U-571 - Blu-ray review

Submarine films are few and far between in Hollywood. Over recent years, we have seen Hollywood churn out "The Hunt For Red October," "K-19 Widowmaker" and "Crimson Tide." These three films have their merits, but the definitive submarine film does not come from Hollywood, but from Germany. Wolfgang Petersen's film, "Das Boot (The Boat)," is the benchmark of submarine films. Petersen's tale, which has been shown in three versions (original, director's cut and miniseries), shows suspense and the psychological impact on the crew of a U-Boat. "The Hunt For Red October" and "Crimson Tide" offered some suspense, but though they were entertaining, the films really did not delve into any great depths about submarines. "U-571" is the only submarine pictures in recent years and it finds itself to be wonderfully entertaining and superior to all previous Hollywood efforts. It does not, however, reach the power of the twenty-five-year-old "Das Boot."

"U-571" is a very entertaining film. For those who are experts on underwater warfare, there are plot holes and historical inaccuracies. For casual fans of these underwater sardine cans or those looking to simply have a good time, "U-571" delivers as well as any good torpedo shot. Action and suspense are delivered numerous times throughout the film and soon every depth charge fired at the crew of the boat leaves the audience fearing of what may happen. Much more attention to detail is given here than recent efforts such as "October" or "Crimson Tide" and a genuine sense of being cramped in filthy close quarters is felt throughout the film. "Das Boot" did well to show this, as does "U-571," but the other American efforts make a submarine interior look like a penthouse at the Hilton. Again, "U-571" is not a true historical record of submarine warfare, and the events of the actual enigma captures are combined into one story here. British and American crews found success in capturing these devices. Though it may not be historically accurate, "U-571" certainly delivers an idea of what it was like in these small vessels that prowled beneath the ocean's surface.

The film finds Lt. Commander Mike Dahlgren (Bill Paxton) and his executive officer Lt. Andy Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) rushing to sea for a very secret mission. Their boat, the S-33 has been fitted with steel plating and dressed up to resemble a Nazi U-Boat. Marine Major Matthew Coonan (David Keith) takes to sea with the submarine's crew and briefs them and trains them to board the German sub and overpower its crew and take the enigma machine before it can be destroyed or before a radio message can be sent back to change the keys for decoding on the machines. The mission does not go according to plan. The characters played by McConaughey, Jon Bon Jovi and Harvey Keitel find themselves on the U-571 boat after their S-33 is sunk. The German sub is crippled and they are pursued by German destroyers who need to sunk the captured submarine. The chase between the German destroyer and the German U-Boat is the real meat of the film and where it shines.

The actors who take part in this film are wonderful. Most of my original excitement to see "U-571" stemmed from the fact that Harvey Keitel and Bill Paxton were appearing in the picture. Keitel is an incredible actor and Paxton is the perfect example of the average man. I would go to see any movie where these actors appeared on screen together. Throw them in a submarine and I am most certainly game to spend my $30.00 for the Blu-ray release. In addition to these two fine actors, Matt McConaughey decided to throw on some clothes and leave the bongos home to put forth one of his best performances in recent times and "U-571" was one of his better action film performances over the years. McConaughey does well in the film and is the most prominent face throughout the picture. Jon Bon Jovi, David Keith and others appear throughout the film with good performances. This wasn't a film that won its cast any gold statues and the performances far from deserved it, but the performances are good for an action / war film.

"U-571" may not be for everybody. However, I love submarine films and have a weak spot for them. If you do enjoy a good military thriller, war film or are a fellow sub buff, you won't be disappointed after seeing "U-571." "Das Boot" may be my favorite, but "U-571" does a good job of taking the runner up position in the genre. I have seen numerous other submarine films over the years and this is one of the better ones. This film does not deliver the level of realism of Wolfgang Petersen's epic, but it is light years ahead of anything else done by Hollywood. Of course, my favorite after these two films is the much older "Run Silent, Run Deep," as I was disappointed by "The Hunt For Red October," "Crimson Tide" and "K-19."

Video

Did you know that the filmmakers built the full-sized S-33 from scratch? This was one of the extremes taken by director Jonathan Mostow and his crew to make the film look as authentic as possible. "U-571" excels in this regard and may be the best looking submarine film ever made. The new Blu-ray transfer is culled from the same 1080p VC-1 master and is identical to its older high definition sibling. From the cramped and darkly lit scenes under the surface of the water to the sunny moments bobbing in the waves in view of the German destroyer, "U-571" never disappoints in being visually impressive. The vintage destroyers shown in the film and the individual rooms of the old submarine look as good as any war film ever made.

"U-571" continues to look stunning and the 2.35:1 transfer is still remarkably clear and holds its own against most other catalog titles on the Blu-ray format. The film contains many overly dark scenes, but always shows excellent shadow detail and blacks. Colors are strong and nicely saturated with excellent skin tones. Reds are warm and blues are cold. Much of the film does take place in the darkness of water, but it typically looks very strong. There are numerous wet surfaces found throughout the film and the reflection and shine of these wet surfaces shows the detail and clarity that high definition and Blu-ray are capable of. Comparing "U-571" to the flawed DVD transfer shows the lack of color banding that was previously prevalent and the superiority of a good high definition transfer.

Audio

My biggest enjoyment of the new Blu-ray transfer of "U-571" is the incredible sounding English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. It is simply amazing and easily bests the previously strong HD-DVD transfer that utilized only Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. From each individual sonar ping to the deep .1 LFE provided wallop of a depth charge, this high definition soundtrack sounds absolutely gorgeous. There has always been something magical about a good sounding submarine film and "U-571" ranks among the best of them although I continue to wait for a Blu-ray release of "Das Boot." When fire engulfs the U-boat during and early scene as depth charges pound the boat and the musical score by Richard Marvin heightens the excitement, the DTS-HD soundtrack is in full force. Imaging is very strong across all channels and dialogue is spot on. This Blu-ray release may mark the pinnacle of submarine film sound. It is simply amazing.

Extras

The new Blu-ray release of "U-571" contains a brand new set of features. Some things are missing from the previous releases, but the touted U-Control functionality has been included for use with Profile 1.1 capable players. Picture-in-Picture is included in thirteen of the twenty chapters and some very nice information pertaining to the making of the film is included here. The footage used for the PiP is culled from the stand-alone features previously found on the HD-DVD and DVD release and I couldn't find anything missing. "Spotlight on Location," "Inside the Enigma," "U.S. Naval Archives: Capturing the U-505," "Creating and Constructing U-571," "Submariner's WWII Experience" and "Britain Captures the U-110" all seem to be present and accountable for. The only problem is you now need to go search for them by hand.

The Feature Commentary with Director Jonathan Mostow returns for another listening with the Blu-ray release. Mostow certainly loves his creation and he talks through the entire time with very little dead air. A lot of detail about the making of the film and decisions he made to bring the story to life are discussed. Mostow discusses how audiences (especially DVD and home video) dissect films and pay attention to every detail and how he strived for as much authenticity and detail as he could afford to give. I enjoyed this track partly because of my enjoyment of the film. The commentary is an entertaining and educational listen even with taking into account the rather droll vocal delivery by the director.


Closing

I love submarine films. I really do. While "Das Boot" is the essence of the genre, "U-571" is an above average entry in the oft overlooked category of sub films. What makes these films so exciting is the tension and suspense provided by a vessel pushing its structural limits by diving far below the recommended depths. I think this is a mandatory plot line for sub films, but I can never get enough of it. With a good line-up of actors in Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel and others and great looking set pieces, effects and reconstructed submarines, "U-571" stands above most submarine films made. The new Blu-ray release is superior to the older HD-DVD release. The picture is identical, but the sound is greatly improved and U-Control has been added. Some may prefer having the vignettes and featurettes separated, but I don't mind the decision to make them PiP features. This is definitely a film to crank up the sound and sit back and enjoy every busting pipe, exploding bolt and creaking seam. This is not an award winning film, but it is a very entertaining one and sounds amazing.