Entertaining, but not the best example of submarine movies
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
"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
- philip_vanderveken
- 19 apr 2005