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Das Boot

Das Boot

1981
Drama, Adventure
2h 29m
A German U-boat crew experiences the terror and claustrophobia of life on a submarine in the Battle of the Atlantic. They face the constant threat of attack from enemy ships and aircraft, as well as the psychological strain of being confined in a small space for months on end.
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Das Boot

1981
Drama, Adventure
2h 29m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 76.73% from 4197 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(4197)
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Rated 23 May 2009
5
93rd
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.
Rated 17 Jan 2007
86
87th
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.
Rated 04 Feb 2007
5
91st
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.
Rated 05 May 2007
100
93rd
Wolfgang Petersons claustrophobic thriller is taut with suspense.Must see!
Rated 15 May 2009
93
84th
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.
Rated 29 Aug 2010
94
99th
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.
Rated 09 Sep 2021
85
94th
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.
Rated 16 Dec 2006
95
94th
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.
Rated 25 Nov 2007
91
95th
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.
Rated 30 Nov 2008
42
21st
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.
Rated 01 Mar 2007
90
99th
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.
Rated 17 Nov 2007
91
93rd
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.
Rated 31 Aug 2008
100
99th
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.
Rated 04 Dec 2008
60
38th
Good sense of tension, but it's more repetitive than necessary and the ending's terrible.
Rated 18 Jan 2011
65
42nd
"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.
Rated 31 Mar 2012
90
94th
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.
Rated 24 Oct 2019
87
78th
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.
Rated 17 Mar 2007
99
96th
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.
Rated 26 Mar 2007
100
95th
Exciting, tragic WW2 adventure. The main reason I sat through a number of the silly pictures Wolfgang Petersen's been directing more recently. Terrific
Rated 28 May 2007
85
76th
Intense, with no softening for the American audience
Rated 03 Jun 2007
15
83rd
Awesome, but at 5 hours the uncut version is pretty mammoth.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
88
76th
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.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
97th
Excellent and tense!
Rated 12 Dec 2007
90
85th
Wow, what a great movie.
Rated 20 Jan 2008
80
86th
My favorite German submarine movie.
Rated 13 Jul 2008
6
95th
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?
Rated 03 Sep 2008
90
94th
Good acting, great cinematography and incredible claustrophobic tension.
Rated 14 Sep 2008
95
99th
One of the best if not THE best German movie ever.
Rated 29 Sep 2008
95
98th
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
Rated 21 Feb 2010
95
98th
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.
Rated 25 Apr 2011
94
97th
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.
Rated 03 Jul 2012
97
99th
You should watch the Director's Cut.
Rated 11 Aug 2012
88
84th
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."
Rated 08 Nov 2012
95
94th
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.
Rated 30 Jan 2013
88
99th
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!
Rated 24 Mar 2013
94
97th
4.50u original uncut version. hell yeah!
Rated 26 Aug 2013
90
97th
Mekanın ve atmosferin içine seyirciyi de dahil eden, gerilimi, telaşı, paniği insana doğrudan hissettiren bir yapıt.
Rated 26 Aug 2013
88
96th
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....
Rated 22 Dec 2013
88
99th
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.
Rated 27 Apr 2015
84
77th
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.
Rated 17 May 2019
70
53rd
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."
Rated 04 Oct 2020
80
74th
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.
Rated 31 Jan 2007
70
28th
Cute film, very believable. The radist could use some sleep, though.
Rated 19 Jul 2007
90
95th
Rewatch 2010: still a great movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
89
94th
Great movie and even greater theme music.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
73
80th
I wish this movie started a half-hour after it did. It's incredible, but the first half-hour is just brutally dull.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
55
53rd
Must have seen the original theatrical cut in the early 1980s. In 2021, saw the director's cut: still just a fairly well-made TV program about life under difficult circumstances.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
96
97th
One of the best war movies ever made. It's a long and difficult but rewarding movie. This movie does a great job of showing the 'other side' of WW2 and the appalling conditions in which U boat crews faught there war.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
85th
Excellent. If you haven't seen it, do.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
86
68th
Makes my chest tighten just thinking about it
Rated 14 Aug 2007
98
95th
So great. So very great.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
93
88th
A very powerful film that will stay in your mind a long time. I talked to a submariner (US) who had served on the old WWII-era diesel subs and he said the film captured the atmosphere excellently.
Rated 23 Aug 2007
80
80th
Very Good
Rated 17 Sep 2007
90
96th
Amazing film detailing the dangers, lack of comforts, and esprit de corps of the U-boat service during the Second World War.
Rated 15 Oct 2007
95
82nd
I'm not that into war movies, but this was riveting! I was on the edge of my seat!
Rated 17 Oct 2007
50
55th
classic claustrophobic German War flick. a must see
Rated 22 Oct 2007
89
87th
Petersen does a great job mixing intense action with long periods of waiting, increasing the tension and sense of pressure on these men. He also takes a hard and unflattering look at war--the courage and sacrifice of soldiers is honored, even as the film seems to question the point of it all. Modern warfare is such a destructive force, one which relies so little on physical contact from enemies. Petersen also includes a moment of grace that's as well played as anything in the movies.
Rated 08 Nov 2007
87
88th
Best Uboat drama there is.
Rated 10 Nov 2007
79
42nd
it is a good movie, but, to be honest not for me!
Rated 29 Feb 2008
90
97th
One of the most thrilling movies ever made. Very few other movies have such tense moments as this one. Plus, a decent and very believeable portrait of the soldiers of the time.
Rated 13 Jun 2008
84
88th
Very realistic and tense movie about a German submarine crew struggling to make some military progress while staying alive. Despite the long running time of the director's cut (3.5 hours), the story kept me interested, largely thanks to the good screenplay and character development. Too bad the sound of the depth charges wasn't as great as those in 'U-571' :D (though that was quite a bad movie).
Rated 19 Jul 2008
95
98th
The best submarine movie ever other than possibly the Hunt for the Red October. A must see.
Rated 15 Sep 2008
90
91st
A masterful film, persuasively expressing the dread of war; Petersen restfully focus on the often tense faces of the crew of the german u-boat we follow, and the result is an unusually compelling war-film relying its conveyance of unquenchable horror on a series of intimate close-ups of panic-stricken faces... Stunning.
Rated 17 Sep 2008
68
94th
Endelig lidt tysk om krigen, lidt for dum afslutning..
Rated 21 Sep 2008
95
91st
Excellent war movie, thriller, adventure, drama; just plain excellent.
Rated 23 Sep 2008
70
30th
A bit dull.
Rated 27 Oct 2008
90
90th
Long as hell, but the amazingness makes up for the historical inaccuracies.
Rated 15 Dec 2008
100
96th
A truly powerful and remarkable war film, one that captures the horrors of conflict. Yet it also gives a window into the lives of men who, despite being the enemy, still risk their lives just as American sailors did on the high seas. Poor Wolfgang-he'll never top this masterwork, yet he will be forever remembered for creating one of the best submarine movies ever.
Rated 23 Dec 2008
100
98th
ALARM!
Rated 29 Jan 2009
85
95th
Good, but the uncut 5-hour version is even better at creating the atmosphere of isolation and claustrophobia.
Rated 03 Feb 2009
8
78th
(3 ½ hour director's cut) "Das Boot" is by far Petersen's best film (hard to imagine he went downhill from there) but what does this film lack ? A PLOT !!! You get action sequence after action sequence, scenes that feel alluring and powerful in the beginning but get tiresome after 3 hours, plus I wasn't as emotionally invested as I had hoped for. A nice film but far from a masterpiece.
Rated 04 Mar 2009
40
71st
A World War II submarine adventure of a sort that already seemed outdated as of, oh, twenty-five years previous -- roughly the date of that sympathetic Hollywood portrait of the embittered, weary, but still cunning U-boat commander: _The Enemy Below_. The main idea of how to rise above the war-movie cliché is to push biological awareness to new heights of realism, and hence the lavish attention paid to excretory function, sweat, snot, vomit, body odor, beards, venereal disease, and the like.
Rated 30 Mar 2009
91
77th
The atmosphere is so claustrophobic it will make you feel like a sardine in a tin can. Strongly recommended.
Rated 10 Apr 2009
50
67th
Well-crafted but totally unsurprising saga of heroism and self-sacrifice; a decent view of war from the German side, designed to impress world markets. It did so only moderately.
Rated 18 May 2009
87
53rd
Long. Detailed. Crunchy.
Rated 08 Jun 2009
87
98th
The tension builds to almost unbearable and you never guess it has as long a run time as it says.
Rated 02 Jul 2009
9
97th
I've seen both this and the miniseries versions but in my mind I can't for the life of me separate the two. So they both get the same score...
Rated 17 Jul 2009
86
92nd
The strangest thing about war, is it's humanity. It is only within our humanity that we can be inhuman to others and they to us. Wolfgang captures this well, in this film of the last days of the second great war.
Rated 22 Jul 2009
90
90th
Nerve-racking, gripping, anti-war, don't watch Director's cut as is self-indulgent.
Rated 01 Aug 2009
87
93rd
Petersen's masterpiece. This film just drips in atmosphere. Brilliant.
Rated 19 Aug 2009
80
56th
It's so damn long... but it has a place in my heart cause it was so good.
Rated 03 Oct 2009
100
99th
Always something new to find in here
Rated 11 Oct 2009
95
57th
one of the best submarine movies out there - I swear you 'taste' the oil/fumes in the air on that boat. excellent acting!
Rated 29 Nov 2009
95
93rd
harrowing.
Rated 02 Dec 2009
93
93rd
One of my very favourite movies. This tale of german submarine crew is able to potrait the life in submarine better than any film ever. Viewer feels for the characters and is excited about the dangers they confort. This film has several versions, including TV version and they are all good. A true classic that should be seen in original german with subtitles.
Rated 18 Dec 2009
92
96th
Very realistic and tense movie about a German submarine crew struggling to make some military progress while staying alive. Despite the long running time of the director's cut (3.5 hours), the story kept me interested, largely thanks to the good screenplay and character development. Too bad the sound of the depth charges wasn't as great as those in 'U-571' :D (though that was quite a bad movie).
Rated 28 Jan 2010
95
94th
das boot tells the story off german submarine and all its crew. movie is more than shocking, those scenes with enemy torpedo's incoming are top of the art. its even more shocking, when you realise, it really was that way. one of, if not the best action movie of 80's. MUST SEE.
Rated 20 Feb 2010
75
71st
A very realistic film, a claustrophobic environment, death is always lurking, the constant difficulties. I would not attend again, is too long and repetitive, but it is well done.
Rated 22 Feb 2010
86
81st
An epic film with a running time of almost four hours, yet it never loses its sense of tension and fear throughout. The rare opportunity to see war from the German side brings home the reality that on the front line soldiers are often detached from the politcal overview and are simply fighting for each other and their own survival. The atmosphere of intense clautrophobia and terrifying danger in the u-boat are tantamount and become all consuming up until the horrifying ending.
Rated 22 Feb 2010
100
99th
Yes... This is a real WWII movie. No more need for histrionics.
Rated 01 Mar 2010
93
93rd
An epic, contemplative action movie, brilliant in its depiction of a submarine crew's plunge (see what I did there?) into near madness. Too long for comfort, but it never actually gets boring.
Rated 28 Mar 2010
9
92nd
Wolfgang Petersen is about as cool as a name you can get. On point however, "Das Boot" is a great film. Tension and emotion endorsed through Wolfgang's camera make this a worthy way to spend three and a half hours.
Rated 09 Aug 2010
84
98th
#90s(e)#, reviews, story
Rated 31 Aug 2010
100
91st
Dealing with submarine warfare, the film accurately depicts not only the crowding and the grime, but also the harrowing menace of being hundreds of feet below water when the depth charges begin to hammer at the fragile hull. With its grim depiction of the hard work and the cold fear that marked the battles for the North Atlantic, _Das Boot_ is an aquatic _All Quiet on the Western Front_.
Rated 09 Dec 2010
87
90th
Gripping - I've been thinking about submarines and war a lot since I've seen it
Rated 25 Dec 2010
95
99th
94.500
Rated 01 Apr 2011
79
58th
I think it didn't need to last three and a half hours but even so it's a good war film.
Rated 30 May 2011
87
66th
Claustrophobia: The Movie
Rated 12 Aug 2011
80
90th
Jawohl, Herr Kaleun!
Rated 22 Nov 2011
72
61st
I hear there's a certain cut of this movie that's around 5 hours long. I can hardly imagine that, as long as the normal version seems to run.

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