MMG - Rate this movie... Das Boot

[Scott Rose]

Today's movie is Das Boot. Please vote in the poll and reply to this threads with your thoughts about the movie. What you loved... or hated about it. Thanks.

[Jesse C.]

The question is, which version to rate!!!

Overall I thought it was a well done movie from a the other sides point of view.

[The Inspector]

The THX surround sound in the theatres was killer! When rivets started popping, I was ducking, you could smell the funk on those guys-all that effort just to get sunk within a rock throw of the pier. And Proknow standing on the bridge while plowing through the storm like a norse god was pretty cool.
Just re read the book a while ago and watch it if it's on a channel that doesn't inject a 20 minute block of commercials every 22 minutes (my major gripe against AMC)

[Jerry O'Neill]

Awesome and thrilling!

[Lynn Allen]

Great movie as it gives you the feeling of living on "Das Boot"

[Canso42]

The movie is loosely based on a 1942 war patrol of the U-123 that raised heck off the US coast as part of "Operation Drumbeat" against Allied shipping. In the late 1980's I read the book by the same name . Got if from Mil. Book club I think. Some of the actors even looked like the characters they portrayed.
And whether or not it's accurate, I also think Jurgen Prochnow did an excellent job as a U-boat capt.
I got a big laugh out of the interplay between that sissyfied political officer with his impeccable table manners at the same table with that second mate with table manners that would gross out a boar hog.

[P51Mstg]

Fair movie... .Book was pretty awesome.....

If you read and liked the book.... You need to read SHADOW DIVERS about finding and IDing a UBoat sunk off NJ or NY some years back.... The dives on the boat were pretty incredible.

Mark H

[Cubs]

I saw it at the recommendation of a co-worker who was a diesel boat sailor during the Vietnam era. He said that it was very close to real life. He was referring, mainly to the attitudes and actions of the characters in the movie. He said that submarine sailors are a different Navy than surface guys.
Personally, got disinterested in the movie about 3/4 way through it. It seemed to "stall" for me. Couple of scenes were a little too melodramatic for me.

[CWBuff]

This was the first German-language film that I tried to watch and understand without looking at the subtitles. Afterwards I came to the conclusion that, at the very least, a refresher on my high-school German was in order... lol

Anyhoo, this flick is certainly a far-sight better than most others that attempt to tell the tale of the submariner... some of those others have been more 'entertaining' and out-and-out exciting, but from what little I've come to know about life on any submarine, this flick struck me as being perhaps the most authentic, overall.

I too got a kick out of Oberleutnant Bengsch (the young 1st Watch Officer) and his constant, if silent and subtle, struggle with the more practical ways of the rest of the officers. My favorite scene involving this guy takes place on the SS Weser at Vigo in Spain when Bengsch is mistaken for U96's captain.

The story is certainly a rollercoaster, and I can see where a typical movie-goer would get a bit bored during certain stretches, such as the time they spent on the bottom at Gibralter. But that's what separates the typical movie-goer from a guy who's really into this stuff, I guess.

Overall, I think Das Boot is an excellent film.


Fade to Black...

[redvanner]

When I first saw "Das Boot", I had the sense of beeing overwhelmed at several parts of the film. It was gripping, especially the fast action during diving, the full throttle run under Diesel power, and hearing the structure ache and rivets popping below maximum dive depth. I am not claustrophobic, but when I visited an original U VII c boat in Laboe, the claustrophobical atmosphere was revived by the film quite plausible. All in all I believe "Das Boot" to be one of the best anti-war films made in Germany, maybe even better as "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) [1959], at least reaching more viewers. BTW if you are able to see "Die Brücke", I strongly recommend it, it is well worth watching IMHO.

Michael

[JohnB]

Great film, but I'm in no position to judge technical accuracy.

[Jarink1]

Whether it's "Das Boot" or the English overdub "The Boat", this was an excellent film. It was frank and brutal portrayal of war on a submarine with virtually none of the usual Hollywood war movie "hoo-rah" or one liners B.S. to ruin it.

[CDF]

Das Boot = 10/10

BTW if you are able to see "Die Brücke", I strongly recommend it, it is well worth watching IMHO. Michael

Agreed, the 1959 version is far superior to the banal 2008 remake

[Saville]

An outstanding film in every respect. Prochnow's best (at least of all the subsequent movies I've seen him in).

[soko121]

This is a Brilliant film!. I think they really got it right in "painting a picture" of life on a U boat. The score, combined with the raw power of the waves add to the overall tone of the film. Considering when it was made, it still will rank very high!
Also the first one i pull out to watch when wife and kids out of town Simon