Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
At the height of Hitler s notorious U-boat war the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish is taken prisoner in a battle with a German sub. However meningitis strikes more that half of the German crew and there aren t enough Germans to run the sub. Avoiding both the contagion and POW protocol crew members and prisoners alike must work together to survive. But it isn t until a U.S. Carrier locates the ship that the men aboard the U-boat are put to the ultimate test of will and survival.System Requirements: Running Time 98 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: NR UPC: 012236146063 Manufacturer No: 14606

Rating : - 4-star for quality production, but . . .
I blame myself for not taking the clue of the title, "In Enemy Hands." Yep, just like a submarine gliding beneath the surface into your worldview, the mission of this propaganda film is to promote a "let's just be nice" attitude toward our "enemies."

What "Hunt For Red October" tried to do with the minds of Americans toward the kind-hearted, well-meaning Russians, "In Enemy Hands" tries to do with our minds toward those regular-guy, would-be brothers who happened to be born in Germany in the Hitler era. I should have seen it coming, from the early scenes of the (albeit subtitled) German dialogue. The producers of this subversive film make every effort possible to show us that the Nazis didn't really want to be mean to us, and that they really only torpedoed a U.S. ship if it was mean to them first. Come on guys! Can't we just get along? Let's all realize that if it wasn't for those nasty war-minded few, we would all be great brothers!

Even the cowardly American sub-crew who were taken captive (by the kind-hearted Nazi submarine captain) had to be shown (by the makers of the film) that their fears of being mistreated by Germans were entirely misguided.

Shoot, can't you see the love in the teary eyes of the Nazi captain when he chokes up over the news that his daughter's school was bombed ("with no survivors")? And if you get really on board with this movie, you'll realize that it was us mean Americans who did all of the bad things in the WW2!

Oh, and by the way, no, WW2 was not "over" in 1943 as the actors claimed throughout. Lemme see, I seem to remember a couple of bombs going off in August of 1945 on Japan.

As for the casting, I guess that for the "hero" in this anti-military media effort, they had to find an actor who is best at being a wimpy bit-player. William C. Macy sticks out in my mind as the dorky principal in Mr. Holland's Opus, the annoying bean-counter in A Civil Action, the insecure worry-wart dad-of-a-loser in Searching For Bobby Fischer, and the only forgetable character in John Grisham's The Client.

Why did the writers choose the disease of meningitis? Along with the not-so-subtle title message of being in the loving hands of the Nazis, I think they chose this disease because it sounds like "men in crisis." And of course, the crisis is having to admit that we have thought of Nazis in such undeservedly ugly ways.

And if I may ask one more question; why make this film in 2004? My guess is that "In Enemy Hands" is really aimed at our present-day mean view of those kind-hearted, well-meaning Muslims around the world who only blow themselves up around dissenting men, women and children because Americans have been so mean and unkind to them first.

This film deserves a full depth charge.