Das Finally!

I'm so geeked to get Das Boot on Blu-ray in June. It's finally been announced and has undergone a high-resolution restoration and remastering. It's one of my favorite movies ever. It's the story of an ill-fated U-boat crew during WWII (Don't even think about watching that other U-boat movie, U-571 - that movie is pale and totally lame in comparison) that encounters numerous challenges as they try to complete their missions.

 

Das Boot (The Boat), directed by Wolfgang Peterson and filmed over a period of two years, is notable for its feeling of intense claustrophobia and fear. If you've ever seen a real U-boat, you know that they are about as roomy as a coffin inside, and the movie puts you in one to feel the cramped terror as the crew navigates the Atlantic with an instant watery death never far away. It's a well known fact that U-boat crews had some of the worst survival odds of anyone in the war, especially by the end as allied convoy techniques developed and sonar improved. This film conveys the fear that comes with that kind of job with great precision.

 

I can't recommend this movie enough, but if you see it, make sure you watch it in it's original German with subtitles, because...well...because dubbing sucks.

 

Das Boot is one of three incredible WWII movies made by Germans from the perspective of the German soldier, the others being Stalingrad (1993) the story of the siege of Stalingrad, with 2 million dead it was one of the deadliest battles in the history of mankind, and Downfall (2004) the story of the final days of Hitler in his bunker in Berlin, told from the perspective of his secretary. See them all if you can. They're all very honest and very chilling films.