Das Boot

Wolfgang Petersen's direction is an exercise in pure craftsmanship. more

A great movie just got greater, thanks to this thorough restoration.

Takes all of the drama and suspense inherent in a submarine-based story and delivers it in a near-perfect package, establishing Das Boot as not just a terrific adrenaline rush, but one of the best movies ever made. more

At once a devastating condemnation of war and an exciting action film...The additional running time only adds to Petersen's masterfully bleak, claustrophobic atmosphere. Das Boot is by no means a pleasant experience, but it's an intelligent and emotionally gripping one that you won't forget. more

You emerge from this experience rather like a returning U-boat crewman -- drained, blinking in the light, but oddly triumphant. more

Absolutely devastating filmmaking that makes you simultaneously feel the glory and the absolute futility of war. more

One of the most suspenseful films of all time, its wartime action setting makes it easy to forget it's also one of the most spiritually righteous. more

Sweaty and claustrophobic, exciting and horrifying at the same time, it never lets us forget we're riding aboard a giant, primitive tin can, a hunk of industrial machinery that mingles the illusion of omnipotence with the reality of a floating prison cell. more

Racing through the sub, squeezing through tiny openings, director Wolfgang Petersen's camera brilliantly evokes the claustrophobia and clamor of undersea battle. more

A visually spectacular film, distinguished by strong performances and brilliant Steadicam photography that snakes through the U-boat as its patrols the North Atlantic during World War II. more

Wolfgang Petersen did something I felt was impossible... I actually found myself kind of rooting for the Germans in this WWII set film. Great performances from all of the cast and it is good to see that even the enemy is just doing what they also think is right. more

The blueprint of a submarine film, pretty much quoted and copied ever since, still remains the masterpiece of the genre. It also takes the WW2 issue on a whole new level by showing the little men, the young ones, who didn't give a damn about political ideologies and were thrown to waste into the battlefields below the Atlantic. The movie takes its time to introduce those round and realistic characters you're soon stuck with for the next three hours under very claustrophobic conditions. The acting is superb, maybe even the best that was ever produced in Germany. The atmosphere of constant... more

"Das Boot" is a truly amazing, outstanding and perfect. Ok, all of those words pretty much mean the same but the film is the best navy themed film ever made. It's long as hell but never dull. The cast is perfect and they all do a great job putting their characters to life. The claustrophobic atmosphere inside The "Boot" is well made and photographed to the screen. "Das Boot" features probably the best theme song ever made. The overall sound of the movie is great and highly recommended for home theater viewing. Forget about all the other lame WW2 submarine attempts. "Das Boot" is the... more

Claustrophobic is the most appropriate word. But some of the crew, especially the Captain as played by Jurgen Prochnow, thrive in it. This film will grip you and keep you on the edge of your seat. These German men are resourceful skilled engineers and loyal soldiers. The internal turmoil bubbling just below the surface of some of their minds about kissing the asses of the upper military officials who have no idea what real battle is, and who's ideals may not match those of the common German citizens, even as they love their craft (work and sub), makes for thrilling drama. more

Part of my post-war German film course. This is an interesting film to watch when you think about how it shows the emergence of some American ideas of filmmaking within German cinema. Its an entertaining thrill ride and has its low points and high points. High points: unsurmountable tension, some striking images, very successful at recreating the type of claustrophobic conditions German submarine operators would be in. Low points: Few standout actors, almost too linear plot, no clearly definable style. An early, entertaining war thriller that despite its flaws, definitely has its place in... more

Claustrophobic and tense, "Das Boot" is an epic human study of survival set in the less-explored battlefields of the great second world war: the vast nothingness of the oceans. We know the stories of war zones: Stalingrad, Iwo Jima, Normandy. All has been said about those places: heroism, tragedy, casualties, you name it. But then there lies, beneath the watery abyss, the untold lives and existence of U-boat crews, the tension, anticipation, disappointments, camaraderie. Who would have surmised that a film out of these would be conceived? And even more so, the Germans, the much-dreaded... more