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Das Boot - Patreon Version (Patreon)

Published:
2025-03-09 12:00:10
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

No Sync Required Version: https://cinebingers.ca/A9usWB0WY0 - For Patreon tier "Bingers on The Wall" or higher.

movie runtime: 03:28:08

Files

Previews only

Das Boot (Directors Cut) - Patreon Version

Comments

Mike FromOz

Holy crap! We're early? Or is it because of daylight savings in Canada?

HansD

Shout out for Greyhound (2020) with Tom Hanks as the captain of a USN destroyer defending an Atlantic convoy. Also featuring the Canadian Flower-class corvette "Dicky." Well worth the watch.

gobmob2000

A little bit of a history lesson. During WW2 the British dominated the seas and had the wolds larges navy at the time. This was due to the fact that Britain had one strength which was also a weakness. Britain was an island, which means it had a natural defence against attack, its hard to march your army over water, but Britain's population had outgrown the islands ability to feed it, the simple fact is that Britain relied on imports for food and other resources to survive and fight and therefore Britain's most important defensive asset was their Navy. So Germany's plan was to attack and sing the merchant navy delivering good's to Britain, this was The Battle of the Atlantic, the problem was, as previously mentioned, Britain's unbeatable navy. The simple fact was that Germany was unable to compete against the Royal Navy in conventional warfare, Germany did, after all, try and failed during WW1 to take on the Royal Navy. So a German Navy admiral by the name of Karl Donitz was convinced that Germany's needed to rely on Uboat's (submarines) to beat Britain and tried to convince Hitler of this, he asked for 300 Uboats but only got about 50 as Hitler was initially unconvinced. Despite this the "Wolfpack" as the Uboat navy was called was a huge success and greatly damaged Britain merchant navy and even managed to sink a few Battleships. Hitler eventually came around and allowed the building of more Uboats but by that time it was to late as Britain adapted and developed new technology and tactics to defeat Uboats. The Royal Navy became the worlds leading expert in sinking Uboat's and their effectiveness diminished. If Hitler had listened and invested more into Uboats at the start of the war, they might have won the Battle of the Atlantic. This is the point where Das Boot takes place, against a highly effective Royal Navy hunting UBoat's.

JediLounger

I have always considered this to be a horror movie, so I would suggest you guys add that tag to the classifications along with drama. If you want to see a story from the other perspective, Greyhound (2020) shows The Battle for the Atlantic from the American/British perspective.

JakeyShakeyBakeyBoy

This is one of the movies that immediately comes to mind when I hear the term “tautly directed” because Petersen and the editing/sound teams nailed it. It’s one of the more claustrophobic inducing experiences of this scale for sure. Another film taking the German perspective on WWII recently was the remake of “All Quiet on The Western Front”; that and the 1930 original could even be a potential double feature video - just like “Nosferatwo” haha

Ginger

Been looking forward to this one all week <3 I haven't seen the film in 30 years, will be interesting to re-watch it with you guys. As a german, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you watching the original version of a 3.5 hour film with subs, Although I guess it wouldn't make much of a difference for watching along, as we can't hear your video, something in the performance will always get lost in translation, which is why I'd always watch foreign movies with subs instead of dubs. :)

gobmob2000

During ww2, submarines needed to regularly surface to get fresh air. Today they use electrolysis to split the oxygen from hydrogen in the surrounding water to get a practically indefinite oxygen supply.

Young Blood Priest

U-571 is another WWII submarine movie. Admittedly it’s Das Boot lite but worth a watch.

Ginger
>>167208261

Also, I'm supid ^^ Of course, people will hear the video in the YT edit

Dioskur

George you asked if there are any rules in Germany about WW2 movies. There is one law in general that says you are not allowed to try and spread proven falsehoods about the nazi era. Like you are not allowed to make a "documentary" that tries to prove the holocaust didnt happen. But afaik there is no special rule about movies. But it would be difficult to find someone to finance your movie because noone wants to take the backlash. About the boat itself. You might want to google "uboot laboe" and check the pictures. Laboe is a small town at the ocean and there lays one of only two (if i remember correctly) good condition uboats from that era, laying on the beach. The one in Laboe is the same type as in the movie, just a diffrent version (minior details). You can buy a ticket and get in. There are few visitors so me and a friend spent like an hour in there. Its insane how small it feels. And whatever you touch is solid steel, adding to the feel that nothing your body is capable of could save you if the mashine lets you down. If you ever get to Germany, visite Lübeck and make a trip to Laboe. Ok lets see if I make it throu the rest of the movie without the need to post again

Ph4ZeD

Great reaction, should do Crimson Tide next!

Richard Rear

the convoy cant stop to rescue anyone as if they stop in the water they could be attacked by any other sub in the area

Ph4ZeD

To answer George’s question, U boats had no ability to produce oxygen and thus could only be underwater for relatively brief periods. Modern nuclear powered subs could stay underwater indefinitely aside from the need to resupply food.

Baron Imhoof

This is mostly anecdotal, but I grew up around the adults who fought that war, and it seemed that they all had less negative feelings for the German navy as opposed to the German army and air force. I suppose that’s because the navy didn’t bomb cities to rubble or invade and occupy other countries. They fought other ships and planes, operated along the coasts, sometimes transporting agents, but it was Stukas over Paris, Warsaw, Prague, and other cities, followed by stormtroopers goose-stepping through the people were most reviled by. My dad spent time assigned to a POW facility at the end of the war, and he said the German navy officers were less political and fanatical than the others, that they were devoted to Germany, but not to Hitler or the Nazis. Again, anecdotal, but evidence can be found in Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Hitler's head of military intelligence and a former U-boat commander during World War One. He was also a double-agent, who began working with the allies even before the war to unseat Hitler and the Nazis. He was discovered and executed just before the war ended. After Hitler’s death, another former U-boat commander, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, became the last head of state of Nazi Germany and finally ended the war before Germany was annihilated.

Brandon

Crabs are known primarily as an STD but they can occur in tight living quarters in bedding and clothing, so it would be a common problem on a sub. Fun fact: Because a lot of people in the 21st century shave or trim their pubic hair, crabs are far less common.

WayneC
>>167208469

They stayed on the surface as much as possible. They were faster on the surface, and the range is much longer. It may be the opposite for modern nuclear submarines.

deskmerc

You guys asked during a scene where the engine room is shown and the engineer grabs something to listen to the engine. A diesel sub running at high load is going to be quite noisy, so you use a "mechanic's stethoscope", or "ear trumpet" to isolate a particular engine part. He's listening for bad bearings, valve timing, anything that could sound abnormal to indicate an early engine fault.

WayneC

It was Pilgrim that went overboard. The Navigator was shot at Gibraltar.

WayneC

A lighter submarine movie would be the comedy "Down Persicope" starring Kelsey Garmmer, Lauren Holly and Rob Scneider.

deskmerc

Also, a note about depth charges. You don't have to actually hit the submarine to cause a fuss, they are primarily a concussion weapon, sending sharp sound waves through the water. A submarine is designed to go underwater surely, but it has a harder time dealing with a intense pressure differential as it washes over the hull. Things rattle, come loose, seams pop and welds break, and as you see, the deeper you go, the worse these problems get. Depth charges are set to go off at a specific depth, so if you are a smart sub driver, you can use your God given gift of 3 dimensional thinking to try and avoid a close hit. The escort ship on the surface has to drive around in circles and hopefully deploy charges right over you...and that's if you are lucky to have only one boat chasing you. Two escorts, or more, all going after the same target, makes avoiding this much, much harder. (Although from a tactical perspective, if your surface group has two escorts, keeping one close in while he other prosecutes the target is a smart move, because there could be two subs out there, one waiting for the others to move away)

deskmerc

Lots of fun questions to answer in this film, YES, you can use Morse code in other languages, even Japanese, although rather than individual letters, the Morse symbols translate into kana. Other languages that don't use the Latin alphabet have Morse codes too, there's even some overlap. K in Latin and K in Cyrillic are the same "_ . _" and if you really wanted to do it, you can always invent a code of your own.

REDR58
>>167210199

Also, U-995, the vessel at Laboe, is the last of its kind on display. There are several other WW-2 era Germans submarines at various museums. U-2540, at the Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. U-505, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. And a few others as listed here: https://www.uboat.net/fates/today.htm

Tim T—

As a native speaker I found the English subtitles rather good. You can't translate everything, because a lot of speech is idiomatic and has no direct translation in English. But they often got the gist right. They casted the actors from all over Germany and Austria, because the real WWII sailors would have been conscripted all over Germany back then. Hence you can hear a lot of different German accents, from Berlin to Munich and Viennese. Lothar Günther Buchheim, the author of the original novel, was a real naval war correspondent and did participate on a war patrol aboard U96. After the war he became an author and a collector of art the Nazis thought of as degenerate. The real captain of U96 survived the war and later became a merchant mariner. In the 70s he captained the Otto Hahn, a nuclear-powered freighter; one of the few ever built. The real chief also survived and only died on 2023, aged 107.

Tom Hess

34:56 George - There's a big difference between sympathizing with people and nazis Well... most soldiers in WW2 were just doing what they were told. Just because you're a 16 year old german soldier doesn't mean you're automatically a monster who believes in the superiority of the aryan race. They were just kids, like you said. 46:40 Simone asks about detection technologies: Back in those days, the most efficient was the hydrophone. It's a 360-degree microphone that you use to listen to the sound of propellers. Much more efficient than looking through binoculars. Especially at night or in bad weather. 54:35 Wouldn't the running and stomping of the crew make people notice you? Only if they were in close proximity. Anyway the sound of the submarine's propellers outside is probably louder than the crew singing inside. 1:06:20 George - On submarines having the advantage because they can shoot from a distance: Not in those days. U-Boats couldn't use their diesel engines underwater. Underwater they had to use a very small battery-powered electric motor. U-Boats were sitting ducks underwater. They had to rely on being sneaky. 1:40:20 How many torpedoes does a U-Boat have? Depends on the model. Could be anywhere between 10 and 14, I think. Those things were big and heavy. As for the different versions: The theatrical cut is mostly missing character development. If you had watched the TC, you probably wouldn't care as much about the characters when they die at the end.

Cincassette

I love this film! Jürgen Prochnow gives such an incredible performance as the "Kaleun". You might remember him as one of the antagonists in Air Force One, or as Leto Atreides in David Lynch's Dune. On a lighter note, another seafaring film I think you'd enjoy is Wes Anderson's "A Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"

deskmerc

"How does the oxygen work", while answered nicely elsewhere, some things to add: Snorkels were introduced mid war on many submarines to try and extend the time you could stay underwater, although there were problems with this solution. They would also carry some pressure tanks of oxygen and in some cases, potassium superoxide, which not only scrubbed CO2, it also dehumidified the air and produced oxygen. Chemical CO2 scrubbers existed in the form of soda lime. While it was possible to generate oxygen via electrolysis, you generally needed that battery to do something else (like power the ship) and you also get hydrogen, and for every O you make with electrolysis yo make an H2, and that's not a fun thing to have in an enclosed cylinder. (Submarines used lead acid batteries, that means hydrogen coming out of that already. Modern diesel electric subs and nuclear submarines have catalytic converters to handle the hydrogen, these didn't exist in this time period)

Mike FromOz

Spain, where they docked to resupply, had declared itself neutral at the beginning of the war, but then later changed to 'non-beliigerant', meaning they were not going to take an active military role in the war. However, they were supporters of both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, supplying them with food and intelligence. Francisco Franco, Spain's dictator general, had been helped by the German's to defeat the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), where the German's had used their new technological warfare developments, such as the Stuka divebomber, to attack the unprotected Republican forces. He, with their help, won and cemented his grip of power over the country. However, due to the civil war, he did not want to join in WW2, because of the economic cost of the civil war. Spanish soldiers could go fight for the axis, but only against Soviets, not the west. Spain was blockaded by the Allies, causing both food and fuel shortages for the war, further increasing the economic problems of post-civil war Spain. In the end, as the war started going badly for Germany and Italy, Spain once again took a more neutral stance, and at war's end, tried to destroy any documents detailing their collaboration. Even so, he did allow some Nazi's to apply for political asylum there. He was a horrible dictator to the people of Spain, with a great many killings and extra-judicial murders under his control of the country. He lived as its leader until his death on 20th November, 1975, aged 82. For an artistic impact of the German bombing attacks upon the Spanish people, Pablo Picasso's most famous painting, 'Guernica', showcases the horror in a 25ft long black and white masterpiece.

Tim T—
>>167222173

And if you're still got interest in WWII movies from a German point of view, I'd recommend Downfall (2004), yes the movie with the meme, and for understanding the ending scene additionally Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005). Maybe additional Valkyrie (2008), although it's rather Tom-Cruise-y.

Tim T—
>>167223745

I always was impressed that a copy of 'Guernica' hangs in the UN security council. Sadly the UN became somewhat irrelevant since 2003, but one can hope.

Tim T—
>>167208246

'All Quiet on the Western Front' is about WWI, the original sin of the 20th century. Nonetheless I'd recommend too both versions.

Mike FromOz
>>167223745

Indeed, a tapestry version, rather than a painting. It was covered up at the behest of the Bush US Govt during the invasion of Iraq, and then sent all over the place. Glad to hear it is back, I hope it can act as a warning against unchecked aggression, no matter who instigates it.

Maiki

You've seen Jürgen Prochnow, the captain, as Leto Atreides in the 1984 Dune and as General Radek in Air Force One. The actor who played Werner (the war correspondent), Herbert Grönemeyer, made a couple of movies, but later focused on his musical career. He's one of the best known german singer-songwriters. The title theme was covered into a very popular (at least in Europe) techno track in the 90s by dance music project U96. The novel the movie is based on is autobiographical (fictionalised though). The author was a war correspondent on destroyers and submarines. RIP Wolfgang Petersen. Another great movie by him is "In the Line of Fire" (1993) with Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Eastwood knew and appreciated Das Boot, so he asked Petersen to direct.

Jpsynergy
>>167222173

There's also Conspiracy which I think is a decent film but I don't like it personally and forgot most of it. Getting to the heads of Nazis who decided to do what they did is pretty awful.

HansD

The reason why some of the scene changes and shifts in character moods feel abrupt is because this "director's cut" is not an extended theatrical cut, but a slightly less butchered version of a six-part miniseries. In the miniseries the chief's (the guy with the photographs) worries were explored more. Why he was nervously trying to make a phone call to his family at the beginning of the movie. And why the captain tried to get him off the boat in Spain. His family lived in Hamburg or Cologne (I can't remember which) and were subjected to heavy fire-bombing by the Royal Air Force at the time. It's also the first film I've watched that contradicts the idea of real-life villains. It humanized the villains of WWII. Regardless of ideology or religion, everyone is the hero of their own story. Everyone believes they are right, and just, and moral. Most persons from history whom we consider evil today were just wrong, and devoted to being wrong.

Tim T—
>>167222173

Movies about the Wannsee conference must be some of the most chilling movies in existence. There is also a German version with German actors, die Wannseekonferenz (2022).

HansD
>>167212418

That is incorrect. Convoy rescue ships accompanied Atlantic convoys to rescue survivors from ships that had been attacked. Rescue ships were typically small freighters with passenger accommodation converted to rescue service. The u-boats would mostly leave them alone. They participated in 797 convoys and rescued 4,194 survivors. Only seven rescue ships were lost, six to enemy action.

WayneC

The movie was set in the second half of 1941, after the "happy times". The "happy times" was a period between the latter half of 1940 and the first few months of 1941 where U-boats roamed freely across the northern Atlantic, sinking many thousands of tonnes of shipping for very few losses. With improved radar and sonar, British ships could detect U-boats on the surface (radar) and submerged (sonar and hydrophone). They were also able to field more capable patrol/anti-submarine aircraft, some of which also had radar that could detect surfaced submarines. When the USA entered WW2 near the end of 1941 the U-boats changed their area of operation to the Carribean and off the east coast of the USA. This was the second "happy time", which lasted teh first few months of 1942. Sonar was invented near the end of WWI, adn improved through the 1920s. ADSIC (referenced in the movie) was the British term for Sonar at the time. They also showed the 2nd Officer using the Enigma machine to decode incoming messages, as well as the captain when the message "for captain's eyes only" came in. "The Imitation Game" is a movie about the codebreakers at Bletchley Park who decoded the Enigma code. This work enabled the Allies to read most of the German commands' messages. Unfortunately, the movie portrayed many characters different from the real people, and probably unfairly. U571 is an entertaining movie, but it rather claims the glory for the USA that it did not achieve at the time the movie was set. It upset many people in the UK because of that.

WayneC

Another WW2 series that you may like to watch is "Masters of the Air", produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Though there are, IMO, some issues with the series, it does give a sense of hwat the air war was like over Europe.

Christopher Feiertag

Thanks for making me tick one off of my personal bucket list.

Richard Rear
>>167212418

yes and as it also states in the wiki article they only took part in some of the convoys

Ginger

My assortment of random thoughts: George, your pronounciation of "Das Kleinigkeiten" was spot on! :) To answer your question: They shot parts of this on a real submarine. I've been on the actual boat (It's a war memorial and museum now), can confirm it's really claustrophobic. As others undoubtedly pointed out, this is the very same boat they used in "Raiders of the lost Ark". Steven Spielberg borrowed it from Wolfgang Petersen for a day. Not knowing how blind you went into this, I loved the moment of realization: "Wait, we're following Nazis in a WW2 movie?" :D The question about depicting Nazis in a "positive" light in german movies is an interesting one. I know that the film "The Downfall" (which I also highly recommend) got criticized for "humanizing" Hitler. (For example he's shown being very polite and soft spoken with his secretaries, which is the way they described him after the war.) Which I think is a bit of a misguided criticism, as this is a very deliberate choice so as to de-mystify Hitler, his people and followers. Because they were - in the end of the day - people, which imho makes history SO much more frightening as if they were depicted as demonic creatures. I feel like it's part of Germans coming to terms with our past to ask the question: What where these people like and how could they do what they did? How could this happen and what's the danger of it happening again? Also, I think it's important to make the distinction (as you did) between Nazis and german soldiers. Many were both, obviously. But there were also many people who got drafted or went because they thought they had to. Depicting this without making light of or getting accused of excusing anything is an incredibly hard balancing act and I think this movie does it perfectly. It's always been a complex, much discussed issue in media, pretty much since right after ww2. When they say "He's gone" after the guy tries to climb out, it's in the sense of "he's out of the room", not "He's dead". You might know the guy who played the Captain (Jürgen Prochnow) as Paul's father from David Lynches Dune. Lastly, I love how often you inadvertendly forshadowed the ending in your commentary. :D

Ginger
>>167222173

Signing up on the recommendations for Downfall and Sophie Scholl :)

Ginger
>>167210199

I've been on the Uboot in Laboe as a child. It's impressive how the film depicts just how claustrophobic it feels.

Ginger
>>167228376

There's also a new show called "Das Boot". I don't know where it's available in canada and if it's any good but apparently it's based on another book by the same author which makes it kind of a sequel. In the books, the captain survives at the end. I've tried to read the book once but didn't get far as it has SO much jargon, technical terms and abbreviations. I don't know if you noticed but most of the characters (like the book) don't even get names and are only referred by their ranks.

HansD
>>167212418

They participated in 797 convoys and rescued 4,194 survivors.

djKENTO

you know what would be super cool tho? ANDOR. Just saying. a reaction to ANDOR would be THE BEST

Franz Targ

Regarding George's question about depicting Nazis and/or their actions in a positive light: Here is an excerpt from Section 130 of the German Penal Code. § 130 StGB (...) (3) Whoever publicly or in a meeting approves of, denies or downplays an act committed under the rule of National Socialism of the kind indicated in section 6 (1) of the Code of Crimes against International Law in a manner suited to causing a disturbance of the public peace incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine. (4) Whoever publicly or in a meeting disturbs the public peace in a manner which violates the dignity of the victims by approving of, glorifying or justifying National Socialist tyranny and arbitrary rule incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine. (...)

REDR58
>>167222481

Submarines of this time also had fore and aft torpedo tubes. They could fire torpedoes directly behind them. Modern submarines only have forward tubes (and in some cases missile launches) and no deck guns.

REDR58

For an other movie seen from the Axis’ side, I also recommend “Yamato” (2005) about the Battleship Yamato of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Ginger

Regarding the question how this movie was received when it came out, they say a lot about that in the audio commentary: While German audiences watched it by the millions and really liked it, the critics at the time shredded it to pieces, telling the filmmakers: "You are not allowed to portray these people as human beings." Which surprised them, as this film is made by a generation that grew up in post-war germany, where it was very uncommon to ask your parents about what happened in WW2 - most people avoided talking about it. When the book came out, it was for many the first real account of what it was like. And as you mentioned, when the film was first shown in the US, people cheered at the opening text about the 30.000 soldiers being killed but gave a standing ovation in the end. Interesting fun fact: When Wolfgang Petersen first went to Hollywood with the book, they (I don't know exactly who, he just refers to "them") started pre-production of the film with Robert Redford in the role of the captain. The american studio had some changes in mind like setting the film some years later so they could put americans into the story. The author of the book (who btw. is the real life equivalent of the photographer) hated that idea, they parted ways and that version never came to be. However, they had started constructing a life sized model of the ship that Peterson used for his film. Another fun fact: The actor playing the drunk ship captain in the opening scene (the one giving the speech) was actually super drunk when they shot this. :D For most of the exterior shots of the Uboat, they used an 11m long model that had a cameraman lying inside it, wearing an oxigen tank and having a little monitor to steer the ship. Everyday when they got the poor guy out after 6 hours, he was completely sick. On top of the model they had a couple of barbie doll-sized figures that Peterson could remote control to duck or wave (when they meet the other boat). One night their full sized model broke apart and sank in the Dock in La Rochelle. (It was the one Steven Spielberg borrowed for "Raiders of the lost ark" and Petersen liked to joke that Spielberg must have removed a screw somewhere.) They did their best to salvage and repair it. In one shot you can actually see the ship partially coming apart again, after which they immediately went back to the dock, so as to not drown the whole crew.

Sumner Hayes

As mentioned upthread, there are Morse code equivalents for many non-Latin alphabets, including Chinese and Japanese. The Chinese Telegraph Code wiki page is worth a peek, especially the section “Application”. Because international translations/transliterations of Chinese names are often confounding (the same name can be different in Pinyin vs. Wade-Giles, or in Mandarin vs. Cantonese), Chinese law enforcement has at times used the telegraph codes to verify whether two names are “the same” or not when dealing with international cases. The codes fold different transliterations into the same telegraph code. And some US visa applications ask for the telegraph code for Chinese names, for the same reason: it's a canonical form that doesn't vary based on the transliteration system used.

Skyruff

A few other great submarine movies not mentioned in this reaction are: K-19: the windowmaker (2002) based on real events U-571 (2000) based loosely on real events Down Periscope (1996) comedy Crimson Tide (1995) loosely based on real events that occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis Run Silent Run Deep (1958) based loosely on real events The Enemy Below (1957) Based on a fictional novel. The novel was inspired by the author's experiences during World War II

Shonnicus

Must watch the follow up; Beerfest (2006). Das Boot!

Shonnicus

Oh and I will point out many submarine movies might have this certain cliche. The submarine movie cliche "below crush depth". Where in almost every movie faces that certain depth where the sub will crushed by the pressure of the ocean.

Sumner Hayes
>>167225211

Das Boot was originally a film, not a miniseries; Petersen had a longer unreleased cut which they forced him to edit down for the 1981 theatrical release. The miniseries was put together by the BBC in 1984–85, using extra footage that was shot during the filming of the movie. Petersen wasn't involved in putting that together, and the result was better than the original theatrical release but also a lot more bloated than is typical of Petersen's offerings (it's not bad and does have some good character moments that you can't get in other versions, but there's a lot of fat that was put in to pad out the episodes to length). Hans Nikkel was involved in that effort, and had Petersen's blessing. And then in 1997 Petersen did this version, the Director's Cut—it's almost the exact length of the original, unreleased version, but it's not a restoration of that. It's a new cut using his vision from the time.

WayneC
>>167225211

"His family lived in Hamburg or Cologne (I can't remember which) and were subjected to heavy fire-bombing by the Royal Air Force at the time." Das Boot was set in 1941. The "fire bombing" of Hamburg was over 9 days at the end of July 1943 into the start of August. In 1941 the RAf did not have the capability of causing such destruction. In fact, they barely had the capability to find the right city at night.

Rav Low

Something to keep in mind: This is a movie based on a book which was written by the *actual* war correspondent.

JCR

The primary detection equipment at this stage of the war was the hydrophone, which was a microphone which spun 360 degrees and was operated using the dial with the degree scale, seen in use by the hydrophone operator, who was reading off the degrees relative to the boat as the propeller and engine sounds increased or faded. They had sonar for sounding the ocean floor, but that was a sound they could ill afford to risk in many cases, as the enemy could definitely hear it. I don’t recall if passive sonar was available at the time, but the allied destroyers didn’t need to worry about it so much, as evidenced by them pounding away with sonar as they hunted the sub, the ping getting faster and faster, like the thunder of an approaching storm. They had radar too, for the surface, but the allies had radar detectors on ship and plane, so that could be risky too. The concussion from a depth charge alone could kill a sub, so it was a very effective weapon, especially since destroyers often worked in groups, each making passes in turn. The sub could only efficiently travel about 3 knots under water, so their ability to escape depended mostly on their ability to lose the destroyers through silence and evasion. Destroyers had surface speeds of over 30 knots, so there was no outrunning them flat out. The subs could move faster under water, but their batteries would dry up quickly and if that happened while still under attack, they were dead in the water figuratively and literally. They couldn’t launch torpedoes from deeper than periscope depth at the time, so they were sitting ducks, not once the destroyers had their scent. This is still 1941, early-ish in the war, but as the opening crawl explained, the “happy times” were over and the war was turning against the Uboats. There is a Type VII U-boat, like the one portrayed in this movie, on display in Laboe, Germany, and a larger Type IX U-boat on display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. You can tour both.

WayneC
>>167251860

"U-571 (2000) based loosely on real events" By loosely you mean it gives the US credit for deeds that were done before the US entered the war, changed how they were achieved and when it occurred?

Skyruff
>>167251860

Yep, the film tries to mix a couple events but focuses largely on the British capture of u-110. Loosely indeed.

Mycenaeus .

A Techno Version of the musical theme to this movie was released in 1991 and went to the top of the charts in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Norway. Herbert Grönemeyer, who played the war correspondent, had a few other movie roles, but in the German speaking countries is mostly known as a singer. I think the ending of this movie, though not historically accurate, really hammers home the absurdity of war. If you are interested in watching any more war movies I would recommend "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), "The Longest Day" (1962), "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970), "The Great Escape" (1963), or "La Grande Illusion" (1937).

HansD
>>167225211

WayneC, must have been Cologne then. That city was bombed more than 200 separate times beginning in 1940. The first ever thousand-bomber raid was against Cologne in the spring of 1942.

Max Krause

Even as a German I needed subtitles for this movie. There are dialects from all over the place, from Vienna to Hamburg, talking naval jargon drowned out by the noises of the boat. Very hard to understand. Interestingly, the German subtitles where no good at all. No idea what happened there, but they do not match what is being said at all. Maybe because there are so many dialects they tried to streamline it so everyone could understand what was being said? But even that doesn't explain why in the scene where Chief is doing his crossword puzzle, one of the answers he asks for is "love" while in the subtitles he's asking about a camel... So I resorted to the English subtitles which were much better.

Sergio Meira

I hasten to note that, since the title is in German, 'das Boot' is pronounced "das boat" (not "boot" -- nothing to do with footwear).

Grandalf

That was a great fucking movie. I have nothing else to say. Speechless

Max Krause

By the way, Tasting History with Max Miller did an episode on U-Boot food if you're interested. It's about WW1 not WW2, but I doubt much changed concerning the food. All that meat that's hanging around the boat in the beginning? That would soon be covered in mould, oil and diesel fumes. Yummy!

Spacedone
>>167283955

That reminds me of an early DVD version of The Longest Day I had. You had to put on the subtitles to get the German and French language parts translated into English so they were on for the English parts as well. At one point a character says "Stone the crows!" (an English idiom) while the subtitles said something like "Rock the pigeons!". I was always puzzled by how they'd managed to do that.

Philipp Roensch

The greatest mind boggle is still how they got the bulky cameras in there, for such dynamic shots. Really impressive feat of acting and sets, committed to a most realistic portrayal. Not much set safety in those times though, apart from the concussion of the navigator, but the actors were basically waterboarded, this would not fly today. As German, I also see this movie not sympathizing with the regime, the shoddy orders and posh officers are downright critical, but more putting the human back into soldiers and providing an outlet for senseless loss. Actors you might know from somewhere else: Captain was also Duke Leto Atreides in classic Dune and Johann was the doctor in Underworld.

Spacedone

Although it's nowhere near as good as Das Boot, if you really want to see a film which shows how the destroyers combated the u-boat wolfpacks as they escorted the merchant vessels across the Atlantic, the Tom Hanks film 'Greyhound' is a decent watch that shows you the tactics and technology they'd use to try and depth charge the enemy u-boats.

Torstein Skurve

I would like to nominate "greyhound" as a good follow-up to this. Great Tom Hanks movie!

Cincassette

A small detail that stood out to me is that Thomsen shouts “Heil und Sieg und fette Beute”, as a farewell… it’s a martial twist on the phrase “Petri Heil und fette Beute”, meaning “Bless Saint Peter, and a big catch”, which is used by fishermen to wish each other good luck fishing. I interpret this as a somewhat dark reference to the life that could have been lived without the war, possibly as fishermen out on the sea, instead of as soldiers aboard a U-boat.

Tenn Seven

This movie is in my top 5 of all time, and definitely the best submarine movie ever made.

Tenn Seven

You don't have to "be directly above the boat" for depth charges to be effective. Water does not compress very much, so explosions, sonar pings, and whatnot affect objects very far away from the source.

WayneC

Size comparison between German, American and Japenese WW2 submarines and the Soviet Akula (Typhoon) class. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/WW2_submarines_comparison.svg The submarine "Red October" in the movie was classified as "Typhoon 7", and was said to be larger than the standard Typhoon. The submarine in Das Boot was a Type VII submarine. The Type VII was 67.1m long, 6.2m wide, 4.74m draft (overall height of 9.6m) and had a surface displacement of 769 tonnes. The standard Typhoon class sub was 175m long, 23m wide, 12m draft and had a surface displacment of 23,200 tonnes. The American submarine portrayed in "The Hunt for the Red October" was the USS Dallas. It was 110.3m long, 10m wide, 9.4 draft and had a displacement of 6,900 tonnes. Draft is the height of the boat below the water line when surfaced. The Typhoon's draft was bigger than the the Type VII's overall height, and the Dallas's was almost the same. The Type VII had a crew of 44-52 officers and enlisted, the Tyhoon 160, and the Dallas 127.

Rupert Purcat

I have always struggled to empathise with the crew in this brilliant movie since German U-boats targeted the merchant navy more than military navy. Many injured soldiers and nurses were sunk in unarmed medical (red cross) boats returning to commonwealth countries. Still a very tough life and brilliantly made movie. Submarine movies create great tension and are real battles of the mind. I would like to repost some great suggestions by Skyruff. We Dive at Dawn (1943) great period sub movie The Wolfs Call (2019) great French sub movie K-19: the windowmaker (2002) based on real events U-571 (2000) based loosely on real events (except the poms done it, not the yanks) Down Periscope (1996) comedy absolute classic - Simone will enjoy Crimson Tide (1995) loosely based on real events that occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis Run Silent Run Deep (1958) based loosely on real events Kursk 2018 based on true story Hunter Killer (2018) Fun action Two from an above surface perspective The Enemy Below (1957) Based on a fictional novel. The novel was inspired by the author's experiences during World War II Greyhound (2020)

Thomas88
>>167324819

Fellow german here, but i will respond in english... first, they didnt use a stady cam for this. The camera man invented the hand hold movie camera for this movie. Also the much smaller (mostly used today) rotary camera was invented for this movie, to fit them into the set. Also, because both of these prototype cameras had been so loud, even the german version had been dubbed completly.

Thomas88
>>167268426

You dont have to put it in qoutes... the author Lothar Günter Buchheim (in the movie Lt. Werner) wrote the book, based on two Patrols that he did with Lt.Cmdr. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (the Captain). Lehmann-Willenrock was also the technical adviser for this movie and was present on the set.

Thomas88
>>167254808

They do, but this is a true story. So, in this case its what happened.

Thomas88
>>167228376

Corretion, they did not film on U995. They used her as blueprint and took photos to make this accurate, they also rebuilt the engines of U995. A lizzle fact, U995 in Laboe Germany is the last of the Type VII submarines.

Thomas88

I dont know if anyone told you yet, but since you both cheered so much for the chief and his work, i will tell you anyway. The chief of U96 was called Friedrich Grade. He lived a long and happy life and died on October 13th, 2023. He was 107 years old. He was the last crewmember of U96 alive and also the last living naval officer of WWII. U 96 also survived, yes she was demaged by the attacke in the end but not sunk. She served until the last day of the war. Today, she (most likley) rests as part of the "great Wilhelmshaven damm"