Friday, July 18, 2014

In Enemy Hands (2004)

Director: Tony Giglio

Wrtiers: John E. Deaver, Tony Giglio, Johnny Hartmann

Composer: Steven Bramson

Starring: William H. Macy, Til Schweiger, Thomas Kretschmann, Clark Gregg, Scott Caan, Rene Heger, Carmine Giovinazzo, Jeremy Sisto, A.J. Buckley, Sam Huntington, Connor Donne, Ian Somerhalder, Brandon R. Morgan, Andy Gatjen, Gavin Hood, Alex Prusmack, Sascha Rosemann, Justin Thomson, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Patrick Gallagher, Matt Lindquist, Hauren Holly, Xander Berkeley

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Courage, trust and honor. In a time when ordinary men had no choice but to become extraordinary heroes.

Plot: At the height of Hitler's infamous U-boat war, the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish were heading home after months at sea. They never made it. Now prisoners of war aboard U-boat 429, a small group of American survivors will find their loyalties put to the ultimate test when they're forced to join their German captors to fight for their very lives.



My rating; 8/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

I picked this up for a buck somewhere and only because it's WWII and it stars William H. Macy.  Boy, was that a good deal. Giglio made a damn fine film that's filled with tension danger and he's packed a lot of movie in the confines of about an hour and a half.  The suspense that's built up over the course of the first hour is really put to the test in the final third of the picture where it really ratchets up with the audience not knowing exactly how it's going to play out.  OK, so you might be able to guess but that's only based on past experiences from watching other U-boat/submarine movies.  The performances are strong (Macy is always in top form from what I've seen) and the picture looks great but what really helps set this movie above average for the genre is in the direction combined with the editing and scoring to shape this into one fine thriller that needs to find a larger audience that's drowned out by the big Hollywood pictures in this genre.  You can get it for about $4 including shipping on Amazon.  The Lionsgate DVD has a great widescreen print with the sole extra being two trailers that probably won't interest anyone who watches this picture.


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