''Das Boot'' is a German television series produced by Bavaria Fiction for
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
and a sequel to ''
Das Boot
''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as ...
'' (1981). Based on
Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Lothar-Günther Buchheim () (February 6, 1918 – February 22, 2007) was a German author, painter, and wartime journalist under the Nazi regime. In World War II he served as a war correspondent aboard ships and U-boats. He is best known for ...
's 1973 book of the same name with additions from his 1995 sequel, ''Die Festung'', the series continues the anti-war narrative at sea in the
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...
on board various U-boats, and on land, in France and other locations in Europe associated with the resistance to German occupation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, as well as America.
Plot
The series picks up in late 1942, nine months after the events of
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
. In season one, the narrative is split into two strands: one at sea, on board ', and the other, on land, in
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
, France, with the
French resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. The sea-land dual storyline continues in subsequent seasons, providing multiple points of view towards World War II. The second season takes place in 1943, following captain von Reinhartz of ''U-822'' as he attempts to defect to America, while deposed captain Hoffmann of ''U-612'' attempts to return to Germany. In season three, war continues to exert its forces on Europe in unexpected territories, namely neutral Portugal, and Kiel, Germany, home of the U-boats; while at sea, Royal Navy Commander Swinburne relentlessly pursues ''U-949'' towards the Southern Hemisphere.
Cast and characters
Seasons 1–3
Season 4
Episodes
Season 1 (2018)
Season 2 (2020)
Season 3 (2022)
Production
Conception and development
In June 2015, it was announced that a television series adaptation of
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film ''Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include ''The Ne ...
's 1981 film, ''Das Boot'', would be made. In July 2016, it was further announced that the series would be in eight parts, to be directed by
Andreas Prochaska
Andreas Prochaska (born 31 December 1964) is an Austrian film director and editor. He directed the 2014 film ''The Dark Valley'', the 2017 miniseries Maximilian and Marie of Bourgogne, and the 2018 series ''Das Boot'', among others. He has contr ...
Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...
and
Sonar Entertainment
Halcyon Studios, LLC., formerly known as Sonar Entertainment, RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, Qintex Entertainment, HRI Group and Robert Halmi Inc., is an American entertainment company specializing in the production and distribution ...
. The new story would be based on
Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Lothar-Günther Buchheim () (February 6, 1918 – February 22, 2007) was a German author, painter, and wartime journalist under the Nazi regime. In World War II he served as a war correspondent aboard ships and U-boats. He is best known for ...
's books, ''Das Boot'' (1973) and ''Die Festung'' (1995), about submarine warfare in World War II.
The director of season one, Andreas Prochaska, explained that it was important for the series to maintain the anti-war stance and "explore the perennial theme of what war does to people", but it would not be possible to sustain "the original film's relentless focus on a submarine crew ... over an eight-part TV series". Therefore, the decision by the creators and co-writers, Tony Saint and Johannes W. Betz, to set the series in late 1942, "after the Allies have cracked the German military's Enigma code and can track the movement of their submarine fleets", enabled a foretelling of the impacts of these events, not only upon the U-boat crews but also their loved ones and others connected to them.
Casting
The cast for season one, announced in September 2017, included
Vicky Krieps
Vicky Krieps (born 4 October 1983) is a Luxembourgish-German actress. She has appeared in a number of American, Luxembourgish, French and German productions. Krieps' breakthrough role was in Paul Thomas Anderson's Academy Award-winning film ''Pha ...
,
Tom Wlaschiha
Thomas Wlaschiha (born 20 June 1973) is a German actor. Internationally, he is known for his roles as Jaqen H'ghar in the second, fifth and sixth seasons of the TV series '' Game of Thrones'', as well as Sebastian Berger in the TV series ''Cr ...
,
Vincent Kartheiser
Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...
,
James D'Arcy
James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and the ...
and
Thierry Frémont
Thierry Frémont (born 24 July 1962) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1984. He starred in the 1991 film ''Fortune Express'', which was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.
...
,
Lizzy Caplan
Elizabeth Anne Caplan (born June 30, 1982) is an American actress. Her first acting role was on the television series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000). She received wider recognition with roles in the films ''Mean Girls'' (2004) and ''Cloverfi ...
,
Rick Okon
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
,
August Wittgenstein
, image = Sayn Wittgenstein Wappen WWB 261.jpg
, image_size =200px
, caption =
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
, father = Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittge ...
,
Rainer Bock
Rainer may refer to:
People
* Rainer (surname)
* Rainer (given name)
Other
* Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia
* 16802 Rainer, an asteroid
* Rainer Foundation, British charitable organisation
See also
* Rainier (disambiguation ...
Robert Stadlober
Robert Stadlober (born 3 August 1982) is an Austrian actor and musician. His sister is Anja Stadlober, also an actress.
Life and career
Robert Stadlober was born on 3 August 1982 in Friesach in the Austrian province of Carinthia, and grew up in ...
Stefan Konarske
Stefan Konarske (born in Stade, Germany on 28 February 1980) is a German film, television and stage actor.
Biography
Konarske studied in Paris before returning to Germany where he had his start as a young actor in a private Hamburg theatre compa ...
.
In season two,
Clemens Schick
Clemens Schick (born 15 February 1972) is a German actor, model, political activist and human rights advocate.
He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1998, including leading roles in both German and international productions. He has ap ...
,
Thomas Kretschmann
Thomas Kretschmann (; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. His notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in '' Stalingrad'' (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in '' The Pianist'' ( ...
,
Michael McElhatton
Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. He joined the series as a guest star in the second season, and continued t ...
,
Ulrich Matthes
Ulrich Matthes (born 9 May 1959) is a German actor, possibly best-known for having played Joseph Goebbels in the 2004 film '' Downfall''.
Life and work
Matthes was born in West Berlin and educated at the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Klost ...
and Rochelle Neil joined the cast.
The new cast in season three included
Ray Stevenson
George Raymond Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He is known for playing Dagonet in the film ''King Arthur'' (2004) and Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). He has portrayed two Marv ...
Elisa Schlott
Elisa Johanna Lucie Schlott (born 7 February 1994 in Berlin) is a German actress. Her younger half-sisters are the actresses Emilia Pieske and Helena Pieske.
Life
Schlott starred in her first television productions as a teenager alongside U ...
,
Anna Schudt
Anna Schudt (born 23 March 1974) is a German Emmy-winning actress. She is internationally best known for playing comedian Gaby Köster in the television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/mov ...
,
Joana Ribeiro
Joana Isabel de Alvim Rodrigo Pereira Ribeiro (born 25 March 1992 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese actress.
Biography
Joana Ribeiro was born on 25 March 1992 in Lisbon, Portugal to an engineer father and veterinarian mother. She studied first at the ...
,
Florian Panzner
Florian Panzner (born 20 July 1976) is a German actor who has been active since 1999.
Life and career
Panzner studied at the University of Film and Television Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 2000, he played the role of Truffaldino in the comedy ''The S ...
,
Artjom Gilz Artjoms is a Latvian version of the common East European male given name Artyom (russian: Артём) or Artem ( uk, Арте́м, Artém), or Estonian Artjom
The name Artjoms became popular since 1985 and extremely popular among newborn boys si ...
,
Jo Hartley
Joanne Victoria Hartley (born 12 March 1972) is an English actress born in Oldham, Lancashire who has appeared in the films ''The Young Victoria'', ''Eddie the Eagle'', ''Slaughterhouse Rulez'' and '' Torvill & Dean'' and in British television ...
,
Fritzi Haberlandt
Fritzi Haberlandt (born 6 June 1975, in East Berlin) is a German actress. She studied theatre at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. Early in her career, she played the role of Lucile Duplessis in '' Danton's Death'', with the Berliner En ...
,
Johann von Bülow
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
Franz Hartwig
Franz Hartwig (born 1986) is a German actor.
Life
He was born in Dresden.He lives in Berlin.
Selected filmography
* 2019: ''Der Pass'' (TV series) as Gregor Ansbach
* 2021: ' (TV film) as Georg Kelz
References
External links
*
* ...
, and
Ernst Stötzner
Ernst Stötzner (born 1952) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1983.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1952 births
Living people
German male film actors
{{Germany-actor-stub ...
who replaced Ulrich Matthes as Wilhelm Hoffmann.
Jürgen Prochnow
Jürgen Prochnow ( ; born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''.
He is also known f ...
, who starred as U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the original film, was offered a role in the third season but turned it down.
Joining the cast season four are Sascha Geršak,
Steffan Rhodri
Steffan Rhodri (born 1 March 1967) is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on ''Gavin & Stacey'', Reg Cattermole in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' and as the voice of Drippy in '' Ni no Kuni: Wrath of ...
,
Marco Leonardi
Marco Leonardi (born 14 November 1971) is an Italian actor.
Leonardi was born in Australia to Italian parents. He moved to Italy at the age of four and at 17 starred in the acclaimed Italian film '' Cinema Paradiso'' (1988). He later starred i ...
Rosalie Thomass
Rosalie Thomass (born 14 August 1987 in Munich) is a German actress. She has appeared in several television shows and films.
Filmography
* 2007: '
* 2008: '
* 2011: '
* 2012: ' (TV film)
* 2012: ' (TV film)
* 2014: ' (TV film)
* 2015: '
* 20 ...
, who replaces Luise Wolfram as Hannie Hoffmann Lessing.
Cinematography
From 2020, the series is filmed in
8K resolution
8K resolution refers to an image or display resolution with a width of approximately 8,000 pixels. 8K UHD () is the highest resolution defined in the Rec. 2020 (UHDTV) standard.
8K display resolution is the successor to 4K resolution. TV manuf ...
. Cinematographer Armin Franzen explains that an advantage of the larger 8K format is not having to use wide camera lenses such as the 21mm when shooting inside the small enclosed interiors of the submarine sets. By using longer focal lengths, such as the 29mm, 35mm and 50mm, the subjects are brought closer to the camera, thus allowing the audience to "be closer to the characters' emotions" as the tragedies of war mount.
Filming and locations
Filming for season one started on 31 August 2017 and finished after 105 days on 20 February 2018. The budget was 33 million euro (USD 39 million). In December 2018, plans for a second season were announced.
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, Germany (
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
), France (La Rochelle) and Czech Republic (
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
) were chosen for the location shooting.
Filming for season two began in April and completed in July 2019, taking place again again in Malta, Prague and La Rochelle, and a new location,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. In England, specifically,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
were used for the scenes set in New York. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and it was no longer possible for the production team to travel to the Prague studios, some of the post-production work, such as visual effects and sound mixing, were completed by the
remote work
Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
arrangement.
In season three, Prague was the location for the exterior scenes set in Kiel and Liverpool, while Malta was used for the interiors of Lisbon and Liverpool.
For the fourth season, filming of the six episodes began in June 2022 and wrapped in September 2022. The locations for season four included Kalkara, Marsa and Kordin in Malta.
Languages
With dialogue in German, French, English, Portuguese and Italian, the series features characters (e.g., Simone and Frank Strasser) who not only speak in multiple languages but also embody different language identities. German and British writers, Johannes W. Betz, Tony Saint, Colin Teevan and Judith Angerbauer, among others, collaborate to ensure that the nuances of the languages are appropriately translated and deployed.
Music
For the opening theme, composer
Matthias Weber Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew.
People
Notable people named Matthias include the following:
In religion:
* Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot
* ...
added to composer
Klaus Doldinger
Klaus Doldinger (born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards.
Life and work
Doldinger was born in Berlin, Germany, and entered a Düsse ...
's anthem for the 1981 film "a simple piano" melody and "an underlying bass pulse". Working with director Andreas Prochaska in season one, their goal was to find a balance between the emotional and the abstract in order to express "a sense of loneliness" as well as "vast space". For the remainder of the score, Weber also wanted to achieve a contemporary feel in a similar way to Doldinger by employing only the sounds of the Haken Continuum without accompaniment and adding drone-like rhythms. After previewing the first episode of the series in 2018, Doldinger commented: "it was fascinating to see how the world of ''Das Boot'' is brought to life together with the play of images and Matthias Weber's interpretation of the main motif. I'm happy to be back on board ''Das Boot'' and compliments to Matthias Weber". The score for season one was nominated for the 2019 German Television Award for ''Best Music'', and the score for season three won the 2022
Hollywood Music in Media Awards
The Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special pr ...
for ''Score - TV Show/Limited Series (Foreign Language)''.
Picture format and sound
''Das Boot'' is produced in 8K resolution and Dolby Atmos three-dimensional audio technology.
Submarines, replicas and emblems
Like '' U-96'', the featured submarine of the 1981 film, the U-boats in the series are also of the Type VIIC. The submarine used in filming the series was the non-diving replica built in Malta as the 'modified' ''S-33'' for the film '' U-571'', also shot in Malta. Footage, sets and models from that movie have been reused for other productions, including ''Submerged'', depicting the loss of , and the fictional HMS ''Scorpion'' in ''
Ghostboat
''Ghostboat'' is a 2006 British television film, based on a novel by George E. Simpson and Neal R. Burger. The film features David Jason as its star. It is a fantasy tale of His Majesty's Submarine ''Scorpion'' vanishing during the Second Worl ...
''. The replica is still afloat, moored at Cassar ship repair yard, Marsa, in the inner part of the
Grand Harbour
The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks (Malta Dockyard), wharves, and ...
. A special rig was built for the production by a Maltese armoury team, that allowed the submarine's anti-aircraft gun to both fire and recoil, which had not been done before with a blank-firing gun.
The submarine set is designed by production designer Nick Palmer and is constructed in
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.
Several major Hollywood productions have been made here, including '' Mission Impossible'', ' ...
in Prague, Czech Republic. It is 45 metres long, 5 metres wide, filling up an area of 235 square metres, and able to simulate the motion of a submarine in water.
Like the iconic laughing swordfish ''(Der lachende Schwertfisch)'' emblem that adorned ''U-96'' in the 1981 film, each featured U-boat in the series also bears an emblem on either side of the conning tower which represents, at times incongruously, the characters of the boat's captain and its crew. The emblem for Wrangel's ''U-113'' is a skeleton; Hoffmann's ''U-612'', a scorpion; Reinhartz's ''U-822'', a falcon; Buchner's ''U-949'', a sewer rat; and the boat scuttled by Swinburne, a fox.
Tropes
The
trope
Trope or tropes may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept
* Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device
* Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
of the ''hunter becomes the hunted'', a plot device that was used in the 1981 film, continues to be developed in the series. Other
nautical fiction
Nautical fiction, frequently also naval fiction, sea fiction, naval adventure fiction or maritime fiction, is a genre of literature with a setting on or near the sea, that focuses on the human relationship to the sea and sea voyages and highligh ...
and non-fiction tropes include:
mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...
,
sailors' superstitions
Sailors' superstitions are superstitions particular to sailors or mariners, and which traditionally have been common around the world. Some of these beliefs are popular superstitions, while others are actually better described as traditions, stori ...
, Ahab-like obsessions, and the ones that are on film critic Anne Billson's list for the submarine screen genre, namely "claustrophobia, fire and flood, creaking hulls, dwindling oxygen, an unstable crew member, ... periscope POV, playing possum, depth charges, silent running", and frantic calls of "Alarm!"
Release
Broadcast
The series premiered on 23 November 2018 on
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
in Germany. The broadcast rights were sold to more than 100 countries before the series premiered. Outside Germany, it was broadcast on
Sky Atlantic
Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...
in the United Kingdom in February 2019,
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
in the United States in June 2019, SBS in Australia, and
TVNZ
, type = Crown entity
, industry = Broadcast television
, num_locations = New Zealand
, location = Auckland, New Zealand
, area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...
in New Zealand. Season three was originally scheduled to screen in Europe on 9 April 2022 but was deferred until 14 May 2022 out of consideration for the
conflict in Ukraine
The following is a list of major conflicts fought by Ukraine, by Ukrainian people or by regular armies during periods when independent states existed on the modern territory of Ukraine, from the Kyivan Rus' times to the present day. It also ...
.
Marketing
According to Samsung, in 2020, "the series was the first native 8K produced TV series ...
o be
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
launched exclusively in 8K on Samsung TV Plus in Germany". In 2022, streaming for season three was available on Samsung QLED 8K SmartTVs via
Sky Q
Sky Q is a subscription-based television and entertainment service operated by British satellite television provider Sky, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany, Ireland, Italy and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q set-t ...
in Germany.
Reception
Viewership
For season one, it was reported in Europe that there were 1.44 million viewers on Sky Deutschland during the first month of screening, between 23 November to 16 December 2018, and an additional 2.8 million viewers on non-linear distribution platforms. Outside Europe, one source in the United States reported 1.13 million linear viewers and 1.89 million on-demand viewers.
Critical response
On the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series holds a "certified fresh" approval rating of 85% based on 34 reviews. The critics' consensus reads: "Das Boot possesses the atmospheric pressure of its cinematic forebear while adding new depth to its compelling ensemble, making for a riveting international production".
The reviews for season one from Germany were mixed. German historian, Sven Felix Kellerhoff, criticised the plot around the industrial family Greenwood and their financial ties with Nazi Germany as potentially relativising German guilt. Kathleen Hildebrandt from ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat.
History ...
'' found the portrayal of the women to be rather clichéd, and the series could have been more relevant if it had not cared so much about getting good audience numbers. Thomas Klein from ''
Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' noted that there were "no Nazis in ''Das Boot'', no 'Heil Hitler', no staunch party members", and the series was more about the commercialisation of a famous brand.
Irish writer Colin Teevan, who became the lead writer of season two, found that "critics everywhere love the show, except in Germany" because, in Germany, the critics considered to be unacceptable the perspective that "Germany is not totally and wholly responsible, wrong and guilty".
Outside Germany, the reviews were more favourable. Some critics found season one to be "clever and utterly thrilling", season two, innovative in taking the WWII film and television genre to "somewhere new", and season three, sensitive to the grief that was experienced on both sides of the war. According to Adam Sweeting of '' i'' ewspaper ''Das Boot'' stands apart from its predecessor by going beyond inducing the feeling of claustrophobia inside a submarine and offers instead a "satellite-vision scope". In season two, in particular, this perspective shows how the protagonists, von Reinhartz, Simone and Frank Strasser, and Margot Bostal, react to the pains of war and make compromises which they know to be "soul-destroying" in order to survive and stand up to the Nazis.