The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror. Das Boot showcases a very realistic and powerful catastroph that a U-Boat faced during the World War II but the destruction, death and hunger that those men faced. As far as direction goes this is a very stylish film with great underwater sequences but also a very good looking movie in general, the soundtrack was also really good especially the end credits one and as far as perfomances go i think Jürgen Prochnow was the stand out of the entire movie. Now as flaws go? the 209 running time will bother some people perhaps even tire them a little bit but overall still a really good film. (7/10)

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.

This interesting war film shows us a little of what was the daily life of a submarine crew during World War II. As the film is German, not surprisingly, is a German submarine. And tastes good to hear the dialogues in the original tongue, giving more authenticity tho the movie than the English, which most of films used indiscriminately, because of commercial interests.This film is, of all submarine movies, the best I've ever seen. The more realistic and closer to reality, without dramatic contrivances, without the flying imagination of those who have never seen a submarine but has to make a film about it. Its based on a book by Lothar G. Buchheim which, I believe, describes real events. The script reflected this effort, this search for reality. I do not know any of the actors, I am no expert in cinema, but I enjoyed the interpretation of Jürgen Prochnow, the captain, and Klaus Wennemann, who played chief engineer submarine. I will not be very surprised if someone says to me that some footage was shot in a real submarine... whole scenario was thought to detail and it shows how submarines are claustrophobic.Far from the American sensationalism, this European film makes a very interesting picture of a reality that most movies rather fantasize the extreme. It is a proof of how thin can sometimes be the line between documentary and a cinematographic work.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Lt. Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer), who has been assigned as a war correspondent on the German submarine U-96 in October 1941. He meets its captain (Jürgen Prochnow), chief engineer (Klaus Wennemann), and the crew in a raucous French bordello. Thomsen (Otto Sander), another captain, gives a crude drunken speech to celebrate his Ritterkreuz award, in which he openly mocks not only Winston Churchill but implicitly Adolf Hitler as well.The next morning, they sail out of the harbour of La Rochelle to a cheering crowd and playing band. Werner is given a tour of the boat. As time passes, he observes ideological differences between the new crew members and the hardened veterans, particularly the captain, who is embittered and cynical about the war. The new men, including Werner, are often mocked by the rest of the crew, who share a tight bond. After days of boredom, the crew is excited by another U-boat's spotting of an enemy convoy, but they soon locate a British destroyer, and are bombarded with depth charges. They narrowly escape with only light damage.The next three weeks are spent enduring a relentless storm. Morale drops after a series of misfortunes, but the crew is cheered temporarily by a chance encounter with Thomsen's boat. Shortly after the storm ends, the boat encounters a British convoy and quickly launches four torpedoes, sinking two ships. They are spotted by a destroyer and have to dive below the submarine's rated limit. During the ensuing depth-charge attack, the chief mechanic, Johann, panics and has to be restrained. The boat sustains heavy damage, but is eventually able to safely surface in darkness. An enemy tanker remains afloat and on fire, so they torpedo the ship, only to realize that there are still sailors aboard; they watch in horror as the sailors, some on fire, leap overboard and swim towards them. Following orders not to take prisoners, the captain gives the command to back the ship away.