Apparently everyone who reviewed this movie expected to see a historically accurate movie in every respect. Nowhere did the makers say it was an accurate portrayal of an actual event on any particular U Boat or any actual patrol. The film was made in the USA to make money, not be a historically 100% accurate film about any Nazi U boat. As far as whether the US Navy ever captured a U boat, yes they did on June 4, 1944. They arrested the crew and got the enigma machine which was sent to Bletchley Park England. The boat U 505 was then towed the boat to Bermuda. It now sits in Chicago at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. The US under the Lend-Lease Program gave the United Kingdom $31.4 billion (equivalent to $427 billion today) during WW 2. I guess that was a mistake according to most respondants here I see. Perhaps the US should have stayed out of Europe and let France and England defeat Hitler by themselves while we took on Japan.

Nice seeing Will Estes, Jaime of television's Blue Bloods in a minor role in this film.I think that the film basically torpedoes itself with the constant barrage of firing. Naturally, the scenes are confined to the ships whether they be above or below the ground and this is always a disadvantage to film viewers.Matthew McConaughey plays the guy who was told by his superior that he isn't ready to head a naval ship only for the one to tell him this dies on board and Matt steps up to the helm. Notice those bulging eyes of his as he directs the men to follow his orders. Harvey Keitel plays one of the men on board who is fiercely loyal to McConaughey and urges the others to do so. Interesting to see how McConaughey tells the men that we're not running a democracy here and they're to do what he tells them to do. The film becomes essentially a cat and mouse game with the Americans over powering a Nazi submarine while attempting to get a valuable recorder used by the Germans to communicate with Berlin.

While this film stirred some controversy regarding its portrayal of history, particular in the media in the UK, this needs to be totally ignored and there was a complete lack of understanding that this was a work of FICTION. Some of the hysteria around the release was to be frank, totally irrelevant and the focus needed to be on whether the film was any good or not as a story.So, as a old fashioned adventure film, it's very good indeed. The film's plot is simple and straightforward, helped a lot by portraying both the American and German sailors in a rounded and grounded way. Performances are solid all round, with Matthew McConnaughey in good form as the lead, with excellent support from both Jack Noseworthy, Jake Weber and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The script by Director Mostow, Sam Montgomery and writer/director David Ayer is lean allows that action to zip along at breakneck speed, supported greatly by excellent and authentic directing on the part of Mostow and excellent photography by Oliver Wood. Wayne Wahrman's outstanding editing, convincing production design with Richard Marvin's thunderously rousing score helps create a thrilling and exciting experience full of tension. Kudos also need to go the to the visual effects crew, who make excellent use of life size submarines and truly excellent sets, to highly effective underwater miniature photography. However this film's biggest technical credit is the excellent atmosphere created by the excellent sound work, with Jon Johnson winning an Academy Award for his sound editing. His work contributes massively to creating a genuinely real and claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the submarines that feature in the story, and helps put the viewer in the action. He had already worked on a number of high profile films prior to winning the Oscar, including Star Trek Generations, Independence Day, Breakdown (Mostow's previous film as director), and Payback. Subsequent to U571 he would go on to work on other high profile pictures such as A Knight's Tale, The Rookie, Amazing Grace, Captain American, Saving Mr Banks, The Blind Side and Surrogates – yet another collaboration with Jonathan Mostow. If there are any quibbles, the way the core crew get out of an initial rendezvous with an enemy destroyer does stretch credibility. The fact that a supply submarine would still have space to carry torpedoes also comes as a bit of a surprise, as does the use of a spotter plane that looks suspiciously like a short range Messchermitt (which you would never find out in the middle of the Atlantic – or a German destroyer for that matter – Germany only tended to send it large battleships into this region). However the fun and enjoyment of the film will grab you to will tend to overlook any flaws. So in summary if you just accept and experience it as a work of fiction, you will have a great time

This "movie" is no worth seeing. Historical errors are the stars, Special Effects are ludicrous, and the acting of the cast is repulsive. Pistols with endless rounds of bullets, machine guns which only wound or kill the bad guys, commandos who board a German ship without knowing a word of German language, torpedoes that miss their targets. etc. This is not a movie about a historical fact, but only a low quality adaptation of a novel. It isn't even a comedy. It doesn't deserve the qualification of "1" but there is no possible way to give it a negative value. My advice: If this is the only movie to see, switch the TV off and grab a good book. At least the later is an environment-friendly attitude.