U-571 (film)

U-571 is a 2000 American submarine film directed by Jonathan Mostow. The film is a fictionalized account of a World War II mission by American submariners to capture an Enigma machine from a disabled German U-boat.

The plot centers around the fictional U.S. submarine S-33, disguised as a German supply U-boat, tasked with intercepting the crippled U-571 in the North Atlantic. The objective is to retrieve the Enigma coding machine before the German navy can. The mission is successful, but the U-571 is subsequently sunk by a German destroyer, leaving the surviving American crew stranded in the captured U-boat. The crew must then use their ingenuity and naval knowledge to evade detection and make their way back to Allied territory.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, Jake Weber, and Matthew Settle.

U-571 was a commercial success but generated controversy due to its historical inaccuracies. The actual capture of Enigma machines was largely the work of the British Royal Navy and Polish codebreakers. The film's depiction of Americans capturing the machine first was criticized by British and Polish officials and historians as a distortion of historical events. Despite this criticism, the film received generally positive reviews for its suspense, action sequences, and performances. The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 73rd Academy Awards.