U-571 (2000) on Netflix
Depth charges leave the German submarine U-571 disabled in the Atlantic. An American crew disguises its boat as the relief ship, and Lieutenant Tyler goes aboard to take the Enigma machine.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.6/1092,901 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes68%
Trailer
Plot summary
Depth charges from a British destroyer cripple the German submarine U-571, and a flash fire kills its engineers and machinists. Its commander, Kapitänleutnant Günther Wassner, sends a distress call. The Allies intercept it and order the US submarine S-33 to pass as a German resupply vessel and take the Enigma cipher machine. Lieutenant Tyler, the executive officer, wanted a command of his own, but Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren blocked the recommendation, doubting that Tyler can give orders without hesitating. The men picked for the job include Lieutenant Hirsch of Naval Intelligence and Radioman Wentz, both fluent in German, and Major Coonan, a Marine explosives expert.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about U-571 (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Anger over the film's inaccuracies reached the House of Commons, where Labour MP Brian Jenkins used Prime Minister's Questions in June 2000 to call the film an affront to the memories of the British sailors who lost their lives on this action. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he agreed entirely.
- In 2006 screenwriter David Ayer expressed regret over making U-571 and said he would not do it again, telling BBC Radio 4 that suggesting Americans rather than the British had captured the naval Enigma cipher was a mercenary decision, and that he would be personally offended if somebody distorted his own grandparents' achievements.
- Sub Lt. David Balme, the Royal Navy officer who led the boarding party on U-110, called U-571 a great film that young people will love, and said that it would not have been financially viable without being americanised.
- The real submarine was never captured: captained by Oberleutnant zur See Gustav Lüssow, she was lost with all hands on 28 January 1944 west of Ireland, hit by depth charges dropped from a Short Sunderland flying boat, callsign D for Dog, of No. 461 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.
SPOILER
In the US the film was originally rated R because of a scene where Lt. Emmett is beheaded by flying debris; to get a PG-13 the shot was redone with Emmett instead knocked overboard. A death scene filmed for Major Coonan was cut because the effect did not work well, leaving the character vanishing during the explosion.- When Lt. Cmdr. Dahlgren orders Lt. Tyler to take down the captured German U-boat, he cries out Take her down, the last words of Lieutenant Commander Howard W. Gilmore, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his self-sacrifice in saving his boat.
- It grossed $19 million at number one ahead of Love & Basketball, Rules of Engagement, 28 Days and Keeping the Faith during the opening weekend of April 21-23, 2000, the third-highest April opening weekend at the time, after The Matrix and Life.
