I feel as if I'm in some hi-tech whirl at the moment, with a new phone, router, netbook and not to m...
I feel as if I'm in some hi-tech whirl at the moment, with a new phone, router, netbook and not to mention all the other stuff that keeps needing replacing, I'm no stranger to Currys etc.
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It was only after watching my newly acquired copy of U-571 the other day that prompted me to dust-off my DVD of Das Boot (Director’s Cut) and give it another look.
In the past, this movie has been seen in several formats. Serialised on BBC2 and in standard movie length being two of them.
The DVD version runs for 200 minutes – and that’s just the movie! I suspect that this is closer in length to the TV mini-series in content than the normal movie.
The advantage of the DVD format, is that you can hear the soundtrack dubbed into English, or for the purist, in German with or without English* subtitles, which is, of course, much closer to the original. Tip – If you speak any German, see if you can spot the points where the somewhat primmer English subtitles deviate from the more lavatorial German dialogue. Good fun.
* or Hebrew, Icelandic, Turkish and Hindi!
The most striking feature of this film, apart from the realism that is, is its completely non-partisan portrayal of ordinary people doing their duty and laying their lives on the line for their country, and in the final analysis, the abject futility of it all.
Wolfgang
Petersen directed the film, later going on to make such films as Air Force One and Perfect Storm. However, in making Das Boot, he set himself the almost impossible standard to better. It must rank as one of the most exciting, tense and intelligent war films ever made.
The film stars Jürgen Prochnow as “The Old Man” – (i.e. he was about 30 years old amongst a crew of mostly callow-faced youths.) otherwise known as Herr Ka’leun. (You don’t have time to say Herr Kapitän-Leutnant when you’re up to your arse in depth-charges!)
The film is so good at portraying the squalid and cramped conditions on board U-96 that you feel you are living through all this deprivation with the crew. It’s all there, the sweat, jokes about farting, quite literally hairy food, constant soaking in salt water and itchy beards. This is all interspersed with a liberal sprinkling of highly tense moments, e.g. after engaging a Royal Navy-protected convoy and waiting for the inevitable “Wasserbomben” or when they are practically sent to good old D.J’s Locker for ever in the Straits of Gibraltar, with the depth gauge off the scale and only enough air to blow the ballast one more time.
However, since I am writing more specifically about the DVD, I won’t spoil the plot any further.
Now for the techie bit.
The English and German soundtracks have both been remixed and upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1
The picture format (on my version) fills my 16:9 screen without distortion and without any black stripes, (top or sides), which indicates to me that it is an anamorphic projection (i.e. when viewed on a 4:3 set, everyone looks tall and thin, and this is certainly the case on my TV). The library box doesn’t say this, indicating rather that the format has been “letter-boxed” which is a bit ambiguous.
The inevitable extra material that sets DVD’s apart from VHS tapes is here in but not in any great abundance. I suppose that since this isn’t too recent a film, making extra features in retrospect is more difficult.
The features are :-
English Cinema Trailer – interesting enough, I suppose.
Director’s Commentary - all this does is overdub Wolgang Petersen’s commentary over most of the movie. Since this is long, you have to be a certain kind of movie buff to want to do anything other than dip into this. I did however learn that at-sea shots of the sub were done with a 1/6 scale model filmed in “slo-mo” to make its movements more ship-like.
Featurette – This follows the usual formula of “The Making of….”, cast interviews etc. There are some very interesting parts (for me anyway) showing how the set was made to look so realistic. Basically, they mocked-up a considerable proportion of a WW2 submarine on dry land, mounting it like an aircraft flight simulator, so that it could be pitched violently around at will. The cast were all kept indoors to create that “convict’s palour” effect, and the water was deliberately left unheated just to add that bit of extra realism whenever they got soaked. The set was constructed to allow for crew members to be tracked by camera through the length of the boat. Watch out for this – it’s used to good effect whenever they crash-dive, with half of the crew making a frantic dash for the front torpedo room.
Not a huge crop of extras, but effective.
To sum up, there have been many undersea dramas, Hunt For Red October, Crimson Tide, and just recently U-571. They are all good at what they do, it’s just that, in my opinion, Das Boot did it first, and still does it better.
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Production Year: 1965 - War - Director: Anthony Mann - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave, Roy Dotrice, Anton Diffring
Production Year: 1956 - War - Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Bernard Lee, Ian Hunter, Kenneth More, John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch
Have only just seen this and agree it is a very good movie.
Lancashire_Angel 17.08.2003 23:38
Didn't know it was the same director as The Perfect Storm, I loved the film & book of that and do fancy this film, think I might try it to rent on the strength of this.
Cabron xx
htanaka 20.05.2001 02:35
I agree absolutely...haven't got around to buying the DVD yet though
Das Boot is a graphic and gripping tale that follows the daring patrol of U-96 one of the ... more
famed German U-Boats known as 'The Grey Wolves'. Prowling the North Atlantic they challenged the British Navy at every turn. The crew aboard the U-96 is portray...
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From the Director of Air Force One and In The Line Of Fire. 'Das Boot' is a graphic and ... more
gripping tale that follows the daring patrol of U-96, one of the famed German U-Boats known as 'The Grey Wolves'. Prowling the North Atlantic, they challenged the B...
Advantages: A good war film with a different perspective, a well made film, well directed Disadvantages: At 3 hours and 20 minutes the film is quite long
gorvifal3 04.02.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)
Advantages: A good war film with a different perspective, a well made film, well directed Disadvantages: At 3 hours and 20 minutes the film is quite long
gorvifal3 04.02.2003 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)
Feb 7th, 2001
(Apr 8th, 2001)
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