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''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German
war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
written and directed by
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 ...
, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring
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 ...
,
Herbert Grönemeyer Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pet ...
, and
Klaus Wennemann Klaus Wennemann (18 December 1940 – 7 January 2000) was a German television and film actor. Wenneman was born in Oer-Erkenschwick, North Rhine-Westphalia. He is perhaps best known for his leading roles as the Chief Engineer, (the LI), in ''D ...
. It has been exhibited both as a theatrical release and a TV
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...
(1985). There are also several different
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versions as well as a
director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...
supervised by Petersen in 1997. An
adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
of
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 h ...
's 1973 German novel of the same name based on his experiences aboard , the film is set 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and follows ''U-96'' and its crew, as they set out on a hazardous patrol 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 Allies of World War II, ...
. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard
U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...
as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country. Development began in 1979. Several American directors were considered three years earlier before the film was shelved. During production, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, the captain of the real ''U-96'' during Buchheim's 1941 patrol and one of Germany's top U-boat "tonnage aces" during the war, and Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on , served as consultants. One of Petersen's goals was to guide the audience through "a journey to the edge of the mind" (the film's German tagline ), showing "what war is all about". Produced with a budget of DM 32 million (about $18.5 million, equivalent to
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million ), the film's high production cost ranks it among the most expensive films in German cinema, but the film was a commercial success and grossed $84.9 million worldwide (equivalent to $220 million in 2020).
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
released both a German version and an English-dubbed version in the United States theatrically through their Triumph classics label, earning $11 million. The film received highly positive reviews and was nominated for six
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, two of these nominations (for Best Director and
Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...
) went to Petersen himself; he was also nominated for a
BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
and DGA Award.


Plot

Lieutenant Werner is a war correspondent on the in October 1941. He is driven by its captain and chief engineer to a raucous French bordello where he meets some of the crew. Thomsen, another captain, gives a crude drunken speech to celebrate his ''Ritterkreuz'' award, in which he mocks
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
. The next morning, ''U-96'' sails out of the
harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...
of
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. Wi ...
and 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 mocked by the rest of the crew, who share a tight bond. One Nazi officer, ''1-WO'' (the 1st atchofficer), is disliked by the others. After days of boredom, the crew is excited by another U-boat's spotting of an enemy convoy, but they are soon spotted by a British
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...
and bombarded with
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...
s. They escape with only light damage. The next three weeks are spent enduring a relentless North Atlantic gale. 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 A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
and quickly launches three torpedoes, sinking two ships. They are spotted by a destroyer and have to dive below test depth, the submarine's rated limit. During the ensuing depth-charge attack, the chief machinist, Johann, panics and has to be restrained. The boat sustains heavy damage, but is eventually able to safely surface when night falls. A British tanker they torpedoed is still afloat and on fire, so they torpedo it again, only to learn there are still sailors aboard. The crew watch in horror as the sailors leap overboard and swim towards them. Unable to accommodate prisoners, the captain orders the boat away. The worn-out U-boat crew looks forward to returning home to La Rochelle in time for
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
, but the ship is ordered to
La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest cit ...
, Italy, which means passing through the
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
—an area heavily defended by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
. The U-boat makes a secret night rendezvous at the harbour of
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
, in neutral although Axis-friendly Spain, with the SS ''Weser'', an interned German
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
that clandestinely provides U-boats with fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies. The filthy officers seem out of place at the opulent dinner prepared for them, but are warmly greeted by enthusiastic officers eager to hear their exploits. The captain learns from an envoy of the German consulate that his request for Werner and the Chief Engineer to be sent back to Germany has been denied. The crew finishes resupplying and departs for Italy. As they carefully approach the Strait of Gibraltar and are just about to dive, they are suddenly attacked and heavily damaged by a British fighter plane, wounding the navigator, Kriechbaum. The captain orders the boat directly south towards the North African coast at full speed, determined to save his crew even if he loses the boat. British warships begin shelling and they are forced to dive. When attempting to level off, the boat does not respond and continues to sink until, just before being crushed by the pressure, it lands on a sea shelf, at the depth of 280 metres. The crew works desperately to make numerous repairs before running out of oxygen. After over 16 hours, they are able to surface by blowing their
ballast tank A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to correct trim or list ...
s, and limp back towards La Rochelle under cover of darkness. The crew is exhausted when they finally reach La Rochelle on Christmas Eve. Shortly after Kriechbaum is taken ashore to a waiting ambulance, Allied planes bomb and strafe the facilities, wounding or killing many of the crew. Ullmann, Johann, the 2nd Watch Officer, and the are killed. Frenssen, Lamprecht, and Hinrich are wounded. After the raid, Werner leaves the U-boat bunker in which he had taken shelter and finds the captain, badly injured by shrapnel, watching his U-boat sink in the dock. Just after the boat disappears under the water, the captain collapses and dies. Werner rushes to his body, and surveys the grim scene with tears in his eyes.


Cast

*
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 ...
as (abbr. "", ) and also called "" ("The Old Man") by his crew: A 30-year-old battle-hardened but good-hearted and sympathetic sea veteran, who complains to Werner that most of his crew are boys. He is openly anti-Nazi, and embittered and cynical about the war, being openly critical about how the war is being handled. *
Herbert Grönemeyer Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pet ...
as (Ensign) Werner, War Correspondent: Naive but honest, he has been sent out to sea with the crew to gather photographs of them in action and report on the voyage. Werner is mocked for his lack of experience, and soon learns the true horrors of service on a U-boat. *
Klaus Wennemann Klaus Wennemann (18 December 1940 – 7 January 2000) was a German television and film actor. Wenneman was born in Oer-Erkenschwick, North Rhine-Westphalia. He is perhaps best known for his leading roles as the Chief Engineer, (the LI), in ''D ...
as Chief Engineer ( or LI, Rank: ): A quiet and well-respected man. At age 27, the oldest crew member besides the Captain. Tormented by the uncertain fate of his wife, especially after hearing about an Allied air raid on
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. The second most important crewman, as he oversees diving operations and makes sure the systems are running correctly. * Hubertus Bengsch as 1st Watch Officer (I. WO, Rank: ): A young, by-the-book officer, an ardent
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
and a staunch believer in the . He has a condescending attitude and is the only crewman who makes the effort to maintain his proper uniform and trim appearance while all the others grow their beards in the traditional U-Bootwaffe fashion. He was raised in some wealth in Mexico by his stepparents who owned a plantation. His German fiancée died in a British air raid. He spends his days writing his thoughts on military training and leadership for the High Command. When the boat is trapped underwater near Gibraltar, he becomes pessimistic and begins to let go of his adherence to Nazi ideas as he finally stops shaving every day and wearing his proper uniform all the time. *
Martin Semmelrogge Martin Semmelrogge (born 8 December 1955) is a German actor, best known for his role as the comical Second Watch Officer in the film '' Das Boot''. His character was based on the real life World War II submarine officer Werner Herrmann. Semme ...
as 2nd Watch Officer (II. WO, Rank: ): A vulgar, comedic officer. He is short, red-haired and speaks with a mild
Berlin dialect Berlin German, or Berlin dialect (High German: ''Berliner Dialekt'', ''Berliner Mundart'', ''Berlinerisch'' or ''Berlinisch''; derogative: ''Berliner Schnauze'', ), is the dialect spoken in the city of Berlin as well as its surrounding metro ...
. One of his duties is to decode messages from base, using the Enigma code machine. *
Bernd Tauber Bernd Tauber (born 7 May 1950, Göppingen, West Germany) is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Navigator Kriechbaum in the 1981 film ''Das Boot''. In the mid-1980s, Tauber appeared on the TV show ''Lindenstraße'' as Benno Zimmerm ...
as ("Chief Helmsman") Kriechbaum: The navigator and 3rd Watch Officer (III. WO). Always slightly skeptical of the Captain and without enthusiasm during the voyage, he shows no anger when a convoy is too far away to be attacked. Kriechbaum has four sons, with another on the way. * Erwin Leder as ("Chief Mechanic") Johann, also called "" ("The Ghost"): He is obsessed with a near-fetish love for ''U-96''s engines. Johann suffers a temporary mental breakdown during an attack by two destroyers. He is able to redeem himself by valiantly working to stop water leaks when the boat is trapped underwater near Gibraltar. Speaks a lower Austrian dialect. * Martin May as (Senior Cadet) Ullmann: A young officer candidate who has a pregnant
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
fiancée (which is considered treason by the French partisans) and worries about her safety. He is one of the few crew members with whom Werner is able to connect; Werner offers to deliver Ullmann's stack of love letters when Werner is ordered to leave the submarine. *
Heinz Hoenig Heinz Hoenig (born 24 September 1951) is a German actor who participated in over 100 feature films and TV productions. Filmography Accolades * 1982: category ''Nachwuchspreis'' * 1992: Telestar for ''Die Angst wird bleiben'' * 1993: Deuts ...
as (Petty Officer) Hinrich: The radioman, sonar controller and ship's
combat medic A combat medic, or healthcare specialist, is responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injur ...
. He gauges speed and direction of targets and enemy destroyers. Hinrich is one of the few crewmen that the Captain is able to relate to. * Uwe Ochsenknecht as ("Boatswain") Lamprecht: The severe chief petty officer who shows Werner around ''U-96'', and supervises the firing and reloading of the torpedo tubes. He gets upset after hearing on the radio that the football team most of the crew supports (
FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...
) are losing a match, and they will "never make the final now". * Claude-Oliver Rudolph as Ario: The burly mechanic who tells everyone that Dufte is marrying an ugly woman, and throws pictures around of Dufte's fiancée in order to laugh at them both. *
Jan Fedder Jan Fedder (; 14 January 1955 – 30 December 2019) was a German actor, born in Hamburg. He was best known for his role as police officer Dirk Matthies in the German television show ''Großstadtrevier''. He was also known for his role as the cr ...
as (Petty Officer) Pilgrim: Another sailor (watch officer and diving planes operator), gets almost swept off the submarine during a storm – a genuine accident during filming in which Fedder broke several ribs and was hospitalised for a while. * Ralf Richter as (Petty Officer) Frenssen: Pilgrim's best friend. Pilgrim and Frenssen love to trade dirty jokes and stories. * Joachim Bernhard as ("Bible scholar", also the contemporary German term for a member of
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
): A very young religious sailor who is constantly reading the Bible. He is punched by Frenssen when the submarine is trapped at the bottom of the
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
for praying rather than repairing the boat. * Oliver Stritzel as Schwalle: A tall and well-built blond torpedoman. * Jean-Claude Hoffmann as Benjamin: A red haired sailor who serves as a diving plane operator. * Lutz Schnell as Dufte: The sailor who gets jeered at because of his upcoming marriage, and for a possible false airplane sighting. *
Konrad Becker Konrad Becker (born January 9, 1959 in Vienna) is an artist, hypermedia researcher, and interdisciplinary content developer, director of the Institute for New Culture Technologies-t0 and initiator of Public Netbase and World-Information.Org. Mus ...
as Böckstiegel: the
Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * ...
sailor who is first visited by Hinrich for crab lice. * Otto Sander as Philipp Thomsen: An alcoholic and shell-shocked U-boat commander, who is a member of "The Old Gang". When he is introduced, he is extremely drunk and briefly mocks Hitler on the stage of the French bordello. (In the "Director's Cut" DVD
audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
, Petersen says that Sander was really drunk while they were shooting the scene.) Sometime after ''U-96'' departs, Thomsen is deployed once again and the two submarines meet randomly in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
being put off course by the storm. This upsets the Captain because it means that there is now a gap in the blockade chain. After failing to make contact later, it becomes apparent that Thomsen's boat is missing. When ''U-96'' intercepts the convoy and sees they are without escorts, the Captain makes the observation that they must be away chasing down another boat; this boat is probably Thomsen's. * Günter Lamprecht as the Captain of the ''Weser'': An enthusiastic officer aboard the resupply ship ''Weser''. He mistakes the 1st Watch Officer for the Captain as they enter the ship's elegant dining room. An ardent Nazi, he complains about the frustration of not being able to fight, but boasts about the food that has been prepared for the crew and the ship's "specialities". * Sky du Mont as an officer aboard the ''Weser'' (uncredited).


Production

In late 1941, war correspondent
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 h ...
joined for her 7th patrol, during 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 Allies of World War II, ...
. His orders were to photograph and describe the U-boat in action. In 1973, Buchheim published a novel based on his wartime experiences, (The Boat), a fictionalised autobiographical account narrated by a "Leutnant Werner". It became the best-selling German fiction work on the war. The followup sequel by Buchheim was released in 1995. Production for this film originally began in 1976. Several American directors were considered, and the () was to be played by
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cec ...
. Disagreements sprang up among various parties and the project was shelved. Another Hollywood production was attempted with other American directors in mind, this time with the to be portrayed by
Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
. This effort primarily failed due to technical concerns, for example, how to film the close encounter of the two German submarines at sea during a storm. Production of ''Das Boot'' took two years (1979–1981) and was the most expensive German film at the time. Most of the filming was done in one year; to make the appearance of the actors as realistic as possible, scenes were filmed in sequence over the course of the year. This ensured natural growth of beards and hair, increasing skin pallor, and signs of strain on the actors, who had, just like real U-boat men, spent many months in a cramped, unhealthy atmosphere. The production included the construction of several models of different sizes, as well as a complete, detailed reconstruction of the interior of the , a Type VIIC-class U-boat. Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on ''U-219'', served as a consultant, as did Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, the captain of the real ''U-96''. The film features both Standard German-speakers and
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
speakers. Petersen states in the DVD audio commentary that young men from throughout Germany and Austria were recruited for the film, as he wanted faces and dialects that would accurately reflect the diversity of the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
around 1941. All of the main actors are bilingual in German and English, and when the film was dubbed into English, each actor recorded his own part (with the exception of Martin Semmelrogge, who only dubbed his own role in the Director's Cut). The German version is dubbed as well, as the film was shot "silent", because the dialogue spoken on-set would have been drowned out by the
gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rot ...
s in the special camera developed for filming. Unusually, the film's German version actually grossed much higher than the English-dubbed version at the United States box office.


Sets and models

Several different sets were used. Two full-size mock-ups of a Type VIIC boat were built, one representing the portion above water for use in outdoor scenes, and the other a cylindrical tube on a motion mount (hydraulic gimbal) for the interior scenes. The mock-ups were built according to U-boat plans from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
's Museum of Science and Industry. The outdoor mock-up was basically a shell propelled with a small engine, and stationed in La Rochelle, France, and has a history of its own. One morning the production crew walked out to where they kept it afloat and found it missing. Someone had forgotten to inform the crew that an American filmmaker had rented the mock-up for his own film shooting in the area. This filmmaker was
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
and the film he was shooting was ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ro ...
''. A few weeks later, during production, the mock-up cracked in a storm and sank, was recovered and patched to stand in for the final scenes. The full-sized mock-up was used during the Gibraltar surface scenes; the attacking aircraft (played by a
North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...
/ Harvard) and rockets were real while the British ships were models. A mock-up of a conning tower was placed in a water tank at the
Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the F ...
in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
for outdoor scenes not requiring a full view of the boat's exterior. When filming on the outdoor mockup or the conning tower, jets of cold water were hosed over the actors to simulate the breaking ocean waves. A half-sized full hull operating model was used for underwater shots and some surface running shots, in particular the meeting in stormy seas with another U-boat. The tank was also used for the shots of British sailors jumping from their ship; a small portion of the tanker hull was constructed for these shots. During the filming there was a scene where actor
Jan Fedder Jan Fedder (; 14 January 1955 – 30 December 2019) was a German actor, born in Hamburg. He was best known for his role as police officer Dirk Matthies in the German television show ''Großstadtrevier''. He was also known for his role as the cr ...
(Pilgrim) fell off the bridge while the U-boat was surfaced. During the played rescue, Bernd Tauber (Chief Helmsmann Kriechbaum) really broke two ribs. This event is often purported as Jan Fedder breaking the ribs. File:Bavaria Filmstudio Das Boot 1.jpg File:Bavaria Filmstudio Das Boot 4.jpg File:Bavaria Filmstudio Das Boot 5.jpg File:Bavaria Filmstudio Das Boot 6.jpg The interior U-boat mock-up was mounted five metres off the floor and was shaken, rocked, and tilted up to 45 degrees by means of a hydraulic apparatus, and was vigorously shaken to simulate depth charge attacks. Petersen was admittedly obsessive about the structural detail of the U-boat set, remarking that "every screw" in the set was an authentic facsimile of the kind used in a
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
U-boat. In this he was considerably assisted by the numerous photographs
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 h ...
had taken during his own voyage on the historical ''U-96'', some of which had been published in his 1976 book, ("U-Boat War"). Throughout the filming, the actors were forbidden to go out in sunlight, to create the pallor of men who seldom saw the sun during their missions. The actors went through intensive training to learn how to move quickly through the narrow confines of the vessel.


Special camera

Most of the interior shots were filmed using a hand-held
Arriflex The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
of cinematographer
Jost Vacano Jost Vacano, BVK (born 15 March 1934) is a German retired cinematographer. His work included ''Das Boot'', and he also worked together with director Paul Verhoeven on seven films, including ''RoboCop'' and '' Total Recall''. He was also the cin ...
's design to convey the claustrophobic atmosphere of the boat. It had two gyroscopes to provide stability, a different and smaller scale solution than the
Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
, so that it could be carried throughout the interior of the mock-up.


Historical accuracy

Wolfgang Petersen created the film based on Buchheim's novel of the same name with several alterations to the plot and characters. As a in the autumn of 1941, Buchheim joined Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock and the crew of ''U-96'' on her seventh patrol 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 Allies of World War II, ...
. On 27 October 1941, ''U-96'' left for her seventh patrol and joined group Stoßtrupp three days later. The next day, 31 October, the group made contact with convoy OS 10. ''U-96'' launched four torpedoes at a long range, one of which struck the Dutch SS ''Bennekom''. The ship went down half an hour after being hit, taking nine of her crew of 56 with her. Following the attack, the sloop arrived on the scene and forced ''U-96'' under water with gun fire. The U-boat escaped the barrage of 27 depth charges unscathed. The next day, ''U-96'' encountered two more of the escorts, and , but managed to escape again. The U-boat spent November patrolling the North Atlantic as part of groups Störtebecker and Benecke, until secretly entering the neutral port of
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
, Spain, and being resupplied by the interned German on 27 November. After leaving Vigo, ''U-96'' made for the
Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaism, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, with orders to enter the Mediterranean. However, late on 30 November the U-boat was spotted by a
Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...
of
812 Naval Air Squadron 812 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1933 and 1956, and saw service in both World War II and the Korean War. Service history First formation The squadron was first fo ...
and heavily damaged by two bombs dropped by the aircraft. Unable to reach her destination, ''U-96'' made for the port of Saint Nazaire. On the way she encountered the Spanish SS ''Cabo De Hornos'', which returned from South America, after delivering a group of Jewish refugees to the Dutch colony of
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coa ...
, when Brazil denied them entry. When ''U-96''s torpedo missed, the ship was stopped and her papers checked. On 6 December 1941, after 41 days at sea, ''U-96'' returned to Saint Nazaire, having sunk one ship of . In the film, there is only one ardent Nazi in the crew of 40, namely the First Watch Officer (referred to comically in one scene as or "Our
Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
Leader"). The rest of the officers are either indifferent or openly anti-Nazi (the Captain). The enlisted sailors and NCO are portrayed as apolitical. In his book ''
Iron Coffins Herbert A. Werner (13 May 1920 – 6 April 2013) was a German submarine officer and captain during World War II. He served in five U-boats and survived the sinking of in the Baltic and the loss of in Brest harbour. Werner moved to the United ...
'', former U-boat commander Herbert A. Werner states that the selection of naval personnel based on their loyalty to the party only occurred later in the war (from 1943 onward) when the U-boats were suffering high casualties and when morale was declining. Such a degree of skepticism may or may not have occurred. In support of ''Das Boot'' on this subject, U-boat historian Michael Gannon maintains that the U-boat navy was one of the least pro-Nazi branches of the German armed forces. Both the novel and the film had a much darker ending than in reality, where the U-boat returns to port only to be destroyed during an air raid with many of her crew killed or wounded. In reality, ''U-96'' survived almost to the end of the war, the majority of her senior officers surviving as well. Similarly to its on-screen fate, it was sunk by Allied bombers at its berth in
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...
in March 1945. Even though the beginning and the end of the film occur in the port of
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. Wi ...
, it does not correspond historically. The
submarine base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay ...
in La Rochelle was not functional before November 1941, and at the time of the film the port was dried up. While
Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocea ...
was the base used in the novel and where ''U-96'' was based at in late 1941, the film was changed to La Rochelle because its appearance had not changed to such a large degree in the years since World War II. Moreover, none of the British fighter-bombers of late 1941 to early 1942 had the range to bomb La Rochelle from bases in Great Britain.


Release

The film opened 17 September 1981 and received the widest release ever in West Germany, opening in 220 theatres and grossing a record $5,176,000 in the first two weeks. The film opened in the United States on 10 February 1982.


Different versions and home media

Director Wolfgang Petersen has overseen the creation of several different versions of his film. The first to be released was the 149-minute theatrical cut. The film was partially financed by German television broadcasters WDR and the SDR, and more footage was filmed than was shown in the theatrical version. A version of six 50-minute episodes was transmitted on
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...
in the United Kingdom in October 1984 and again during the 1999 Christmas season. In February 1985 a version of three 100-minute episodes was broadcast in Germany. Peterson then edited a 209-minute version, ''Das Boot: The Director's Cut'', combining the action sequences from the feature-length version with the character development scenes from the miniseries released to cinemas worldwide in 1997, also improving audio quality. In 1998 it was released on DVD as a single-disc edition including an audio commentary by Petersen, lead actor Jürgen Prochnow and director's cut producer Ortwin Freyermuth; a 6-minute making-of featurette; and in most territories, the theatrical trailer. In 2003 it was also released as a "
Superbit Superbit was a brand of premium DVD-Video versions of motion pictures from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Superbit DVDs aimed to improve picture quality over a standard DVD edition of a feature by increa ...
" edition with no extra features, but with a higher bit-rate and the film spread across two discs. From 2010 onwards, the 208-minute "Director's Cut", along with various new extras, was released internationally on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
. The American 2-disc Collector's Set also uniquely included the original 149-minute theatrical cut, which is otherwise unreleased on DVD or Blu-ray. In 2014 the original miniseries, also known as "The Original Uncut Version", was released on Blu-ray in Germany with optional English audio and subtitles. In November 2018, "Das Boot Complete Edition" was released as a collection of 5 Blu-ray discs and 3 CDs. It contains more than 30 hours of material: the Director's Cut (208 min.), the Original Cinema version (149 min.), the complete TV Series in 6 parts ("The Original Uncut Version", 308 min.), Bonus Material (202 min. + various trailers), the Original Soundtrack by Klaus Doldinger (38:21 min.) and an Audio Book of the novel read by
Dietmar Bär Dietmar Bär (born 5 February 1961, in Dortmund) is a German actor. Since 1997 he has starred as ''Freddy Schenk'' in the popular television crime series ''Tatort'' and in ''Ärzte'' (a TV Series in 1994). He has been in several films, including ' ...
in German (910 min.). For the "Director's Cut", the Original Cinema version and "The Original Uncut Version" TV Series, new English language soundtracks were recorded featuring most of the original cast, who were bilingual. These soundtracks are included on various DVD and Blu-ray releases as an alternative language to the original German. * 1981 unreleased version (209 minutes) * 1981 original theatrical cut (149 minutes) * 1984 BBC miniseries (300 minutes) * 1997 "Director's Cut" (208 minutes) * 2004 "The Original Uncut Version" (293 minutes) – miniseries minus episode-opening flashback scenes


Reception


Critical response

The film received highly positive reviews upon its release.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' gave the film four out of four stars. Prior to the 55th Academy Awards on 11 April 1983 the movie received six nominations. Cinematography for Jost Vacano, Directing for Wolfgang Petersen, Film Editing for Hannes Nikel, Sound for Milan Bor, Trevor Pyke, Mike Le-Mare, Sound Effects Editing for Mike Le-Mare, Writing (Screenplay based on material from another medium) for Wolfgang Petersen. Today, the film is seen as one of the greatest German films. On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
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 Wan ...
, the film received an approval rating of 98% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 9.10/10. The critical consensus states "Taut, breathtakingly thrilling, and devastatingly intelligent, ''Das Boot'' is one of the greatest war films ever made." The film also has a score of 86 out of 100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
based on 15 critics indicating "universal acclaim". For its unsurpassed authenticity in tension and realism, it is regarded internationally as pre-eminent among all submarine films. The film was ranked #25 in ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. In late 2007, there was an exhibition about the film ''Das Boot'', as well as about the real U-boat ''U-96'', at the
Haus der Geschichte Haus der Geschichte (officially ''Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'', i.e. "House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany") is a museum of contemporary history in Bonn, Germany. With around one million visitors eve ...
(House of German History) in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
. Over 100,000 people visited the exhibition during its four-month run. ;Buchheim's views of the film Though impressed by the technological accuracy of the film's set-design and port construction buildings, novelist
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 h ...
expressed great disappointment with Petersen's adaptation in a film review published in 1981, describing Petersen's film as converting his clearly anti-war novel into a blend of a "cheap, shallow American action flick" and a "contemporary German propaganda newsreel from World War II".


Accolades

To this day, ''Das Boot'' holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a German film.


Soundtrack

The characteristic lead melody of the soundtrack, composed and produced by Klaus Doldinger, took on a life of its own after German
rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...
group U96 created a remixed "techno version" in 1991. The title theme " Das Boot" later became an international hit. The official soundtrack features only compositions by Doldinger, except for "" sung by
Rina Ketty Rina Ketty (1 March 1911 – 23 December 1996), whose real name was Cesarina Picchetto, was an Italian singer, notably of the legendary song ''J'attendrai''. The song became a huge hit during World War II and was appreciated by Allied soldiers ...
. The soundtrack ("") released following the release of ''The Director's Cut'' version omits "". Songs heard in the film, but not included on the album are " La Paloma" sung by
Rosita Serrano Rosita Serrano (born María Esther Aldunate del Campo, 10 June 1912 – 6 April 1997) was a Chilean singer who had her biggest success in Nazi Germany between the 1930s and the early 1940s. Because of her bell-like voice and pitch-perfect whis ...
, the "" (a popular military march), " It's a Long Way to Tipperary" performed by the Red Army Chorus, "" and the "".


Sequel

A sequel of the same name, in the form of a television series, was released in 2018, with different actors. It was set nine months after the end of the original film, and is split into two narratives, one based on land, the other set around another U-boat and its crew. Like the original film, the series is 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 h ...
's 1973 book ''Das Boot'', but with additions from Buchheim's 1995 follow-up sequel .


See also

* List of World War II films * Submarine films *
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 Allies of World War II, ...
(1939–1945) * ', 1941 propaganda film * ', 1958 anti-war film * '' The Cruel Sea'', 1953 film about a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
escort during the Battle of the Atlantic * '' Sharks and Little Fish''


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boot, Das 1981 films 1980s war drama films German war drama films 1980s German-language films Anti-war films about World War II German epic films Films based on German novels Films based on military novels World War II submarine films Films directed by Wolfgang Petersen Films scored by Klaus Doldinger Columbia Pictures films Films set in the 1940s 1980s German television miniseries World War II television drama series U-boat fiction International Emmy Award for Drama winners 1980s German films