would a US sub be doing at Murmansk? What would a German destroyer be doing outside of Murmansk? AFAIK, no US sub ever fought in European waters in WW1.
During the confrontation with the German destroyer, the US boarding party calmly readies the deck gun for firing. How on earth would the German destroyer crew have let this happen without firing a single shot?
The German sub commander orders his crew to fire on survivors with the AA gun. AFAIK, this happened only once in reality and if I remember correctly, the German commander was court-martialed for this, by the Germans.
When the German destroyer hunts U-571 which has now submerged, you can hear pinging noises. Since the Germans didn't have ASDIC AFAIK, who or what is pinging U-571?

Still, I watched it again on RTL7 a few nights ago just because there was a U-boat in it. It was worth a chuckle or two. My wife did the chuckling at me shaking my head and getting wound up about movie inaccuracies. It's just a movie, she said...

09-27-11, 11:41 AM	#10
GoDeep Planesman Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 188 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I too am one of those people that gets annoyed at historical inaccuracies in a movie. If you're going to make a historical movie (even an alternate history one), at least have the decency to get your facts straight. Things that ruined U-571 for me: U-571 is disabled closer to European waters than US waters, yet somehow the S-33 departing from the US arrived before the German rescue sub? And with time to modify the S-33 to look more like a German sub? When U-571 is captured, they have to cross the Western Approaches, which is described as the German's backyard, crawling with U-boats. Fair enough, but explain to me what a single German destroyer is doing there? How did the single-engined German fighter (ME-109?) get in the middle of the Atlantic? Depth charges exploding just metres from the hull of U-571, yet the hull isn't even dented. The chief (Harvey Keitel) tells about being depth charged once, off the coast of Murmansk in WW1. What would a US sub be doing at Murmansk? What would a German destroyer be doing outside of Murmansk? AFAIK, no US sub ever fought in European waters in WW1. During the confrontation with the German destroyer, the US boarding party calmly readies the deck gun for firing. How on earth would the German destroyer crew have let this happen without firing a single shot? The German sub commander orders his crew to fire on survivors with the AA gun. AFAIK, this happened only once in reality and if I remember correctly, the German commander was court-martialed for this, by the Germans. When the German destroyer hunts U-571 which has now submerged, you can hear pinging noises. Since the Germans didn't have ASDIC AFAIK, who or what is pinging U-571? Still, I watched it again on RTL7 a few nights ago just because there was a U-boat in it. It was worth a chuckle or two. My wife did the chuckling at me shaking my head and getting wound up about movie inaccuracies. It's just a movie, she said... __________________ On sailor's grave there are no roses, On a seaman's grave there blooms no Edelweiss. The only ornaments are the white gulls And the many tears a girl is weeping. -- German folk song, sung by German seamen during the war.