U-571

"Heroes are ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times."

2000 1h 56m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 1,424

WarActionAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the midst of World War II, the battle under the sea rages and the Nazis have the upper hand as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. However, after a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'.

“Heroes are ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.”

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Cast

Matthew McConaughey
Lt. Andrew Tyler
Bill Paxton
Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren
Harvey Keitel
CPO Henry Klough
Jon Bon Jovi
Lt. Pete Emmett
David Keith
Maj. Matthew Coonen
Thomas Kretschmann
Capt. Lt. Gunther Wassner
Jake Weber
Lt. Hirsch
Jack Noseworthy
Bill Wentz

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Writers: David Ayer, Sam Montgomery, Tracey Wilson
Languages: English, French, Russian
Countries: France, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $62M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, shot by Oliver Wood. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard Marvin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Wayne Wahrman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Matthew McConaughey and Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Mostow directs. Oliver Wood behind the camera. Richard Marvin scores. Wayne Wahrman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in France, Italy. Dialogue in English, French, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $62M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
226 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Russian.
4International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.
5Directed by Jonathan Mostow, shot by Oliver Wood. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Richard Marvin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Wayne Wahrman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Matthew McConaughey and Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Heroes are ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.".
10IMDB entry: tt0141926 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Oliver Wood
Original score: Richard Marvin
Editing: Wayne Wahrman
Production design: William Ladd Skinner
Costume design: April Ferry
Makeup / hair: Luigi Rocchetti
VFX supervisor: Peter Donen
Sound: Keith Bilderbeck
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $62,000,000
Box office: $127,700,000
Return: 206% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: U-571 (2000)

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Jonathan Mostow

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-06-23
★ 6/10
Can you forgive the film makers their sins? Once in a while there comes a time when a film lover has their patience snapped, that we can't surely accept in this instance that poetic license is OK as an excuse purely for Hollywood to make a piece of entertainment. U-571 pretty much rips up the history books for its own ends, something that would see even the film makers themselves bow their heads during the years that followed. However... As a drama - cum - thriller, Jonathan Mostow's film is top end. There's some iffy acting in the support slots, but the production is still excellently put together. Suspense down below in the submarine is high anxiety, the tactics of war in the Atlantic superbly written, while the finale face off is edge of the seat gripping. It's these things that has let U-571 gain decent ratings on the main internet movie sites. Taken as a piece of Hollywood guff, it's a rocking war movie, one that also sounds absolutely tremendous through home cinema systems. As long as you accept it as guff - regardless of your nationality, then there is a great time to be had. But just as with films like Braveheart, do familiarise yourselves with the facts afterwards. 6/10
CinemaSerf2024-04-01
★ 6/10
I usually enjoy submarine movies. Loads of action and precious little romance to clutter up the thing. On that front, this delivers quite well as Matthew McConaughey ("Tyler") and Bill Paxton ("Dahlgren") lead a daring mission to capture the enigma coding machine from an U-Boat. Thanks to a broken down Nazi sub in the middle of the ocean, the initial part of the operation goes surprisingly smoothly, but just at the moment of triumph, well - the rudder comes off. They must now make the best use they can of their captured ship and try to make it home in one piece with their prize. This isn't going to be easy. The torpedo tubes don't work. the thing is held together with chewing gum and willpower and the enemy know that they are out there. If you ignore the fact that this has very little to do with the history of the actual device, well, at least until the few captions at the end - this is quite a passable adventure with plenty of action, some not so great CGI and a competent acting ensemble to do the gung ho, ye ha stuff adequately enough. It can, at times, be effectively claustrophobic and does illustrate just how precarious life could be stuck in an airless tube 600 feet under the surface - especially when some guy on top is dropping depth charges. It's watchable, but equally forgettable.