Das Boot (1981)
It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. Das Boot is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served. (Sony Pictures)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Wolfgang Petersen
Written By: Wolfgang Petersen, Lothar G. Buchheim
Starring: Jürgen Prochnow, Otto Sander, Erwin Leder, Bernd Tauber, Günter Lamprecht, Martin Semmelrogge, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Genres: Drama, Adventure, War, History
Franchise: Das Boot
AKA: The Boat
Country: West Germany
Where to Stream
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Das Boot belongs to 105 collections
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 8 |  |
Nathan S | 5 93rd |
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A film that draws immense power from its sense of claustrophobia and slowly escalating tension. The broader, political and social themes of WWII are ignored in favor of focusing on a group of men driven to the brink of physical and mental collapse. Everything translates so perfectly from screen to viewer; the tension, claustrophobia, and foreboding. An exhaustive film, in the best sense of the word, and a very rewarding one.
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| 5 |  |
MartinTeller | 86 87th |
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This is a military movie where you really get connected with the characters. Even though they're Germans, there's no talk about the master race or world domination or concentration camps -- just a bunch of young men trying to do a good job and stay alive. It's tense and thrilling, sometimes a little cheesy but never gets dull despite a 3 1/2 hour running time.
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| 5 |  |
Alex Watkins | 5 91st |
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Four hours of pure tension; Petersen envelops the viewer in the dank, grungy submarine and makes us sympathize with the enemy, as we are able to see that these men, these soldiers are truly no different than any other sailor of any other nationality - they fight for their countries with pride and determination. The levels of intensity Petersen reaches at times are incredible.
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| 4 |  |
Travisbickle | 100 93rd |
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Wolfgang Petersons claustrophobic thriller is taut with suspense.Must see!
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| 4 |  |
Barthalen | 94 99th |
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Absolutely amazing. At times the tension simply becomes unbearable. Great use of the claustrophobic space in the ship with some fantastic tracking shots. Superb use of sound as well. The only nitpick is how obviously some of the scenes with the crew outside the ship were filmed on a set. Minor nitpicking of course. The final result is still 100% engaging, with a devastating end to top it all off.
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| 4 |  |
Jeb | 93 84th |
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Wolfgang's definite masterpiece. Everything is superbly managed and handled, especially the sympathetic and exasperated aura of the crew, from their feelings to their personal apprehensiveness and trepidation. You walk in expecting to dismay and hate the Germans in the submarine, but any traces of animosity and execration for them quickly plummets from the beginning to end. The acting also provides in-depth greatness as well as the extremely confined cinematography. Petersen has lost his touch.
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| 4 |  |
Paxton | 85 93rd |
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Before viewing, if you had told me what I was about to sit down for would be long and hard and full of seamen, well, I guess it could've been worse.
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| 3 |  |
Magb | 95 94th |
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Certainly the greatest submarine movie ever, quite possibly the best film on any sort of boat ever, and one of the best war movies ever. The end is so grim that I would almost fault the movie for it if it weren't so painfully realistic. My score and review are based on the six part mini series; I've never seen the movie version.
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| 3 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 91 95th |
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An amazing experience, the build up is slow but effective as you get to know the members of the boat. It does drag a little bit but never for too long and those slow moments serve to remind you of how dull life on the submarine must be. The final hour is where the film really kicks it up a notch and really brings together all the personalities you've come to get to know.
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| 3 |  |
Philip | 42 21st |
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Boring and, above all, repetitive. The point might very well be to show the uneventful life of a submarine, disrupted by short periods of extreme activity, but that doesn't make it fun to watch.
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| 2 |  |
doctor7 | 91 93rd |
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Reviewing the 3.5 hour director's cut. Wolfgang Petersen perfectly captures every emotion of the crew in the film. From the drunken cheeriness of the launch, to the sheer boredom and frustration of lack of any action to the unbelievable tension of many close calls and finally the terrible depression at the end of the film. Das Boot allows you to view the german sailors as people, not as just faceless Nazis. In fact I think Das Boot does this better than any other film.
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| 2 |  |
TheDiceman | 90 99th |
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One of the finest war films ever made.If you want to know what it was like on a U boat during WW2 watch this film.
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| 2 |  |
Heer | 60 38th |
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Good sense of tension, but it's more repetitive than necessary and the ending's terrible.
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| 2 |  |
Shadrik | 100 99th |
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Definitely my favorite German movie. Intense and emotionally draining as no other movie I've ever seen. Jürgen Prochnow is fantastic but the other cast members are also on their peak here.
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| 2 |  |
Rufam | 65 42nd |
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"Das Boot" is a visual masterpiece but it may not be much more. Petersen brilliantly constructs the claustrophobic atmosphere of the sub and skillfully executes every scene, and yet, he's unable to overcome the deficiencies of his own script. The film does succeed in presenting the Germans as flesh-and-bone human beings, but fails to create an engrossing plot, nuanced characters or an excuse for why it should drag on for three frickin' hours. A visual triumph, but a failure in storytelling.
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| 2 |  |
Noblet | 90 94th |
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It's 3 1/2 hours long and manages to stay tense the whole way through. It also does a good job humanizing the German sailors. They're on the wrong side of the war, but they're still depicted as being normal and flawed human beings. Rooting for the Germans to survive felt pretty weird, especially since this came out the same year as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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| 2 |  |
glumpy_99 | 87 76th |
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3:30 Director's Cut - A masterpiece of style and atmosphere, with Petersen and his camera crew creating a vivid feel for the claustrophobic layout of the U-boat, making it all the more terrifying once the crew come under attack in a masterclass of unsettling sound design. Some episodic wonderings (inherited from its roots as episodic television) anchored by Prochnow's authoritative, yet somehow inscrutable captain. Darkly ironic finale perhaps tries to cash in on pathos not quite earned.
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| 1 | spoonerspot | 90 97th |
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Excellent and tense!
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| 1 |  |
Kavu | 90 94th |
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Good acting, great cinematography and incredible claustrophobic tension.
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| 1 |  |
irvinejump | 95 98th |
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Dark, clasutrophobic & tense. A viewpoint from "the enemy" side shows that draftees are the same no matter which side they're on. Like you, they're trying to stay alive first and foremost. An excellent anti war movie
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| 1 |  |
h_double | 88 76th |
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I have to give high ranks to a 3 hour film that takes place almost entirely on board a submarine, that I can't tear my eyes away from for a second.
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| 1 |  |
joeroxy | 88 99th |
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This claustrophobic masterpiece grabs you by the balls from the moment you enter the boat and for more than 3 hours it doesn't let go. And that's super awesome.
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| 1 |  |
Derekstar | 90 85th |
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Wow, what a great movie.
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| 1 |  |
rob | 15 83rd |
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Awesome, but at 5 hours the uncut version is pretty mammoth.
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| 1 |  |
caiman | 94 97th |
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True, these are the "bad guys," but that doesn't matter here. These are people, first and foremost, and it was an absolute thrill watching them perform their duty to the very end and see them evolve into men. This is an intense, claustrophobic, gripping film that feels about half as long as it actually is (I watched the 229 minutes director's cut). Time has never flown by this fast for me before. Fantastic movie.
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| 1 | yrsinrevolt | 99 96th |
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An excellent film which plays its ups and downs to great effect (that's the long way of saying 'emotional rollercoaster'). Very intense and realistic.
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| 1 |  |
Stain | 100 95th |
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Exciting, tragic WW2 adventure. The main reason I sat through a number of the silly pictures Wolfgang Petersen's been directing more recently. Terrific
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| 1 |  |
JooJoo | 6 95th |
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Knocked me off my feet completely at every moment of it. Okay, the dialogue/characterizations could have used more work in the first half [which could be improved or worsened with the longer, original cut I'm DYING to see] but once the shit hits the fan, everything is improved. The finale felt like a kick to the face. How did Petersen fall so far?
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| 1 | King_Mongo | 85 76th |
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Intense, with no softening for the American audience
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| 1 |  |
KasperL | 80 86th |
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My favorite German submarine movie.
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| 1 |  |
lockstock | 94 97th |
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4.50u original uncut version. hell yeah!
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| 1 |  |
Luna6ix | 80 74th |
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One of the last great war movies I've had to cross off my list. It's good, really good, but it's a tad dated. It does an excellent job at depicting the grimy, wet, claustrophobic, and even morbidly intimate nature of being a crew member of a U-boat during WWII. As far as submarine movies go, this is the "Citizen Kane" of those, but that's a small pool of competition.
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| 1 |  |
tathiel | 95 99th |
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One of the best if not THE best German movie ever.
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| 1 |  |
Neonman | 84 77th |
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Taut and tight as hell in its authentic depiction, filled with very lengthy scenes of concentrated chaos and claustrophobic tension, all the more better with its down-to-earth (or undersea) spectacle and the excellent acting from all. The Director's Cut is a long motherfucker, but it's rarely ever boring and the agonising length makes some aspects of the film stronger, such as the destructively ironic ending.
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| 1 |  |
Cinema_Asia | 95 98th |
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The original full length uncut version of this film is something to behold. It's epic and everything takes place in a U-boat which makes it even more amazing. It's really a masterpiece in directing that Wolfgang Petersen could create so many interesting tense scenarios and characterization from just a bunch of guys confined in a small area. Just a really amazing film all around and there won't be anything like it for quite some time to come.
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| 1 |  |
St. Berna | 95 94th |
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Daracik denizalti koridorlarında kosturmaktan telef oldugunu dusundugum kameramanina, bekledigimden fazlasini vererek sasirtan yonetmenine, WW2 filmleri kliselerinin disindaki 'nispeten' sahici ve insancil yaklasimi icin senaristine, gerilimi besleyerek harikalar yaratan sescisine, goruntu yonetmenine falan ayri ayri alkis, tamam da.. En ozel alkis film muzikleri icin Doldinger'e. Morricone, Rota ve Mancini'den beri gordugum en iyi islerden birini cikarmis.
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| 1 |  |
kingofjew | 88 96th |
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Amazing war movie. Why? Because it creates a tense, captivating 3 hour long story out of a bunch of relatively unknown actors , with a small budget, in a small , confined space the entire movie long. You are constantly on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how it plays out. .. Great character development and incredible tension building.And what a depressing ending....
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| 1 |  |
Knackys | 97 99th |
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You should watch the Director's Cut.
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| 1 | Uhrmacher | 88 84th |
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One thing I can always count on from German WWII films is that I'll leave with a more fulfilling sense of closure than a typical American or British rendition delivers. Using protagonists from the opposing side at least requires something a little more thoughtful than "we struggled but it was worth it for ultimate moral victory."
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| 1 |  |
thehynes | 88 99th |
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Fantastic film!You get a real feel for the horrors faced by the German sailors manning the U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic and plenty of time to reflect on how it would be an awful way to die.There is also a scene which drives home the dreadful way in which so many of their victims died. Sobering stuff all round.
The overriding message though is - dont mess with the British Fritzy boy or we'll f*** you up!
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| 1 |  |
sofad | 90 97th |
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Mekanın ve atmosferin içine seyirciyi de dahil eden, gerilimi, telaşı, paniği insana doğrudan hissettiren bir yapıt.
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| 1 |  |
Ceekay19 | 70 55th |
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Lt. Werner: "They made us all train for this day. "To be fearless and proud and alone. To need no one, just sacrifice. All for the Fatherland." Oh God, all just empty words. It's not the way they said it was, is it? I just want someone to be with. The only thing I feel is afraid."
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| Average Percentile 76.7% from 4092 Ratings |  |