User reviews

The film is based on historic deeds,thus the construction of new U-boats continued at a record -breaking during WWII. In 1942-43 Hitler raised enormously his U-boat strength,the German submarines sank numerous ships,in early 1943 the called ¨Wolf packs¨sank 90 ships in 20 days.Then,suddenly ,between March and June 1943,an exceptional change took place .The Allies began to win the war against Hitler's underwater in the Battle of the Atlantic.By this time the technique of submarines warfare had advanced far beyond that used in the beginning the war.The Allies pitted thousands of boats,seamen,destroyers,cruisers,subs,cannons and billion of dollars against the undersea craft .As early as December 1943 Karl Doeniz ,the architect and designer of U-boat campaign,admitted the grave turn in events.The cost was great on both sides .In the six years of war ,the Germans,by their own statistics,destroyed more than 2000 British,Allied ships in the sea.Hitler had built 1162 subs ,of which 783 were lost.Of the 41000 men recruited into the underwater service ,between 28000 and 32000 lost their lives and 500 were taken prisoners.

The picture narrates as the USS Swordfish underwater commanded by Cmdr Randall(Scott Caan) and the sergeant(William H. Macy)and with the crew(Jeremy Sisto,Sam Huntington among others)is sunk ,then they are captured by a Nazi U-Boat 424 commanded by a captain(Til Schweiger) and officer(Thomas Kretschman). The Americans led by the sergeant try to take over the German sub and to make their way back home confronting against Nazis sailors ,through enemies destroyers they manage to arrive at three hundred miles US coast.The movie contains nail-biting action,drama,suspense in a claustrophobic atmosphere although complemented with some of archive stock footage.

The film provides a realistic detailing of life aboard and a portrait about the crews subjected to stressful and psychological tensions.In fact the sailors had sleep in shifts.For months they were lodged in close quarters because every inch the space was needed for machinery,supplies and torpedoes.The air was heavy with odors from bilges,diesel oil and unwashed bodies.The men faced sudden death from depth charges ,aerial bombing attacks or the sharp bow of a swift destroyer as happen in this film.

This movie is a watchable one. It's not really a memorable one though but when you decide to watch it, it won't bore you.

When the movie began I was kind of worried. The editing was poor and the acting horrible B-movie like and it had a made-for-TV kind of look. But thankfully all those things improved later as the movie progressed.

It's obvious that the budget wasn't very big since they had to use stock footage from movies like "U-571" and even "Down Periscope". They also used stock footage from real WW II Destroyers and other boats which was pretty obvious at times, it was kind of amateur-like and unrealistic the way it was edited into the movie.

The story is pretty solid, despite some awfully weak dialog at times. It was at first kind of weird that the movie focused on both the Americans and Germans in the same way but later in the movie it becomes obvious why. The movie mostly fails to become tense but still its perfect good entertainment to watch all.

Not a must see by any means but when you decide to see it nevertheless, you will be fairly entertained. And hey it has got William H. Macy and Thomas Kretschmann and some other well known actors in small roles in it, which makes this movie absolutely, very well watchable.

7/10

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Every movie doesn't have to be academy award material. In fact many if not most movies try to be entertaining with interesting ideas. This is one of those movies. A WWII submarine backdrop that forces an alliances between two fighting sides for mutual survival. Ya, sub experts can pick apart some of the tech and tactics but that's not the point of the movie. It's like going to a stage play and picking apart the stage props as not being realistic. It's not the stage but the story that is interesting in this movie. As the world faces global warming, expensive energy, nuclear issues we all can take a lessen that working together to solve our problems would be far more productive than trying to kill each other (the under lying story of this movie).

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

The acting's is matched by the mediocre writing at first I thought the movie hadn't been completed, rather unpolished and crudely acted. The commander of the U.S. submarine may have damaged his back while "throwing his chest out" in lieu of acting. Almost every scene is nothing more than a cliche' of all other underwater adventures, after painfully reading and rereading the reviews which seem to be apologies exceeded by previous entries. Why all the fuss and excuses, venturing a guess there is none? Could I find the patience or desire to finish this story having read and watched similar, perhaps the more youthful critics will have the endurance to tolerate these flaws no doubt they may have "hero's" and be more forgiving.

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

Til Schweiger and Thomas Kretschmann really make this movie, I have no idea if they have ever worked together before this but they really connected as their characters in this film.I found all the scenes in this film that draw you in and make you care about what is happening always were with these two actors or a scene with the German actors in the film.

The neat part of the English speaking actors is that you have probably have seen most of them on several shows on t.v., they are good but not very established.

Til and Thomas were fantastic to watch, for me they were the reason I liked this movie. I realize two people can not make a script good, nor a movie great but I think those two actors alone make this movie worth watching.

This is without a doubt, the worst submarine warfare movie that I have ever seen. The acting was "wooden", even Macy seemed to be "off". Even worse, there are so many historical errors, 1000 words would not begin to allow description. Had the acting been better, this might have been bearable and easier to overlook. That was not the case. The "sets" are completely unbelievable, U boats and Gato class Subs were incredibly small, wet, stinky and dirty places. This is why they were called "Pig" boats. There was no smoking on board submarines, except on deck when surfaced. Subs did not fire torpedoes at one another when below periscope depth or maneuvering under water. Submarines are cramped and full of wires, cables, pipes and valves. Radios and radiotelegraphs of the day do not work when submerged. The American captain "ordering" the deathly sick executive officer to his battle station would never happen. Submarines did not carry an "MD", medical issues would have been taken care of by a Pharmacy Mate and the Sub commander would have been well aware of the Execs condition and this condition would likely have ended a war patrol. The German U-boats never took aboard captives, and certainly not the numbers represented here, there was no room, food or water on these boats to support prisoners. In fact, after events early in the War, Karl Doenitz issued the "Laconia Order", which PROHIBITED U-Boats from taking on ANY survivor from enemy ships. American Admiral Nimitz signed and affidavit to the effect that American subs were under similar orders. German and American Enlisted Sailors would NEVER have spoken back to their commanding officers as these fellows did. There would have been no "discussion" or "voting" once the ranking officer made the decision and gave orders. If you want to see a REAL WW II Submarine movie, by far the best, most historically accurate is "Das Boot". This movie was a waste of time and electricity.

I just rented this film (on DVD) because I liked the cast. In the case of William H Macy, I just trust his choice in scripts. Whatever he chooses to play, should I choose to watch. We seem to have the same taste somehow. So I hoped it would work again with this film.

I'm not interested in submarines, I'm not eager to watch films set in any war, I'm not even particularly fond of Til Schweiger, our German heartthrob, although Thomas Kretschmann is definitely an interesting actor. One to watch, believe me. But still this film fascinated me. So trusting Macy's choice worked once again.

The story had a couple of twists which I always like, dialogue in two languages (one third German, two thirds English) which is even better, and quite well developed (main) characters. All this makes a good film, not brilliant, but good. Good craftsmanship. I liked the German actors's "natural" accents, thankfully they were not forced to have worse accents than they normally have. And I liked in particular that at least in the leading roles it were Germans the filmmakers hired and not some Swedes, Americans or Britons replacing them like in other films like Ronin (Swede= Stellan Skarsgard) or Die Hard (Briton= Alan Rickman).

So, I think I can recommend this film, even to people outside the probable target group of young men. This film is not so much about war and fighting, but about the possibility of enemies working together and even becoming friends if you get the chance to get to know each other better and realizing, we are all humans after all.

8 out of 10.

I'd almost give this an 8, but it was a bit slow in places and leaned more toward drama than action. That said, it still had enough thrills and suspense to surprise me, and was ultimately more enjoyable than I initially expected. All of the actors, both German and American, were great, except for maybe Scott Caan, who I nonetheless really like and perhaps his novice performance was befitting of his novice role. As much as I love William H Macy, I felt that the stars of this movie were easily Til Schweiger and especially Thomas Kretschmann, a personal favorite (who was also in my favorite submarine movie, U-571). "The wife scenes" with Macy plagued the pacing for me, but when it came to sincere moments between him and Schweiger, I was enrapt. Cheesy as some of it may be, the more realistic ending surprised me, and must be appreciated too. Ultimately the movie's strongest point is the variety of situations not seen in other sub movies, such as the inclusion of a contagious sickness affecting both crews, some cooperation among them as opposed to just one or two, and the engagement of three or more ships/subs at once. Although not as big budget as U-571 (2000) or Crimson Tide (1995), it still satisfied and any sub-movie fan ought to enjoy it.

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.

This movie was set during WW II but it didn't feel like WWII at all. Watching folks drive around in old cars and putting them in old costumes doesn't automatically mean the viewer will be transported back in time. This was very surreal.

The dialog, nuances, slang and mannerisms of the cast and their interactions with one another just felt too MODERN! While the plot was great, and there was suspense, the overall tone of the film and time in which it was to be taking place just didn't work for me.

A film like U571 did a better job of capturing the time. William H. Macy seems to play the same guy over and over again in each of his films and shows little depth as an actor again here.

The viewer is expected to sense that the crews of both subs are longing for home, but there is little effort made by the actors to sell that fact.

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.

The screenplay was pretty lousy to begin with - but I guess I can give the actors credit for doing a good job for what they had. Macy is a favorite of mine and I give him credit for taking risks - so I find it hard to give him a bad review. It is, well, the problem is that the proposition the whole film is based on lacks credibility and the dialog is weak. It was so sickeningly "give-me-a-hug-its-wartime" and "we are at war but we really love each other" - man, it is like Barbara Streisand wrote this *war* film.

I can't believe so many people liked it. I wasted $3.99 on pay-per-view because of the comments on this board. The overall quality of this stinker barely comes up to a USA movie of the week, let alone a theater release. It was so bad that at the end I half expected the joint German/US crew to join together for a chorus of "Kum Bay Yah".

This film is an embarrassment. The script is cliché ridden and most of the acting from the American side is horrible. Props and sets are phony to the point where objects are inserted "to create a WWII feeling" with everything obviously modern in the background. There are a couple shots of the American Captain's Bunk with multiple pictures of different WWII pinup girls posted all over his cabin... somewhat unprofessional for a Navy Officer, looked more like a WWII teenage boy's room.

The sets were way to large, especially in the torpedo rooms..... and I never realized the expression used by William Macy "stop talking' trash" was part of the WWII lexicon. And the phony Veronica Lake Hair across the face look for Holly was just foolish. It remind me of the cartoon character female lead from Roger Rabbit. The storyline had potential and I am sure that's what sucked Macy into doing this thing. In the end I am sure it was just an easy payday waiting for better films like The Cooler... do not waste money.

I can't believe that this movie even got a 5.9 rating. Should be zero. The casting stinks. The acting stinks. The directing stinks. It's historical accuracy stinks. It's technical accuracy stinks. This thing could only appeal to someone who has absolutely no knowledge of or appreciation of history or has no military experience of any kind. If you want to know what it's like on a real submarine, watch 'Das Boot' which is probably the best submarine movie ever made. It's casting is excellent, the acting first rate, the timing/editing spot on. 'The Hunt for Red October' will give you a good idea of the mentality of military men. It's also well done and technically accurate.

I couldn't figure out why there were so many bad reviews on this film until I found out that the film was first released in Europe and that version was terrible. Then, Lion's Gate picked it up and I watched it again and there was no comparison. The biggest problem is that most of the DVD's out there are the old version and therefore, bad, bad bad.

Now the good news. If you can get hold a copy of the new version, you are going to be pleasantly surprised. "In Enemy Hands" is an excellent film about the Americans and the Germans inside a U-Boat. It is very well made, in terms of both acting and directing, and doesn't disappoint.

There were some scenes that held the movie up, longer than they needed to be, or were just pointless, but still, "In Enemy Hands" is a very good film. There were some great scenes involving some black humor and there were scenes that were very touching and powerful. Its very enjoyable from start to finish and will not fail to impress.

The acting is top-notch - William Macy gives his best performances as does Lauren Holly. They couldn't have done a better job. Til Schweiger also gives a great performance. There were times where he could have done better, but all in all, he was very good.

Ton Giglio does a good job directing this. I haven't seen much of his work, but what I did see were excellent movies - although nowhere near as good as this. He is able to give this film the dark atmosphere it needs and couldn't have been better.

If you haven't seen this version yet, you should definitely rent this when you get the chance. The newest version of "In Enemy Hands" is a well-made film that won't disappoint. It combines very good acting and directing, clever black humor, and very touching moments, which all make a brilliant movie.

Like I said, this version is sooooo much better, and shouldn't be missed.