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Summary: The finest submarine movie ever shot
Review: After hearing of it for three years, I finallysaid what the hey, and rented this movie and for three and a half hours, I was blown away. the camera work, effects, and performances were all superior. If you liked U-571, this one will knock you through the wall. A phenomenal film.
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Summary: I did not like it at first
Review: I saw this on VHS pan and scan the first time. Bad Idea! The DVD is stupendous...widescreen essential (especially for the internal sub scenes!). The sound on the DVD with Dolby Digital is reference quality...enveloping! (apartment dwellers beware).Others have reviewed in great detail, so I mention only two scenes: After the sub rises in the Mediterranean, the exhileration in music and cinematic motion. Then the German crew singing 'its a long way to Tiparary'...as an Anglo crew might sing 'Lilie Marlene'.
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Summary: Brilliant, haunting, timeless, a Masterpiece!
Review: I first saw this film at the cinema in Germany with my class, but since then have seen it several more times. -- The account of a reporter sent on an assignment with a German U-Boot during WWII gives vivid insight into the daily life at sea and at war. At times humorous, this film is still chilling with its bluntness and honest portrayal of the horrors of war. If you haven't been shocked enough through the 3 hours+ of viewing, the ending will definitely deliver! -- The DVD version is great, but the wide screen video is superior! Get out the popcorn and enjoy this gem of a cinema classic!
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Summary: an incredible movie
Review: And much better than the cinema version. Though it's pretty long at 209 minutes, this movie is so powerful it won't seem long at all. The casting and the cinematogrophy are amazing. Portrays a very human side to war in a way few movies have been able to. One of the most moving, engaging movies I've ever seen.
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Summary: "Johan, go back to your battle station!"
Review: Set aboard a German submarine in the early years of World War II, "Das Boot" is a great film and is certainly one of the best war movies ever made. "Das Boot" overturns many of the myths of submarine warfare perpetuated by some historical accounts and by cheesy Hollywood films. Life on the U-boat is considerably more cramped than one would imagine, and even officers must get up from the dining table to make room for passing crew members. The discipline on the U-boat is also relaxed in many ways. Officers and crew shed their uniforms and grow unkempt hair and beards. For the vast majority of the U-boat's time at sea, the crew are bored, restless, and desperate for action. During most of the combat scenes, the stealthful U-boat is actually quite vulnerable. And far from being the ruthless undersea killers that legend has them to be, the U-boat crew are quite human Until I saw this film, I always believed that like the German army on land, the U-boat wolf packs were unstoppable at sea. After watching this film, however, it became clear that despite the havoc they wreaked in the North Atlantic, the U-boats were never a match for the British navy. Even before the invention of sonar and radar installed airplanes, the U-boats lived in terror of British warships. After seeing this film for a second time I read several U-boat books to verify the accuracy of what I had viewed on screen. Even some of the most improbable events like the U-boat crew getting decimated in an air raid after returning to port were corroborated in the history books. I commend this film for its realism, its drama, and its utter lack of sentimentality. Many scenes in this film are as vivid and realistic as the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan". Unlike parts of that film, however, nothing in "Das Boot" is didactic or manipulative.
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Summary: A Classic! Truly a Classic!
Review: Das Boot is a very authentic depiction in the life of a German U-Boat crew. Imagine 60,000 of these brave men sent to prowl the Atlantic and only 3,000 came back to tell the tale. This is truly a classic. Superb acting by Juergen Prochnow as the U-Boat captain. I still couldnt get used to the ending though. By the time you finish the movie, you'll feel very much attached to the crew. It'll leave you breathless, and maybe even shed a tear. Note how the film was shot inside the boat. The movie pioneered the use of hand-held cameras to film the scenes to get an up close and personal feel for the audience- see Saving Private Ryan in the first 15 minutes of the movie and you'll now what I mean. This movie deserves a nice place in your collection.
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Summary: Ping
Review: Put simply, this is one of the finest war films ever - an alternatively thrilling, terrifying tale of men fighting a war whilst locked in a metal tube, gliding through crushing, hostile, ice-cold water. An international showcase of mid-80's German television, this attracted audiences all over the world and is justly famous. If you haven't seen it yet, this is the best way to do so, short of taping the extensive television series and watching it over the course of a couple of days. For a while this was one of the two decent DVDs that you could buy in the UK - the extra bits are nice to have, but not worth watching on their own. There's a 'Making Of', which is enlightning but short (they achieved the haggard, pale look of the actors by locking them in a mock submarine and wobbling them around for hours until they had turned to a thick paste), and a set of interviews which are of the shallow, soundbite variety. Intriguingly, there there are subtitled German and dubbed English versions - the subtitled German is the most authentic, but the dubbed English works well (this is how it was show on UK television initially), especially as the dialogue is so clipped. As a footnote, the same production team (minus Wolfgang Peterson) went on to make 'Stalingrad', a not-quite-as-good, but-still-quite-good film about another German WW2 tragedy. For a while this was one of the two decent DVDs that you could buy in the UK - the extra bits are nice to have, but not worth watching on their own. There's a 'Making Of', which is enlightning but short, and a set of interviews which are of the shallow, soundbite variety. Intriguingly, there there are subtitled German and dubbed English versions - the subtitled German is the most authentic, but the dubbed English works well (this is how it was show on UK television initially), especially as the dialogue is so clipped. As a footnote, the same production team (minus Wolfgang Peterson) went on to make 'Stalingrad', a not-quite-as-good, but-still-quite-good film about another German WW2 tragedy.
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Summary: The Greatest WW2 Submarine Film
Review: When I first saw this movie, I thought it would be justgood. But it turned out to be more, as it was a thrilling, fun, andpowerful movie. It had an explicit anti-war statement, and in some ways, I liked it better than Saving Private Ryan, which had the same powerful message and theme. Being only 13 and a war buff and military obsessed, I enjoyed this movie but learned a huge lesson. And that lesson is the fact that there is no such things as evil soldiers. I mean, the regular German soldier fought for his country's glory, while the US soldiers fought for protection, good moral values, and to end the war, which makes them good soldiers. But then again, the German soldier is only obligated to fight, and with an oppressive dictator controlling everything down to the people's moral values, he has no choice but to go along and fight because he was forced to, not because he wanted to. It also shows that a crew of a German U-boat is no different from an American crew. While Germans kill because they have to, Americans kill not because they believe in the war, but because they believe in helping their country and friends. But both sides are no different, when it comes down to survival, which they do because they have to. The picture quality for the Director's Cut on both DVD and VHS is spectacular. This film is much more detailed and realistic than other submarine thrillers. The extra footage makes everything seem even more real, as it shows everything happenning. And it's just not transitional scenes, it also all-new sequences! The sound was awesome. When you put on 8 channel SDDS sound on a loud volume, you can hear every drip, creak, and rustle. Das Boot is a great movie. See it or buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD
Review: I am giving this 5 stars based on the added features of the DVD - I personally prefer to watch the German language version but the optional English dubbing is superb, for the most part having been done by the original German actors speaking English. The director's commentary is extremely interesting, including a discussion of the earlier attempts to make this film in Hollywood, first with Robert Redford as the Captain and later with Paul Newman. One of these Hollywood treatments would have placed the action later in the war, so as to introduce an American element to the film! According the commentary, all the action protrayed in Das Boot is based on true events. Incidentally, I had the same reaction watching this DVD that I had in the theater, that although the crewmembers are sympathetic and appealing characters I never forgot that they were fighting on the wrong side!
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Summary: Panic Box
Review: Of the distinguished german films. Which represents the seventh art is Panic Box, which describes the hidden side of war panic. It is a documentary film that recounts the story of German navy crew, on a submarine, who is trying to survive during the Second World War. The scenes are shot in exciting manner. It is a film about the last look during a destructive international war, as represented in panic box. It is life of stress, fear of death, and life hope. The expression were very clear on the face of the submarine crew, who spend long time in panic and stress waiting for death or hope to survive and get victory. It is exciting film indeed and makes you feel that you are one of this crew members. You share them their fear stress and anticipation of what will become of them. It is a mixture of unbearable tension, which is quite apparent on the face of crew members. You move from this sever tension to mid-level tension and later you face fearful silence. Production is wonderful. Shots are very clear and expressive. In addition to accurate details and exciting finishing. I regard this film the most exciting surprise. This film is considered as a psychological study for mans psychology during war. It picture sever and violent changes in which man becomes another person.
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