Heroes are just ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.
Directed by
Jonathan Mostow

Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis
Martha De Laurentiis

Screenplay by
Jonathan Mostow
Sam Montgomery
David Ayer

Story by
Jonathan Mostow

Starring
Matthew McConaughey
Bill Paxton
Harvey Keitel
Thomas Kretschmann
Jon Bon Jovi

Music by
Richard Marvin

Cinematography
Oliver Wood

Edited by
Wayne Wahrman

Production
company

Dino De Laurentiis Company
Canal+ Image


Distributed by
Universal Pictures
BAC Films
Entertainment Film Distributors

Release dates

April 21, 2000



Running time
116 minutes

Country
United States
France

Language
English
German

Budget
$62 million

Box office
$127,666,415

Plot.

German U-boat U-571 is immobilized by a British destroyer. The US Navy submarine S-33 has been modified to resemble a German U-boat to steal the Enigma coding device and sink the U-571.

During a storm, the S-33 comes across U-571 and sends a boarding party over. After securing the ship and transporting the captured crew back to the American S-33 sub, the S-33 gets sunk by the arrival of a German resupply sub. The captain of the S-33, Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren, dying in the water, orders his men on the captured U-boat to submerge. Lieutenant Tyler takes command of the enemy U-boat and dives to engage the resupply sub in an underwater battle before destroying it.

After making repairs and restoring power Tyler decides to route the disabled submarine to Land's End in Cornwall, England. They are spotted by a German plane which is unaware that the U-571 has been commandeered by Americans; a nearby German destroyer sends over a small contingent but right before boarders arrive, Tyler gives orders to fire a shot from the deck gun, destroying the German ship's radio room, and preventing it from reporting that the capture of a German sub and its Enigma machine and code books. The sub dives underneath the German ship, which then begins to drop depth charges to sink U-571.

Tyler attempts to trick the destroyer into stopping its attack by ejecting debris and a corpse out of a torpedo tube, faking their own destruction. The German destroyer continues dropping depth charges. U-571, hiding at below 600 feet (180 m), is damaged by the high water pressure. Control of the main ballast tanks is lost and the ship ascends uncontrollably. Tyler orders crewman Trigger to submerse himself in the bilge underwater to repressurize the torpedo tubes.

Trigger uses an air hose to enter the flooded compartment. He closes the air valve to the torpedo tubes, but a second leak and broken valve are found, which Trigger can't reach. U-571 surfaces, unable to fire its last torpedo. The destroyer fires on the ship, which is heavily damaged and begins to flood. The first hit causes pipes to collapse, pinning Trigger's leg, after he has left the air hose behind. Unable to turn back, he reaches for the valve and closes it before he dies. The second the pressure is available, Tyler orders Tank to fire the final torpedo. The German destroyer is destroyed. As the crew sigh in relief, Tank reports Trigger's death. U-571 has taken severe damage and will not remain afloat for long. The crew abandons ship with the Enigma in their possession. The crew watch U-571 as she slips beneath the waves. Floating aboard an inflatable lifeboat, they are eventually rescued by a US Navy PBY Catalina flying boat.