First of all, I saw U-571 because I am a sucker for action movies and sub movies in particuler. "Hunt for Red October" is one of my favorites (and I highly recommend it). I won't say that it lacked drama and action because it didn't. That's what Hollywood specializes in. But previous threads were right in pointing out that movie studios are only in it for the money. If they can tweak history and get away with it, they will. I don't think I have ever seen a completely historically accurate movie. Just look at the recent "historical" movies: "The Messenger," "Gladiator," etc., etc., etc. However, it's not Hollywood's job to teach history. In fact, I don't think that the problem is historically inaccurate films but apathy. Most people (this applying to Americans because they are the only ones that I can speak for) are too lazy to get off their butt and go find out the truth.

Another good point that was brought up was that to find the "middle ground" of history, you need to read varying accounts. True, very true. It is also true that all history is biased. In fact, all writing is biased no matter how careful the author is. I know that from experience. I used to write for my school paper and of course, we were admonished to write objectively. I was shocked to find out how hard that is. But while history is about the big battles and other major events, it is also about the individuals and what they went through. Most of the time, history books and teachers are so wrapped up in the big picture that they don't examine the small human aspect of history. And that is unfortunate. And as was pointed out, credit is often stolen. Of course, that has been going on since practically time began. And I'll admit, it is a practicular American obsession. I've seen it before. But you have to remember that Europeans have a lot more history to work with than Americans do. Not that that's an excuse. It isn't. It's just a fact. I'm not advocating it, I'm just trying to figure it out myself. We Americans have plenty of heroes of our own that we don't need to steal from anyone else but I guess that a lot of people (and movie studios in particular) don't see that.

I also sympathize with those struggling to gain recognition for the Poles who worked so hard to break the German codes. Again, unfortunately the little guy or the guy stuck in the back where no one sees him, is often over looked by history. I know how that feels. I'm of Irish decent and it is unbelievably hard to find accounts of Irish history in standard history classes. In world history accounts, Ireland is treated as part of Britian. In British history, it is excluded because it isn't British. Irish history just floats in this no-man's-land and the stuff that does make it to history books is usually short and inaccurate. It is extremely frustrating.

In closing, I would like to end by addressing the topic that popped up near the end of the thread concerning American English and British English. All that I can say, is that Americans like to be different. I mean, besides spelling words differently, we drive on the other side of the road and still use the old English system of measurement while practically everyone else had gone metric (did you know that a yard was the distance from Henry VIII's nose to his thumb? bizarre, isn't it?). However, you were wrong when you said that all American villians speak with English accents and then used "Star Wars" as an example. First of all, I am a big "Stars Wars" fan (and not afraid to admit it) and I couldn't let such heresy go unanswered. "Star Wars" was filmed in England at Ellstree Studios and all of the actors besides Mark Hamill (Luke), Harrison Ford (Han), and Carrie Fisher (Leia), were British. All of them, Imperials and rebels alike. However, when everything was filmed and taken back to the States, it was discovered that the rebels' lines were too quiet and had to be dubbed over. Because most of the lines were small and flying people all the way from London to LA for what would essentially be an afternoon's work proved too expensive, American actors were brought in to do the voices. AND THUS IT CAME TO PASS THAT ALL IMPERIALS WERE DESTINED (or doomed, depending your point of view) TO SPEAK WITH ENGLISH ACCENTS! However, there is one very famous, very important, and much loved character who spoke in the unmistakable accent of a British butler who made it to the screen in fine style: C-3PO! Of course that was mainly due to the fact that no other actor could match Anthony Daniel's idiosyncrasies on film (or "metal wanderings" as he calls them). So he was flown all the way from London to do his lines over. So, no, having the Imperials speaking in British accents was not a concious choice by George Lucas but a mess of circumstances. Of other films, I cannot be so positive. Anyway, I will stop rambling now.

Rebecca