U-571 - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of U-571 or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to U-571

[lonnie]

The trailer for the movie showed a shot where the German Captain reveals that he can speak English. This scene does not appear in the movie.

[mathew]

In reality, the submarine U-571 was never captured. The submarines U-559 and U-110 were the ones captured with the codebooks, but by the British Navy in August 1941, four months before the United States entered the war. U-570 however was a U-boat captured in late 1941 (by Britain) near Iceland, and subsequently deployed as H.M.S. Graph until early 1944. Its appearance was used by the Royal Navy to fool German ships and submarines, and destroy them by surprise.

[charlie]

Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren's (Bill Paxton's) final words before his death, are when he yells to Lieutenant Tyler (Matthew McConaughey), "Andy! Take her down!" This is taken from a real incident in 1943, when the submarine U.S.S. Growler collided with a Japanese destroyer in a night battle. Both ships were badly damaged in the collision, and the Japanese immediately opened fire on the Growler at close range. The Growler's skipper, Commander Howard Gilmore, and three other men on the lookout platform were hit by machine gun fire. Gilmore was badly wounded, and the others were killed. Knowing that the Growler would be sunk if the Japanese brought their five-inch guns to bear, Gilmore yelled to his Executive Officer, "Take her down!" Gilmore drowned when the Growler submerged beneath him, but his sacrifice saved his submarine and the remainder of his crew. Howard Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

[lonnie]

Edward Norton was set for a part in the film before bailing, because the opportunity arose for him to make his directorial debut, Keeping the Faith (2000).

[jesus]

In the original script, Lieutenant Emmet (Jon Bon Jovi) was beheaded by flying debris when the S-33 exploded.

[liam]

Co-Writer and Director Jonathan Mostow was inspired to do the film after touring the World War II submarine U.S.S. Pompanito, in San Francisco, California.

[camila]

In a 2006 interview with BBC Radio 4's The Film Programme, co-Writer David Ayer said he didn't feel good about portraying that it was the Americans who captured and decoded the enigma machine, and not the British. He said the studio was just thinking of the U.S. box-office. He added "Both of my grandparents served during World War II, and I would be very upset if someone tried to downplay their achievements in the war."

[brent]

This movie represents one of a few World War II submarine movies which have won one Academy Award in a technical category, that's just only the one Oscar in either special effects or sound editing. These movies include Crash Dive (1943), The Enemy Below (1957), Torpedo Run (1958), and U-571 (2000). The non-World War II sub movie, The Hunt for Red October (1990) also won just the one Oscar, as did the World War II part sub movie 49th Parallel (1941), but for Best Original Story.

[edgar]

For authenticity, the stage crew made a working submarine for filming in the Mediterranean off of Malta. During production, an American warship appeared, and was so taken in by the Nazi submarine, they sent an armed team to board it.

[javier]

In the original script, when Tyler is thoughtfully looking at the pictures in the German submarine's mess, he recognizes the prisoner wearing a Captain's uniform.

[violet]

The Germans did introduce a new, four-rotor version of their Enigma machine in February 1942, and the code was practically unbreakable by the Allies until the capture of associated code books from a submarine, in October 1942. "Shark" (as the Naval Four Rotor Enigma cipher was know by Bletchley Park) was broken regularly from December of that year (sources include Bletchley Park. But in real-life, this was a British operation, and did not involve a deception like that depicted in the film. The sub itself, the U-559, sank shortly after the code books were removed.

[oscar]

The U-505 submarine is on exhibit at The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. It is the real U-505, the only German submarine in the United States, and, now, a national memorial to the fifty-five thousand American sailors who gave their lives on the high seas in World War I and World War II.

[oscar]

The Enigma machine used in the movie was genuine and not a prop. It was obtained from a collector for use in the movie.

[chris]

Comparisons are inevitable with Wolfgang Petersen's highly influential Das Boot (1981). Both films share Production Designer Götz Weidner.

[camila]

Many of the scenes were actually filmed inside of giant water tanks, in Malta, which were also used in filming, The Count Of Monte Christo (2002), and are very similar to the ones used in the Sci-Fi movie, The Abyss (1989)

[beth]

The caption before the end credits, detailing the fact that the Royal Navy captured the first Enigma machine, was only added after an outcry in Britain, where it was believed that Hollywood was trying to claim the credit for the Americans (whose forces captured no German Naval Enigma material until 1944).

[carl]

Matthew McConaughey stepped into the lead role when Michael Douglas left the production, in order to make Wonder Boys (2000).

[tammy]

When Lieutenant Tyler is walking through the German submarine during the initial boarding, a cabinet swings open revealing two bottles of Beck's beer.

[dustin]

In the original script, when Tank (Dave Power) is discussing the U-571's condition, he reports that the submarine has only six tons of fuel, which is insufficient to return them to the United States. That is why Lieutenant Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) sets a course for Greenland.