TORPEDO U235
Directed by: Sven Huybrechts
Starring: Koen De Bouw, Thure Riefenstein, Ella-June Henrard, Joren Seldeslachts
1941 - a rag-tag group of Belgian guerillas are given a high stakes mission, to deliver a consignment of Uranium from the Congo to the USA, using a captured U-boat and under the tutelage of a captured German submarine captain…
Torpedo U235 (aka Torpedo, aka U235) is not a film to watch if you are looking for anything resembling historical accuracy or adherance to reality, but nevertheless it is a very entertaining war movie.
The film's main protagonists are a group of guerilla fighters known as the Bad Eggs, feared by the Germans and wanted by the British to be court martialed. They are lead by Stan, who is a complete psychopath when it comes to killing Germans, and we get to learn why through interspersed flash-backs throughout the film. The squad also contains, among others, his daughter, Nadine, an expert sniper, her boyfriend Filip and Van Pragg, a gifted footballer who happens to be Jewish. There are some natural comparisons between the Bad Eggs and Brad Pitt's squad in Inglorious Basterds, especially in their disregard for tactical warfare and gory violence against their sworn enemy. Especially Stan, who blows an officer's head off.
This rag tag crew ae sent to the Belgian Congo where there is a captured U-boat waiting for them, as well as Kapitänleutnant Franz Jäger, a captured German submariner who has been convinced to help train the squad in sailing the sub. This naturally sets up an interesting and tense dynamic between Stan and Jager, whom he needs in order to survive the mission.
To say that the mission is fraught with danger would be an understatement. The submarine genre has a lot of standard plot points and clichés that you could easily run a bingo card or drinking game. Of course they are going to have to run silent and of course someone is going to inadvertently make a loud noise. Of course the sub is going to sink much deeper than it should and start to shake apart, etc, etc. Does this hurt the film? Not at all - in fact I'd feel robbed if they weren't present.
The film's only real issue is that it kind of runs out of steam towards the end, giving us instead of propelling action a whole load of melodrama in an attempt to rescue a trapped crew member. So much time is devoted to this that the film kind of just ends afterward with a short epilogue giving a bit of context to the mission.
THE VERDICT
Torpedo U235 is an exciting and entertaining submarine movie made with a solid cast, good production values and technical skill behind the camera. Yes all the usual suspect submarine clichés are present and correct, and the film gets a bit bogged down in its climax, but otherwise there is much to enjoy here.
7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
Dazzler Media presents Torpedo: U-235 on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from 8th March
Pre-order on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/Torpedo-U-235-Blu-Ray/dp/B08WJN2SL9
Pre-order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/torpedo-u-235/id1552715356