In Enemy Hands (2004)

I can hear the groans now.  "No!! Not another submarine movie!!!"

But that's what we've got today.  In Enemy Hands takes us once again beneath the Atlantic during World War II.  This time, however, things are a little more complicated than kill-or-be-killed.

To be fair, In Enemy Hands starts off in typical sub-movie fashion, and for the most part follows through.  The goodbyes, the typical arguments between crew members, the distrust of the rookie captain, etc. etc.....

That is, until the USS Swordfish gets torpedoed, and the crew has to abandon ship.  Right into the hands of the awaiting U-429 and her crew.  What the Germans don't realize, and the Americans have only just discovered, is that they've been infected with a rather nasty strain of meningitis, and its highly contagious.

So, on top of the usual bickering from the German side about keeping the prisoners in the first place, and for good reasons....  crew from both sides start falling ill, and dying.  Much to the Kapitan's dismay, he's forced to enlist the help of the Americans, and formulates a plan to sail to New York and give themselves up, just to stay alive.

And, you guessed it, more divisiveness in the crew emerges, and more tension.  Until finally they come across a US Destroyer, AND another U-Boat....

Look, I'm not going to say this was bad, but I really expected more from a cast which I'd call fair.  Kapitan Herdt (Til Schweiger) is really stoic, The Swordfish's COB, Nathan Travers (William H. Macy) is just, well, kind of there, really.  I definitely expected more from him.  The  biggest disappointment was Travers' wife, played by NCIS's Lauren Holly.  Egads, sister, what was up with that?  Keep an eye out for a few other familiar faces, such as LOST's Ian Somerhalder.

I suppose the ultimate message is that when faced with survival, even enemies can band together in cooperation, but in the end I can't say I was all that impressed really by In Enemy Hands.  It was a contrived plot from the start, and the entire thing felt like I was reading one of those cheesy high-school-library action adventure novels.

Technorati Tags: War Movies, Reviews, In Enemy Hands, 2004, World War II, William H. Macy, Submarine, U-Boat

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Description

IN ENEMY HANDS - DVD Movie

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Brand: Lions Gate
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
Original Release Date:
Actors:

• Til Schweiger
• Thomas Kretschmann
• Connor Donne
• Matt Lindquist
• Andy Gatjen

Features

• Actors: Til Schweiger, Thomas Kretschmann, Connor Donne, Matt Lindquist, Andy Gatjen.
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC.
• Language: English, German.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Rated R. Run Time: 94 minutes.

Reviews

Related posts:

1. The Enemy Below (1957)
2. Enemy at the Gates (2001)
3. The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (1980/2004)
4. Two Men Went to War (2004)
5. Der Untergang, aka Downfall (2004)
6. Straight Into Darkness (2004)
7. The Fallen (2004)
8. Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia (2009)
9. Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)
10. R-Point (2004)

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 7:48 am and is filed under 2000s, Reviews, World War II Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.