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U-571
Universal Pictures


6.1

based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 10 votes
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FILM:

MPAA 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.

GENRE(S):	War
WRITTEN BY:	Jonathan Mostow Sam Montgomery David Ayer
DIRECTED BY:	Jonathan Mostow
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 24, 2000 Video: October 3, 2000 Theatrical: April 21, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	115 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / France

Received two 2001 Oscar nominations for Sound and Sound Editing.

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...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Two hours of nonstop, nail-biting tension and anxiety.

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.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The action is tightly focused and well-paced.

Film.com Robert Horton

Highly enjoyable.

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.

Film.com Sean Means

Fast-moving, watertight and firing from all tubes.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Sets up a mood of tensile suspense from the beginning and never lets it go.

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.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

A formulaic and predictable movie that combines minimal characterization with some irritating implausibility.

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.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Not bad at all.

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.

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.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The real star of U-571 is its sheer visceral atmosphere.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

It pulps you, but it doesn't enlighten you.

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.

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.

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.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Never lets down, even if depth of character always takes second place to depth charges.

Time Richard Corliss

Flouting all rules of the sea but honoring every war-epic cliche about guts under pressure.

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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's straightforwardly entertaining and a genuine nail-biter.

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.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It''s loud and flashy and fun to look at, but you''ll grow tired of it very quickly.

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.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's still a submarine movie, confined by the ship, the sea, and a convention-laden script.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

A story as creaky as the sub that gives the film its name.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

You can enjoy U-571 as a big, dumb war movie without a brain in its head.

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.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Yet another unironic war movie.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

May be the shoddiest and most incoherent piece of big-budget action moviemaking since "Armageddon."

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 10 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.

U-571 Universal Pictures

U-571
Universal Pictures