U-571
Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 21, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Two hours of nonstop, nail-biting tension and anxiety. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
When the submarine has to dive 400 meters beneath the surface to avoid detection, you can practically feel the water pressure crushing in on the sailors. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The action is tightly focused and well-paced. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
It's a simple pleasure watching an American movie that respects genre, knows its limitations, and genuflects at the memory of Don Siegel in the age of Spielberg. Read full review
80
Film.comSean Means
Fast-moving, watertight and firing from all tubes. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A rip-roaring action adventure.
80
Film.comRobert Horton
Highly enjoyable. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Full of old tricks - cuts between worried faces and overheated gauges inching into the red zone - but director Mostow pulls most of them off with conviction and pizazz. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Sets up a mood of tensile suspense from the beginning and never lets it go. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A formulaic and predictable movie that combines minimal characterization with some irritating implausibility. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
Certainly it isn't about to give "Das Boot" a run for its money - but nevertheless it is irresistible entertainment. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It pulps you, but it doesn't enlighten you. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The real star of U-571 is its sheer visceral atmosphere. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Not bad at all. Read full review
70
NewsweekJeff Giles
The script is lame...but U-571 works, thanks to the jittery handheld-camera work, the great, visceral sound editing and a few sneaky plot twists. Read full review
70
TNT RoughCutPauline Ademek
A thoroughly good war picture that is well worth seeing on the big screen in a cinema equipped with a first-rate sound system for the full sonic effect.
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Gets high marks for tension and excitement.
70
Film.comTed Fry
One sour note is Richard Marvin's derivative score. It's just awful and often pulls the movie down. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Definitely works as an action piece, it's often surprising and never boring, and several sequences had me positioned well on the edge of my seat. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Despite the whiplike pace of events and the compelling realism of the martial effects, the film is dead in the water whenever it pauses to make a human gesture or consider, heaven help us, an idea. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Never lets down, even if depth of character always takes second place to depth charges. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
As beautiful as all the film's technology is, it needs more real human beings around - to pull the switches, man the pumps and scuttle through those corridors. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Yet there is so little characterization that when the sub goes down, you may find yourself confused as to which of the supporting cast members lived through the torpedo blast. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's straightforwardly entertaining and a genuine nail-biter. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Corliss
Flouting all rules of the sea but honoring every war-epic cliche about guts under pressure. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
U-571's plot moves like a rocket, never pausing for breath, and this works to a point, but certain events ... are glossed over in favor of more (exceptionally well-done) shots of exploding depth charges and topside battles. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
One would be hard-pressed to name another submarine movie that lingers so little in the memory two days after seeing it. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It''s loud and flashy and fun to look at, but you''ll grow tired of it very quickly. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It's still a submarine movie, confined by the ship, the sea, and a convention-laden script. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
A story as creaky as the sub that gives the film its name. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
You can enjoy U-571 as a big, dumb war movie without a brain in its head. Read full review
49
Mr. ShowbizRichard T. Jameson
Just keeps grinding along, pushing its way through a barrage of boom-boom and a sea of tight-lipped clichés. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Yet another unironic war movie. Read full review
30
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The submarine goes deep but the story never does in U-571, a good old-fashioned WWII picture that is exciting in only the most superficial way. Read full review
30
SalonCharles Taylor
May be the shoddiest and most incoherent piece of big-budget action moviemaking since "Armageddon." Read full review
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