U-Boat

hello everybody, having read several comments on this movie, I feel like doing the same myself. I didn't expect too much out of it when I took it home to watch it. the story to my mind has a very unique idea as a layer, I liked it very much. still I thought it was a bit much on the cliché-side, but still very good. The acting was quite amazing at times, especially macy and kretschmann did a great job. personally I never liked schweiger that much, but he did a great job on this movie too. some minor roles were quite good i thought, such as rene heger's. what i liked most about the movie were the dialogs between macy and kretschmann, especially towards the end, quite touching i thought. all in all, i think its a movie that is worth watching.

In my opinion there are only a couple of submarine movies that are more than just worth a watch. One of them is "The Hunt for Red October", which was situated in the cold war and the other one is "Das Boot", situated in the Second World War. The last one of the two will always be my favorite, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to see more movies about submarines in WWII. That's how I once saw "U-571", which I really didn't like (read my review if you want to know why) and that's also the reason why I got this one in my hands.

"In Enemy Hands" tells the story of the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish. They are heading home after being months at sea, but they never make it to land. They are taken aboard the German U-boat 429 as prisoners of war. Because one of them was sick, now both crews are infected and many of them die. The only way to survive is to co-operate and so they join their German colleagues in the daily routine and handling of the U-boat...

In my opinion there are two ways to watch this movie: either you judge it by it's historical accuracy, either you see it as a fictional story. If I do the first, than I can only conclude that this is a very disappointing movie. Why? Well for starters: The German U-boats had their orders never not to take prisoners of war, they left everybody to die at the ocean. That may sound very cruel, but it's very understandable if you think about the fact that these extra people had to be fed and that they would breath the little air that was so needed by the original crew. So if you start with that idea, you know that the entire movie can't be real. And even when it could have happened, than it's very doubtful that the Germans would have allowed the Americans to help them steering their boat...

So let's see it as a fictional story then. In that case I must say it isn't the worst movie ever. At first it is a bit slow, but when the action starts and they have to fight for their lives together, this becomes an interesting movie. The acting isn't bad and what I really appreciated is the fact that the Germans really spoke German and not English with some fake German accent. Overall this is an entertaining movie that is worth a watch, but it just isn't the best example of submarine movies. I give it a 6.5/10

This movie slipped by in the U.S. theaters, with DVD release only, so I found out about it from a U-Boat movie recruit friend. With William H. Macy, Til Schweiger, and Thomas Kretschmann (the latter now well known for his role in "The Pianist" there is no excuse for no release.

The details are well documented in other reviews. I have seen many such films, in German and English. After watching half in English, I purchased a copy in German (well-dubbed). I tend to find such films more convincing (easier to suspend disbelief), although the down side there is seeing American actors speaking perfect German. Well, perhaps there will come a copy someday with appropriate subtitles.

Of course, the film that really shows U-Boat conditions is the film Das Boot. I do not know the budget of this film, but the cramped quarters, filth, and unseemly conditions were not part of the budget.

However, the decision of the Kaleun (Kapitän-Leutnant) Schweiger to take on American prisoners (against Oberkommando des Kriegsmarines orders), deal with the inevitable conflict--American soldiers and sailors were well-indoctrinated to hate Germans--after the certain death of his daughter to Allied bombing is more than touching.

Kretschmann's performance is especially noteworthy. Although he once wanted an American Hollywood acting career, and has most frequently been cast as a German military man, all of these performances have been quite different, a testimony to some real acting skill. He has it in spades. Til Schweiger is, as I have read, a "matinee idol"--he does not have to act.

To war film afficionados, most highly recommended, to those who wish to see some great German actors, also highly recommended, and finally, to fans of William H. Macy, a guaranteed pleasure. There is enough WW2 period ambiance to keep this film in suspense.

It has an interesting story executed poorly. I couldn't figure out if this was supposed to be a serious drama or light camp. Acting was average with standouts William H Macy carrying the film as well as the German executive officer. Still it actually moved well for me and I was entertained by it. I have a keen interest in U-boats having traveled the world to see them as well as the US fleet subs. The feats performed in this movie by the submarines underwater is essentially science fiction in pre-1945 submarine warfare. Loads of other technical errors as well in the production, but in a quick and dirty film who cares. It was made on a budget and that's that. So if you want to really see reality, Das Boot still stands alone. I give it 5 starts, for sloppy production, but still recommend it over most of the garbage on Netflix.

His bad acting and dbag personality just tanked this movie for me