When the American's own submarine is destroyed by a German U-boat, the surviving members of the crew commandeer the crippled U-boat. They find themselves desperately trying to repair the broken down U571 and steer her across a hostile ocean to safety in England. Brash young commander Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) finds himself in charge, trying to whip his small, inexperienced young crew into shape under adverse conditions during the heat of battle. Unfortunately, there are a number of glitches in the film's plotting, but Mostow's pacy and ruthlessly efficient direction manages to gloss over most of them until the curtain closes. Many may also object to the excessive jingoism, in which Mostow suggests that the heroic efforts of American soldiers and sailors were largely responsible for the capture of vital German code books.

As with many war movies, the characters here are little more than ciphers that serve the plot, and the audience finds it hard to identify with them. Mostow has assembled a strong cast, although many of the big names are killed off within the first 45 minutes. Performers of the calibre of McConaughey and Harvey Keitel do what they can with their essentially one dimensional characters.

However, the film is certainly impressive in its staging of the underwater battle scenes, and Mostow brings plenty of tension to the film. U571 deliberately resembles Wolfgang Petersen's classic tale of war and heroism in both look and feel, although the potent antiwar message is missing here. Production designer Gotz Weidner even worked on Das Boot. The special effects and production design are superb, and enhance the claustrophobic atmosphere.