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U-571

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 35 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): War
Written by:
Jonathan Mostow
Sam Montgomery
David Ayer
Directed by: Jonathan Mostow
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 21, 2000
DVD: October 24, 2000
Running Time: 115 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / France
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for war violence
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, John Bon Jovi, David Keith, and Thomas Kretschmann
A team of American seamen, disguised as soldiers on a German rescue submarine, sneak aboard a disabled German U-Boat in an attempt to capture the Enigma machine, a master encryption device which has enabled Axis forces to execute maritime attacks without fear of interference or interception by the Allies.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Breakdown Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Two hours of nonstop, nail-biting tension and anxiety.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
When the submarine has to dive 400 meters beneath the surface to avoid detection, you can practically feel the water pressure crushing in on the sailors.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
A rip-roaring action adventure.
Village Voice Michael Atkinson
It's a simple pleasure watching an American movie that respects genre, knows its limitations, and genuflects at the memory of Don Siegel in the age of Spielberg.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
Sets up a mood of tensile suspense from the beginning and never lets it go.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Full of old tricks - cuts between worried faces and overheated gauges inching into the red zone - but director Mostow pulls most of them off with conviction and pizazz.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
A formulaic and predictable movie that combines minimal characterization with some irritating implausibility.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson
Certainly it isn't about to give "Das Boot" a run for its money - but nevertheless it is irresistible entertainment.
Read Full Review >Newsweek Jeff Giles
The script is lame...but U-571 works, thanks to the jittery handheld-camera work, the great, visceral sound editing and a few sneaky plot twists.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Pauline Ademek
A thoroughly good war picture that is well worth seeing on the big screen in a cinema equipped with a first-rate sound system for the full sonic effect.
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Gets high marks for tension and excitement.
Film.com Ted Fry
One sour note is Richard Marvin's derivative score. It's just awful and often pulls the movie down.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The real star of U-571 is its sheer visceral atmosphere.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Definitely works as an action piece, it's often surprising and never boring, and several sequences had me positioned well on the edge of my seat.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Despite the whiplike pace of events and the compelling realism of the martial effects, the film is dead in the water whenever it pauses to make a human gesture or consider, heaven help us, an idea.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
As beautiful as all the film's technology is, it needs more real human beings around - to pull the switches, man the pumps and scuttle through those corridors.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Never lets down, even if depth of character always takes second place to depth charges.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Flouting all rules of the sea but honoring every war-epic cliche about guts under pressure.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Yet there is so little characterization that when the sub goes down, you may find yourself confused as to which of the supporting cast members lived through the torpedo blast.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's straightforwardly entertaining and a genuine nail-biter.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
U-571's plot moves like a rocket, never pausing for breath, and this works to a point, but certain events ... are glossed over in favor of more (exceptionally well-done) shots of exploding depth charges and topside battles.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
It''s loud and flashy and fun to look at, but you''ll grow tired of it very quickly.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
One would be hard-pressed to name another submarine movie that lingers so little in the memory two days after seeing it.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
It's still a submarine movie, confined by the ship, the sea, and a convention-laden script.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
A story as creaky as the sub that gives the film its name.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
You can enjoy U-571 as a big, dumb war movie without a brain in its head.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Richard T. Jameson
Just keeps grinding along, pushing its way through a barrage of boom-boom and a sea of tight-lipped clichés.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
May be the shoddiest and most incoherent piece of big-budget action moviemaking since "Armageddon."
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
The submarine goes deep but the story never does in U-571, a good old-fashioned WWII picture that is exciting in only the most superficial way.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
J D gave it a4:
Pretty bad movie. Historically it's a load of crap. Watch "Das Boot". A much MUCH better German U-Boat movie.
Jared C. gave it a9:
It will have you captured in the experience and let you on a firm gripp throughout.
Karl B. gave it a1:
Politically incorrect film about American sailors finding the German Enigma Code. What a load of bollocks.
Nick gave it a10:
It's one of the best movies I've ever seen!!!
Pat C. gave it a 5:
Attempts to be both entertaining & historical - falls into the no-man's land somewhere in between.
Funkymonkey gave it a 5:
Watchable, historically inaccurate American fiction. Does not compare to 'Das But' in drama or claustrophobic tension.
