Rating: 
Summary: A Good Action Movie, a Great DVD
Review: As far as thoughtful (Paths of Glory, Thin Red Line etc.) war films go, this one is not one of them. As an action film however, this is exceptional entertainment. The historical inaccuracies don't matter in this. It is the tension that is created during the depth charge scenes or the submarine battles. The story itself is relatively simple. An American submarine crew is sent to retrieve a coding device from a damaged German U-Boat. Jonathan Mostow has created a claustrophobic and very terrifying environment inside the submarines and during the battle scenes. The performances are all good with Matthew McConaughey leading the charge and Jake Webster and Harvey Keitel following with equally impressive performances.Universal have provided on this DVD an outstanding picture. There are hardly any problems in the picture. The sound however is another story. The Dolby Digital track is very impressive. However for greater clarity and a sound that will rock the house 4 blocks away check out the DTS track. During any of the depth charge scenes expect to be thrown off your seat. The special features that were crammed onto this DVD are equally impressive. From the Mostow commentary to the documentaries describing how the film was made. For the historical purists there are several features such as "U.S. Naval archives: Capturing the U-505" All in all a great DVD presented with a very good picture, an awesome soundtrack, and a wealth of special features. Recommended for all those looking for a great bit of entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: Another inaccurate Hollywood movie
Review: U-571, although entertaining suffers from the usual Hollywood inaccuracies. One reviewer here stated that "Johnathon Mostow was very concerned about the accuracy of this film. I don't see how anyone can call it inaccurate, it isn't." Apparently people now consider Hollywood producers and directors historians. Sigh. Statements like this demonstrate how Hollywood gets away with making second rate movies like this one. The movie is mildly entertaining--although the characters are one-dimensional and the story is pretty predictable--some of the underwater scenes are well done. But, for accuracy, I'll watch Das Boot which is a pretty accurate respresentation of submariners (if you subtract the ficticous use of red battle lights--it isn't as if a sub has windows people). I think the movie would have played better if it was at least about a British sub crew (FYI I'm a "yank") and have given more credit to the fact that the Brits were the ones who captured the Enigma. Other reviewers have made good points about how we ripped off the Brits and didn't give them enough credit in the movie--I have to agree with this. Hopefully our cousins over in Europe will understand that this is a Hollywood movie and, as a result, many of me and my fellow Yanks recognize to whom the real credit should go.
Rating: 
Summary: very good movie
Review: the storey line was good, and the historical aspect well not
true, but not looking for that. this is a storey from ww2 regardless of who participated,
it was entertaining and i got my money's worth. das boot obviously was the better. plenty of stories to be told of ww2, keep the movies coming.
Rating: 
Summary: Idiotic Garbage
Review: U571 is perhaps the most absurd war film I have ever seen. Nothing about this film is believable. IT starts out with the absurd proposition that a German sub captain and crew stood by while approached by the crew of an American sub posing as another German crew. The Germans would have made radio or semaphore contact- not to mention the fact that the Germans could see the American sub and did not notice that it was American, not German. OK, it was raining, but then another German sub comes along, sees the two subs, recognizes which one is American, and torpedoes it. Apparently the other Germans were better at sub recognition. Then a few Americans on the captured German sub take a 4 second lesson in German sub operation and proceed to destroy the other German sub- amazing! They encounter a German plane over the Atlantic. One of the American seamen orders another to shoot it down AGIANST THE ORDERS OF AN OFFICER WHO IS STANDING RIGHT THERE. The officer does nothing to this seaman. On Das Boot, the Captain almost shoots a crewman who panics. Who could believe US officers to be so easy going? The American controlled sub approaches a German surface vessel, where the plane comes from. Once again, the Germans don't bother with radio or semaphore contact. The American man their deck gun while the Germans sit idly by, and get their radio shot out. Apparently German warships only had 1 radio during WW2, because now they cannot tell that one of their subs has been captured. If that is not all idiotic enough, remember that this has to be some time in 1943- what is a German cruiser doing out in the Atlantic in broad daylight that late in the war? A German prisoner overpowers one of the Americans on 571 and gets his 45. Another superhuman American charges him, gets shot, but keeps on going and gets the German. Isn't it funny how Germans drop when shot but Americans keep right on going? Earlier in the film, when the Americans board U571, most of the Germans hide in the engine room and cower when the Americans enter. Fact is that the German U Boat crews were chosen for their nerve. Theirs was the most elite service in German military of WW2, but in this movie they are mostly spineless cowards. I did not see the rest of this film, because it was just getting too stupid to be entertaining. One might point out that this in not a historical documentary, its supposed to be entertaining, but how can something so blatantly idiotic be entertaining? This film is worse than Holywood propaganda films during the war. Not only does it portray the enemy as incompetent idiots or cowards and the Americans as superheroes, it has numerous historical inaccuracies. War films do not have to be 100% accurate, but they cannot be completely unbelievable and still be entertaining. This film should have been made as a spoof or not at all. As a serious film it is pathetic and a waste of time. I want the producers to pay me for the time I wasted watching their idiotic garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Insulting Revisionism
Review: Firstly, I should like to pay tribute to the crew of HMS Bulldog, the British Navy vessel who actually did perform the heroic deeds portrayed in this insulting film. When Enigma really was captured, America hadn't even been forced into the war yet. Britain and her allies, on the other hand, had been fighting since the summer of 1939. I find it worrying when history is revised in this way. It happened with Pearl Harbour, Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot too. When and where does Hollywood/America stop? Your own history is sufficiently full of stirring deeds to make this theft of heroism unnecessary. In answer to those who have stated that us 'Limeys' need to lighten-up and the film is purely entertainment, I feel I have to disagree. It's naive to adopt this POV when one realises the well-documented effect of Cinema on society. Great Britain and a few staunch allies stood alone for almost 3 years before the Japanese attack on Pearl forced the US into the war. We too, fought on more than one front. North Africa and the Far East, for the benefit of the earlier critic who mentioned that the US Navy was fighting in two oceans as opposed to only one. As for the tiny sop at the end of the credits, well I ask you, who reads the credits? The damage has already been done. So, what comes next, one wonders? America triumphs at El Alamein? The USAF wins the Battle Of Britain? Oh, sorry, I forgot . . . Just read that's already happening, in a new film starring Tom Cruise!
Rating:
Summary: Another inaccurate Hollywood movie
Review: U-571, although entertaining suffers from the usual Hollywood inaccuracies. One reviewer here stated that "Johnathon Mostow was very concerned about the accuracy of this film. I don't see how anyone can call it inaccurate, it isn't." Apparently people now consider Hollywood producers and directors historians. Sigh. Statements like this demonstrate how Hollywood gets away with making second rate movies like this one. The movie is mildly entertaining--although the characters are one-dimensional and the story is pretty predictable--some of the underwater scenes are well done. But, for accuracy, I'll watch Das Boot which is a pretty accurate respresentation of submariners (if you subtract the ficticous use of red battle lights--it isn't as if a sub has windows people). I think the movie would have played better if it was at least about a British sub crew (FYI I'm a "yank") and have given more credit to the fact that the Brits were the ones who captured the Enigma. Other reviewers have made good points about how we ripped off the Brits and didn't give them enough credit in the movie--I have to agree with this. Hopefully our cousins over in Europe will understand that this is a Hollywood movie and, as a result, many of me and my fellow Yanks recognize to whom the real credit should go.
Rating:
Summary: A Worrying Film
Review: This is a very ordinary (and no more than that) WW2 submarine film. In the 1950s it would have been a B-movie; special effects are better now, of course, so it's a 'blockbuster'. It barely merits one star, but the system won't allow none at all. But that's not the point, of course. The worrying thing is the revisionist history it contains. We are getting used to it in Britain, but Hollywood constantly rewrites history to favour the Americans, and often at our expense. "The Patriot" was disgraceful enough in attributing to 1770s British troops atrocities committed by WW2 Germans against French civilians (at Orodour), but at least Hollywood was trying to establish in blatant terms who was "good" (Americans) and who "bad" (British) for the purpose of the film. "U 571" goes further than that, because it rewrites history to give credit to people who do not deserve it, and by implication to take credit from those that do. It's the feeling that some people don't think this matters that worries me. Imagine the outcry in the US if anyone made a film showing the Royal Marines capturing Iwo Jima and raising the British Flag. Or how about how the British fought and won the Battle of the Bulge? It does matter. Really.
Rating:
Summary: This movie should go below crush depth as soon as possible.
Review: Technically accurate? How much is technical accuracy worth when the whole story is a monsterous lie?
Rating:
Summary: This is not Das Boot
Review: This movie was not meant to be historically accurate. It was meant to be entertaining. In that respect it is reasonably good. After all both the British and Americans wanted to get their hands on the Enigma device. Granted the Brits worked at it harder and were finally successful cracking the Enigma code. For once it would be nice for people to judge a movie on its own merit rather than slamming it for not being historical or predictable. People that enjoy the vast majority of WWII movies will probably find it worthwhile, and I would even venture to say that it has replayability. That is much more than I can say for a fair number of WWII movies, and I should know, I own most of them. I don't recall seeing anywhere during the credits that it was based on a true story or thanks to any that were actually responsible. I may be going out on a limb here, but aren't some WWII movies mostly fictional. I love "Father Goose", "Operation Petticoat", "633 Squadron", "Where Eagles Dare", "Sahara", and "The Guns of Navarone" to name a few but I highly doubt they are based on very many real facts.
Rating:
Summary: A great action movie, regardless
Review: To fully enjoy this movie you must watch it for what it is. It's a Submarine action movie, that's it. It's not based on any historical fact whatsoever and you shouldn't expect a history lesson. With that aside, this a awsome movie that fans of Das Boot or Red October will easly fall in love with. The action is intense and had me griping my seat with anticipation and worry for U-571's crew. I understand how this movie could upset the Englishmen who watch it(we Americans know you guys found the enigma) or the hard core WWII buffs but if your an impartial viewer like me, tune on and buckle up!
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