Das Boot - The Original Uncut Version

Rating:
Summary: A Matter Of Perspective
Review: The first time I saw director Wolfgang Petersen's epic film, Das Boot, I was about 13 years old. My cousin had a copy on laserdisc. When it was all over, I remember saying that I couldn't wait to see it again, so almost imediately, I had my cousin start it all over. There have been a number of "submarine" movies made over the last 20 years, however, none have even come close to matching the sheer brilliance of Das Boot (aka the boat). I alredy own The Director's Cut on DVD, but I was still curious to take a look at this 282 minute version, since I like the film so much.

Captain Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel, (Jürgen Prochnow) commands German U-Boat 96, during World War II. For him, this is a mission to defeat the enemy and bring glory to Germany. For his young crew, they are in this for respect and adventure. The U-Boat's mission is to engage and destroy all allied troops that they can. But they are being hunted as well DAS BOOT is intense and gut wrenching The film may be told from the German perspective, rather than the allied point of view, but it's really a story of courage and perseverance,. It's told in a way though, that anyone can feel for this crew. The film really does have a clausterphobic feel to it. As a viewer, you do get a true sense of what it must have been like for these men on this boat. The battle sequences seem quite realistic and have never been topped since the film's theatrical release in 1981

For anyone who wants to know how the three different versions of the film stack up: The director's cut (running 209 minutes) also on DVD, incorporates 60 minutes of footage, not seen in the 149 minute theatrical version. Most of this footage lets us get to know the crew better than ever before. Das Boot The Original Uncut Version allows the major events of the story to build a little more, rather than giving us any new crew insight or additional plot revelations. Like the director's Cut disc, the movie also boasts a remixed soundtrack, that sounds great, even without a home theater system. Viewers can watch the film with its original German language track or in its English form. The brief featurette on the making of the movie makes a return visit for this 2 disc set. It's a shame that the really interesting and enjoyable commentary track from Petersen and Prochnow was not included here for those checking it out for the first time. This is another great presentation for the BEST sub movie ever made. Period. Buy this if you like sub movies. As for me, I'm glad I rented the uncut set, but in the end, I'm still sticking with the Durector's cut as my favorite way to watch Das Boot. Highly Recommended in any form.

Rating:
Summary: Great film, bad transfer...
Review: The only reason that I do not rate this version of Das Boot with a 5 is the bad quality of the extra 100 minutes. While the rest of the movie is crisp, clear and clean, the added parts (which are mostly external shots) have not been restored, and you get scratches, grain and a thin blue line from the top of the screen to its bottom.
I seriously contemplated giving this version a 3, but the story is excellent, Petersen is in top form, the performances are stellar and the added bits enhance what was already a superb war movie (even with the problems).
Do yourself a favour, even if you already own a version of it, buy this - simply the best submarine movie ever made.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best war movies EVER!
Review: This is not only one of the best war movies ever, but among the very best films period. The story is based on a true story of a German Submarine and its crew during WWII. The plot is simple. A bunch of ordinary young guys are crammed into a little tin can and go out and do their duty while trying to avoid getting killed.

It tells the tale of live aboard the "boat" from the boredom, the fear of death, the hell they go through trying to sink allied ships and the insane fear of the boat being crushed by the water pressure as you go too deep.

This film is unique in that it is done from the German perspective. Most films about WWII are from the Allied perspective since they were produced in Hollywood or England. What is striking about this film is how it depicts war as a human event rather than a nationalistic conflict. It makes us realize that for the foot soldier and sailor on the battle lines, no matter what side, war is the same. It is more a matter of survival than glory.

Highly recommend - my second favorite war movie.

Rating:
Summary: The original fully uncut version !
Review: This is the uncut 5 hour version which is now available for the first time in the US.

Previous "director's cuts" sold here were not the full version.

The film originally aired on German television as a mini-series. This is a great DVD to watch with surround sound: especially if you have speakers on your ceiling. It will sound as if the submarines are floating over you, the sonar pings are great in this film also.

Rating:
Summary: Superb War Movie
Review: This movie is easily one of the best war movies ever made. The story is based on an acctual account of life on a submarine during the Second World War. It's told from the German perspective which means that you don't feel the patriotism you might have felt watching a story about an American or British submarine crew.
The camera work is amazing and it really gives you a sense of the claustrophobic conditions on a U-Boat. You feel as if you're really there and you are with the crew when they start out on their mission from the intial excitement to the boredom and then the sheer terror of being hunted down by British Destroyers.
Someone once said war was "90% boredom and 10% sheer terror" and this film echoes this sentiment brilliantly.
Jurgen Prochnov is great as the jaded Captain of a young and inexperienced crew. He's not some great military strategist - he makes mistakes and the whole crew have to pay for it. All the action takes place on the boat and the crew are largely nameless so you don't really know anything about them. The ending will give you a visual slap accross the face no matter how many times you see it.
This film won't have you rooting for the Germans but it does stand as a testament to the shocking waste of lives incurred by both sides during the war. And also the futility of war.
This version of Das Boot is long, but it is the best version as it's more coherent in it's story line.
Das Boot is best viewed in it's native German with English subtitles because the dialogue is sharper. If you really can't stand subtitles then it doesn't really matter as most of the leading actors have dubbed it themselves, although the script is more stillted as they had to fit the English dialogue into the German picture.


Rating:
Summary: 4 and a half stars, but the half means something.
Review: This outstanding film has three current existing versions:

1. The United States Theatrical Version (2 hrs. 25 mins)
2. The European Theatrical Version (Also known as the re-released Director's Cut) (3 hrs. 31 mins)
3. The Original Uncut German Television Version (4 hrs. 53 mins)

I have seen and own all 3 versions of Das Boot, I have the United States version on two tapes, one in German with English subtitles and the other dubbed in English. I also have the Director's Cut and the Orginial Uncut Version on DVD.

The United States Theatrical Version is the worst version to watch, yet still very good and still worth watching. The Director's Cut is more worth watching than the USA Theatrical Version, but not as worth it than the Uncut Version. The Uncut Version is definitely the best version to watch, but it's oppressive length will piss off some viewers. This version is more than twice as long as the USA Version (!) So that means, more than half of the existing footage of Das Boot was removed for the USA Version! So, Das Boot gets 3 1/2 stars for the theatrical version, 4 for the Director's Cut and 4 1/2 for the Uncut Version.

Rating:
Summary: Finally Das Boot We Were Meant To See
Review: When a film about World War II has American audiences routing for the Germans, hoping and cheering them on for the success of their mission, one can only become conscious of the ultimate horror and futility of war. One also has watched a helluva movie.

Back in the early 80's I called in sick (along with some friends) to see the opening of Petersen's Das Boot. We were all stunned. Went out for a beer and then returned to the theatre and watched it all over again.

Petersen masterfully developed his cast into a crew who are no longer "the enemy" but fresh faced kids, neither prepared nor aware of the horror that was waiting them. When I first saw "Das Boot" - I was the same age as those kids so it resonated more powerfully than I could have possibly imagined. In this wonderful uncut release of the original German miniseries we're forced to spend even more time with the crew of U-96 and in that time get to knew them better. We see friendships and bonds formed, the irritability that comes with lack of privacy and tension so dense it becomes an almost physical presence. We also get more of the sense of what war really is - immense spans of boredom and ennui interrupted by the occasional horrors of violence and death.

Petersen kept his cast indoors and unshaven during the entire shoot with the resulting effect that the crew actually looks like a group of men who have not seen natural light, or breathed fresh air for 65 days. Additionally, the actors were all put through vigorous physical training so that when racing through the set of a dangerously reconstructed U-Boat, they move naturally with an almost balletic swiftness that is dazzling.

This is masterful filmmaking of the highest order, with sound and lighting that capture the claustrophobic nature of a submarine, almost suffocating the viewer. The scenes of Das Boot racing through the Atlantic, it's difficult near fatal destruction in the narrow Strait of Gibraltar will have your blood pumping at fever pitch.

The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, each actor - even ones with little to no dialogue, making bold indelible choices in developing their characters.

Jürgen Prochnow as the Captain gives a remarkable, strong performance, making one believe - from the very beginning - this is a true leader of men. You have no difficulty beliving this crew standing behind this captain's every decision.

Petersen's writing of Herbert Grönemeyer as the eager young reporter, Werner is a masterful creation. Werner becomes the multi-faceted prism through whom we watch and live this story. Part Greek chorus, part conscience of the uninvolved, we join him as an outsider on the inside, becoming participants in this heart rending drama. Grönemeyer's performance becomes the very soul of Das Boot.

"Das Boot" remains one of my all time favorite films and to finally be able to own and see it as Wolfgang Petersen intended is one of the best things to happen since the invention of DVD.

Rating:
Summary: let's get underway
Review: Wow, this is what it's all about. Watch on a big screen, and enjoy all the comforts of home that the crew don't have...space!

Truly what dvd is all about, an amazing WW2 experience that is rare to find. You might want to watc it over a two day period, but it is an amazing master piece.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate film on war
Review: You'll find yourself rooting for the Germans. Not to sink a ship but to survive. Never has the cruelty of war been made more evident on film than through "Das Boot." It's not the "enemy" in that submarine but ordinary young men, doing a job, serving their country, but mostly trying to live to see another day. Of the characters aboard the submarine only one is a strong ideological Nazi (and he's viewed as a bit odd) the rest are just Germans.
Director Wolfgang Peterson's epic makes clear how arbitrary it is for the individual which side he happens to be killing for -- even the Germans of World War II.
There is action in "Das Boot" and it is superbly done but it works so well because of the way it is set up. Peterson does a masterful job of showing the tedium of U-boat life without being tedious. The viewer gets to know the people aboard the boat and comes to care about their fate. The tension is palpable, the possible horror of being trapped at the bottom of the ocean or drowning or being ripped apart by enemy bombs (fates most German U-boats suffered). An when an allied ship is sunk there is great joy for the crew in the abstract notion of a successful "kill" but when witnessing the reality of burning, drowning sailors, that joy turns to shock and even tears.
"Das Boot" is also, not incidentally, a brilliant look at the physical aspects of life aboard U-boat. Never has a film more brilliantly show action within a claustrophobic environment.
This latest version of "Das Boot" is the definitive one, totally uncut and thus fully developing characters and situations. That said, viewers might first want to see the shorter (but still brilliant) director's cut before investing in this full version.
"Das Boot" is also notable for some of the best sound ever recorded in a film; (most memorable is the "ping" of the sonar), as well as brilliant cinematography and special effects. Finally there is a strong cast led by Jurgen Pruchnow as the cynical captain.
Not just a great war film, "Das Boot" is a great film period.