32 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
32 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
the " submarine " genre of movies seems to be one of the most intriguing and compelling types of storytelling there is .
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think about it . . .
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these films are completely based in reality , yet only a handful of people have ever been on one , making them fascinating to the general public .
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they aren't like movies that take place on a plane or a train , as anybody can get on one of those .
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and they aren't like movies that happen in outer space either , because no one's done any of that stuff yet .
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when a new one comes out , you don't hear anyone say " ugh , another submarine movie " like people tend to say " ugh , another boxing movie " .
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look at modern movies that involve submarines : das boot , the abyss , the hunt for red october , crimson tide . . .
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all are well regarded as top-notch entertainment .
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gladly joining that bunch is u-571 , which stars matthew mcconaughey as the executive officer of a u . s . naval submarine during world war ii .
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we learn he has been denied a recommendation for his own command by his superior ( bill paxton ) .
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mcconaughey's crew then receives orders that they will be boarding a disabled german submarine to steal the enigma , a german communications encoding device that has stumped allied intelligence .
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the mission goes horribly wrong however , and as a result , mcconaughey and only a handful of his crew ( as well as a captured german ) become trapped aboard the u-571 in enemy waters .
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the first great thing about u-571 is the film's opening sequence .
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the german crew of u-571 are under attack , which sets the events of the rest of the film into motion .
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it's tense , exciting and fascinating .
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and i applaud the filmmakers for not copping out and instead keeping the entire sequence in german with english subtitles .
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most movies with a scene this long would have panicked and had the german crew speaking english right away .
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once the plot gets moving , u-571 gives us action sequence after action sequence , making the audience wonder " ok , now how do they get out of this ? " .
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the stakes keep raising ( much like in executive decision , an excellent action-thriller ) , and even though the audience knows how the film will end , it's a lot of fun getting there .
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i only have two minor complaints about the entire film .
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the first comes from the scenes which follow the opening sequence .
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while their purpose is to introduce us to the characters and to get the story going ( which they do ) , i feel as though it could have been done much quicker , and less conventionally .
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i mean , did we really have to see the ship's crew at a wedding ?
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because of that , you now know exactly what's going to happen to the groom !
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my other gripe would be during the film's finale .
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there's an explosion which ends the film that is one of the weakest looking cgi effects since the president's plane crashed into the ocean at the end of air force one .
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i cannot stress this enough . . .
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until a cgi effect can be made to look like a model effect , stick with using models .
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yes , u-571 is historically incorrect and there are surely some specifics in the plot that people who have been onboard a submarine will tell you " that couldn't happen " , but the overall point of this film is entertainment .
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it succeeds fantastically .
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[pg-13]
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