I rented U-571 thinking that a movie with submarines and Harvey Keitel in it would at least be vaguely entertaining, but boy, was I wrong. As for its mindless entertainment value, if you have only ever seen one u - boat movie you will essentially have seen U-571 because it goes to great pains not to miss any cliché in the book; the first third in particular is an almost exact copy of "Das Boot".

What really angers me about U-571 though, apart from it being a really bad movie, is the premeditated way it tries to remanufacture history. Without going into details: the actual Enigma machine was relatively well known, the difficult bit was cracking the code -- which was brilliantly accomplished by the British (after some spadework from the Poles). Next there is the cheap attempt to whitewash racial segregation in the US by throwing in a black sailor and then putting the onus on the Germans by showing a German sailor being shocked at seeing a black person -- maybe it was the historical inaccuracy he was astounded by. Even worse, the film promotes an almost fascist type of ideology, namely the leader principle, mindless submission to authority, the objective must be achieved regardless of the cost of human life (enemy or comrade). So ironically, U-571, with reversed sides and minus the special effects, could pass for a German propaganda movie of that era.

The REAL story behind the films exploits is far more embarasing & not one that Hollywood is going to tell the great American public.

The British cracked Enigma before the US even entered the War! Admiral Doenitz, suspicious that the UK had cracked the 3 code wheel Enigma (used by the German army),ordered a 4 wheel device & the British no longer were able to decode the U-Boat's messages. Sinkings of convoy vessels went up as a result, until a Royal Navy officer had the bright idea of knocking over a German weather ship in the North Sea & pinching the Enigna (they couldn't decode the messages from this ship so suspected, correctly, that it was a new, 4 wheel device). Code breaking recommenced & the U-Boats suffered such heavy losses that Doenitz eventually recalled them.

In "Operation Drumbeat", where the US, now in the war, had the shipping of it's East coast targeted, the British supplied the US Navy with intercepts, giving the U-Boats locations, courses, speed & intended target areas. Also passed on were suggested tactics for dealing with the U-Boat threat, all learned the hard way & shown to be effective. The US East coast commander, Admiral King, IGNORED them!

A bigoted Anglophobe, Admiral King refused to mount any anti submarine patrols & so condemed thousands of his own countrymen (the people he was supposed to PROTECT) to death. So many ships were sunk the U-Boat commanders called it "The New Happy Times".

Contrast this with Canada, also the target of the U-Boats, where the UK supplied intelligence was used & the anti submarine tactics employed. So few were the sinkings of ships & so heavy the U-Boat losses they were withdrawn to the SAFER waters of the US coast!

Only when Admiral King was finally replaced, after losses to shipping which could no longer be covered up, did effective anti submarine operations begin off the east coast of the US & the menace receded.

One man's obstinacy, stupidity & wrecklessness sacrificed thousands of US lives to satisfy the cravings of his ego. No Hollywood studio is going to dramatise that, so crap like "U571" is churned out. This is even more shocking when you consider that the people who died in this shameful episode still have living relatives.

The film Titanic was bad enough, but this is a step too far.I am appaled to think that if this carries on what the next step might be? How about the US wins the Vietnam War really? The US actually invented pennicillin (it was Dr Flemming, he was born in Darvel, just down the road from me)? The US wins the Battle of Britain?

Hollywood needs a kick up the pants for this film. Sadly most will go & see it & believe it's true. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose, but for the Americans killed & the families bereived, it is not the case.

U-571 garnered a lot of negative publicity on first release, due to the fact that it's completely historically inaccurate – the Brits were the ones who captured the first Enigma machine, not the Yanks. Still, inaccuracies aside – and let's face it, a LOT of Hollywood films are far from the truth – it's best to remember that this is a movie, nothing more, nothing less, designed to entertain and that's it. And I'm pleased to say that it's VERY entertaining.

Submarine thrillers have been fairly rare over the last couple of decades; everyone remembers DAS BOOT, the classic German miniseries, but there are no films so to speak of other than THE HUNT FOR RED October and CRIMSON TIDE. U-571 seeks to re-address that, presenting a taut thriller that mainly takes place in a single location. The good news is that Jonathan Mostow is the director, and he wrings every ounce of suspense, tension, and atmosphere from his confined setting. Mostow is that rare beast – a director who manages to turn even lacklustre scripts into entertaining movies; see TERMINATOR 3 for a case in point. His earlier BREAKDOWN, a fantastic thriller with Kurt Russell, remains a favourite and U-571 is just as entertaining as that movie.

Being a Hollywood movie, there are the requisite number of clichés and outlandish situations, but the premise seems fresh and the film is bolstered by some brilliant action scenes that make great use of CGI effects for a change. The cast have no choice but to give it their all; this is an ensemble outing and there's no hiding from the camera. Harvey Keitel is fine as the elder statesman, letting his younger co-stars do the hard work; Matthew McConaughey, an actor I usually dislike, is actually very good as the wannabe-captain. Elsewhere, the well-established likes of Bill Paxton and Elias Koteas fill out character roles, and there are two unusual casting choices: a bit part for cheeky chappy Robin Askwith, best known for his performances in '70s comedies like CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER, and a supporting role for musician Jon Bon Jovi, who is actually pretty decent. This is a frequently edge-of-your-seat film that packs in some great twists. After the initial set-up it keeps pounding away until the ending, and I enjoyed every minute; a minor classic for sure that just looks better and better as the years pass.