ThiefHott Too much of everything

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

dakwamyth This has to be one of the best, if not the best psychological studies of war in a movie. The tension, tedium, and coarseness all work so well together that you can actually feel for the crew. The viewer get a close and personal feel for what these crews went through, how they felt, and what they had to go through to serve their insane Government. Wolfgang Peterson did a fantastic job directing this movie, and the cast was top notch to carry this out the way it needed to be. Do not expect a high action movie, it has its action, but that is not what this movie is. Be ready for a movie that is long, drawn out, and sometimes tedious to watch, it is well worth every minute of it. Be ready for a no thrills movie that shows you what hell was like in submarine warfare, in WWII. I wish we had something like this for the American Submariners in WWII.

sddavis63 Years ago I knew a man who had served in the German Navy during World War II. He wasn't on a U-boat, mind you, but he shared a few stories with me about what being a sailor or soldier in the German Forces of the time was like, and I was struck by how "normal" he made it sound. They weren't fanatical Nazis, these men. Just those who were called upon to fight in a war that most of them didn't want to fight. Interestingly enough my acquaintance emigrated to Canada after the war, joined the Canadian Army and ended up being stationed with NATO forces in Germany. It's a strange world we live in.One reaction I had to "Das Boot" was similar - just how normal these submariners were. They weren't fanatical Nazis either. Just sailors who found themselves in a war and had to find a way to survive. There's not many Nazi salutes in this and I don't remember any "Heil Hitlers" - although there were a few references to the Fuhrer. But it's surprising just how easy it was to relate to these men. The movie is in German with English subtitles - making it abundantly clear that they were on the "other side" (from a historical perspective.) But it didn't matter. I found myself drawn in with them; even rooting for them at times.Reflecting quite well what I understand life on a submarine is like, the movie does have relatively long stretches that aren't all that interesting and when nothing much of great importance happens. But the film is structured around two main bursts of energy - the first being a battle with a British convoy that the U-boat encounters, the second being an attempt to get to a German base in the Mediterranean, which meant having to elude the British Navy, based in huge numbers at Gibraltar. The latter was the most suspenseful part of the movie, as you wondered whether the crew was going to survive. In truth, though, both of those encounters went on perhaps a little bit too long. And the last scenes of the movie (coming after the U-boat has managed somehow to refloat itself from the bottom after being sunk and get past Gibraltar into port) seems to make a powerful point about the meaninglessness of war.The performances are good in this. Subtitles aside, Jurgen Prochnow as the U-boat's captain was excellent - a relatively young man who's been at this for a while and has become hardened to what this life is. There's some good reflections on both the physical and especially mental toll this kind of life had on the sailors. We don't usually see much of the German side in war movies. This was a good look at things from that perspective and was a very good depiction of life on a U- boat at war. (7/10)

pietclausen I saw Das Boot recently as I don't like watching foreign spoken movies, which spoils the viewing, having to read the subtitles. But I had heard many people praise this movie for it's realism without glorification of war. As the movie is based on true events I finally crossed the line.I got hold of the Director's Cut, the restoration copy, which runs for almost 3½ hours. Indeed it is a very dramatic movie and I am pleased to have seen it. But the extra hour made it too long and the events are stretched out, perhaps to give the viewer a personal apprehension and fear of being trapped whenever the boat was in dire straits. Life was constantly hanging by a thread and you experience this feeling too.The acting was superb, but in this longer version the movie only qualifies for a 7. I feel confident that I would rate it an 8 in the shorter version.

jameslinton-75252 As a war film, Das Boot does what any great war film should does. It does not take one side or the other, but rather allows the audience to make up its own mind. This is especially true considering that Das Boot is a German film about a German U-Boat crew set in World War 2. The German sailors aren't portrayed as villains nor are their actions glorified. Rather they are hard- working men who fought out of love for their country. They were united by their loyalty to each other and to their country. Das Boot did a brilliant job at portraying the relationships that these men shared.Stylistically, the film was also brilliant. It conveyed the claustrophobic feel of the submarine, which was emphasised by the dim lighting.This is a fantastic film about how war can affect men of all races and nationalities. Watch it.Read my full review here: http://goo.gl/dYtLl6