U-571

Visible crew/equipment: When they are first reporting to the dockyard in the beginning, right after being waved through the gate, there are servicemen working on the ships. In one of the shots, a serviceman making sparks with a grinder for effect is wearing a white Adidas shoe on his left foot, with the logo fully visible on the heel. This is in the BluRay edition. (00:13:17)

Visible crew/equipment: Just as the SS-33 sets off we see the crew on board say "all ahead two thirds". As they say this the camera moves behind a ladder resulting in a camera shadow on the ladder. (00:20:50)

Ssiscool

Character mistake: After accurately depth charging U-571, the German destroyer crew suddenly turns out to be almost comically and unrealistically incompetent at the end of the movie. Not only do they barely hit U-571 with their guns, but they also can't keep up with the sub. But even with both submarine diesel engines running flank speed (of which U-571 only has one badly damaged engine operational), a common WWII destroyer would easily be twice as fast as a Type VII U-boat. The destroyer could swiftly close the distance and could either ram U-571 or cross the sub's wake to bring all its weapons to bear and make it more difficult to get hit by the sub. Of course the destroyer doesn't do that but stays perfectly in U-571's wake for an easy kill shot from its stern tube. In reality, it was considered an incredible feat to sink a destroyer with a torpedo, since they were agile at full speed, could easily dodge torpedoes and had shallow draft. This destroyer crew however, seems actively trying to get killed.

More mistakes in U-571

Chief Klough: Those Krauts sure know how to build a boat.

More quotes from U-571

Trivia: Matthew McConaughey didn't like his character's background, so he asked that it be changed from the original, not being promoted because he was a drunk, to basically never making a decision that might cost someone their life.

David Robertson

More trivia for U-571

Question: Throughout the film you can see that Tank, played by Dave Power, has funny-looking thin black scars on both cheeks. Was this a makeup effect for the character (and if so, why did they do it), or does the actor really have these scars on his cheeks (and if so, what from)?

Answer: The scars you see on Tank's face are fake, pure makeup. They wanted the character to have a gritty look.

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