(Review originally written at 29 August 2003)
At first I was skeptic about this movie like everyone else, I mean a submarine action movie ??? Comon! But the movie actually turned out to be pretty good!
It's always risky to make a submarine movie, it's very soon considered to be a "Das Boot" rip-off. And of course "U-571" is a "Das Boot" rip-off but it's a fun rip-off! The movie uses several elements from "Das Boot", even the beginning is a bit similar but still it's unique enough to be considered a good movie.
It was surprising to see that it actually really was a well action packed movie. From a submarine movie you normally just don't expect this many action. You could really already see back then that Jonathan Mostow really is a great action movie director that has proved himself recently with "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines". It actually is pretty amazing to see how close "U-571" comes to creating a "Das Boot" like atmosphere.
Of course the story is totally silly and unbelievable but should that immediately mean that it's a bad movie? The movie serves it's purpose and that's to entertain the viewer.
The cast is fairly good but don't be tricked, Bill Paxton's role is actually very small and just a few minutes long. Matthew McConaughey is a great leading man and it's always a pleasure to see Harvey Keitel in a movie.
Give it a shot, you might like it.
7/10
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