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Das Boot (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] [1981] [Region Free]

Jürgen Prochnow , Herbert Grönemeyer , Wolfgang Petersen    Suitable for 15 years and over   Blu-ray
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
Price: £7.82 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Das Boot (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] [1981] [Region Free] + Lawrence of Arabia (Blu-ray + UV Copy) [1962] [Region Free] + The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray] [2011] [Region Free]
Price For All Three: £28.65

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Product details

  • Actors: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge
  • Directors: Wolfgang Petersen
  • Writers: Wolfgang Petersen
  • Format: Subtitled
  • Language: German, English, French
  • Subtitles: Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish
  • Dubbed: English, French
  • Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired: English
  • Region: All Regions (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent.
  • DVD Release Date: 5 Sep 2011
  • Run Time: 208 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B005DL7WSE
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,106 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Wolfgang Petersen's harrowing and claustrophobic U-boat thriller Das Boot was released as both a theatrical film and a six-hour mini-series, and remains the most expensive production ever made by a German studio. The expanded "Director's Cut" of the movie was re-released 1997 and it is this version that is available for home viewing. This epic story became an instant classic on its first release, provoking critical and audience acclaim worldwide for its sympathetic and entirely truthful portrayal of a German U-boat crew. Faithfully adapted from the best-selling novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim, Petersen and his committed cast (led by the amazing Jürgen Prochnow) were concerned to ensure that every detail was rendered with painstaking accuracy--both physical and psychological--and the result is not only the best submarine drama ever made but also arguably the finest cinematic portrait of men at war and the terrible madness they must endure.

Product Description

At the height of WWII, a young submarine crew heads out to sea on a top-secret mission that all but ensures most will never make it home alive. Ordered to patrol the Atlantic and destroy an allied armada bringing supplies to Britain, these raw recruits must band together, bracing themselves against a depth-charge assault from an unseen enemy. Oscar-nominated® director Wolfgang Petersen’s epic adventure deftly explores tension as pressure builds to an explosive climax, packing a visceral punch few movies can match.

Special Features:
  • Wolfgang Petersen: Back To The Boat documentary
  • Going Deeper: Maria's Take, The Perfect Boat--The Director's Cut
  • Captain's Tour--Inside the Boat
  • The Battle of the Atlantic (1983)
  • Behind the scenes (1981)
  • Commentary with director Wolfgang Peterson


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The German perspective 18 Sep 2011
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
Das Boot (The Boat) is an uncompromising examination of life aboard a German submarine at the height of World War II.

It started life in 1981 as a 145-minute theatrical release and was later expanded into a a six-hour miniseries for German television, broadcast in 1985. Twelve years on, writer-director Wolfgang Petersen finally realised his vision of the project by adding a significant amount of material to the former to create his director's cut. This is the version presented on this Blu-ray and it runs for 206 minutes.

This is a story of how the hunters become the hunted, patrolling the Atlantic on the lookout for allied shipping while attempting to evade the warships that are out to detect and destroy them.

Petersen lulls the viewer into a false sense of stillness aboard the titular vessel. It serves to illustrate the tiring, claustrophobic conditions and how the 48-strong crew coped with them. However, when the action happens, it occurs thunderously and without warning. The film is punctuated with suspenseful sequences.

The picture on this Blu-ray is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is clean and colourful with some grain, which is accentuated in certain night-time scenes. The soundtrack (in DTS-HD 5.1) has been masterfully reconstructed for the director's cut and definitely punches its weight in stormy seas or when depth charges impact. It pays not to have your amp turned up too loud because such moments can take you by surprise.

Das Boot can be played in its original German language version with subtitles or with dubbed English dialogue. There are ample bonus features on disc two, including documentaries (archival, historical and retrospective), an informative tour of the boat and a look at how the movie progressed through its various editions. On disc one there is an English commentary by Wolfgang Petersen and Jürgen Prochnow, who plays the captain.

By depicting its subject matter from the German perspective, Das Boot serves as an ideal flipside to The Cruel Sea, which - although released some 30 years earlier - shows what they were up against.
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111 of 114 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A 'CLASSIC' DVD? 23 Aug 2000
Format:DVD
'Das Boot', Wolfgang Petersen's stunning evocation of the tensions and miseries suffered by a German U-Boat crew during the 'Battle Of The Atlantic' in WWII, is rightly regarded as one of the most important German films of the last 25 years. It is significant that the film's influence has reached a worldwide audience since its premier in 1981; for it is a story about the absurdity of war, and that particular truth transcends all national boundaries. It is simply one of best war films ever made.

The production of 'Das Boot' on DVD is a fascinating tale in itself. The Director's commentary, in which Jurgen Procknow (who played the Captain) particpates, presents an interesting, and often amusing, insight into the production of a film that really launched the careers of many of those that were invloved. Of particular note is the filmakers' impromptu discussion on the reaction the film received in Germany when it was first shown. There were at the time certain conventions that needed to be observed in German cinema when dealing with the subject of WWII. 'Das Boot' did to some extent challenge these and this led to quite a disparity between the German public's reaction and those of the critics.

Technically the DVD production is superb. It seems that Wolfgang Petersen is certainly an enthuiast for the new digital medium. He and his team have re-cut the film, using the original negative as the source, to produce a 'film' version that Petersen appears to be very content with. The result is a 3-hour experience of superb visual quality. However, it does not end there. The entire sound track has been re-engineered for Dolby Digital 5.1 - and an English dubbed Dolby Surround mix is included as well. Only the original dialogue track and some music stems were retained. The effects, the music, and even the English language dub tracks have been re-recorded digitally for the DVD version. In many cases the dubbing was undertaken by the original cast. The sound mix and production are superb. The effect is to add a whole new dimension to the experience of 'Das Boot'.

The conclusion is that 'Das Boot' on DVD is a compelling advert for the medium itself, and really does highlight the medium's potentialities in both the technical and artistic areas.

If there is such a thing as a DVD 'Classic' yet then 'Das Boot' is a good candidate for the appellation.

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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Best combat film ever 29 Dec 2002
By Joseph Haschka HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:VHS Tape
In my lifetime, I've seen a number of truly great war films: "Saving Private Ryan", "The Longest Day", "Patton", "Run Silent, Run Deep", "Bridge On the River Kwai", "Glory", "A Bridge Too Far". Preeminent among them, even above "Saving Private Ryan", is "Das Boot (The Boat)", the extraordinary tale of a German U-boat's sortie into the Atlantic during World War II. What makes the film phenomenal is the way in which life in combat undersea is recreated: cramped, smelly, damp, uncomfortable, decidedly dangerous. Especially effective is the apparently accurate reconstruction of a U-boat's interior that serves as the set. When the Kapitän orders a crash dive, and the crew members rush forward to the boat's bow to increase the dive angle, the cameraman follows behind as they run the length of the sub through small hatchways and narrow crew spaces. It's a miracle the cameraman didn't crack his head, or the lens of his hand-held camera, on the sill of a hatch. (Maybe he did!)

Though this is a German crew whose duty is to sink Allied ships, American viewers will have no problem sympathizing with its members when the depth charges begin to fall. Early on, the almost anti-Nazi attitude of the U-boat's Offiziers is apparent. (This may have been a marketing ploy by the film's producers to increase worldwide appeal. However, of all the German military services during WWII, the Kriegsmarine is considered to have been the least Nazified.) In any case, when the sub is ordered to surreptitiously rendezvous with a cargo ship that was intentionally interned in a neutral port for the purpose of U-boat supply and replenishment, the more politically correct officers of the supply vessel invite the U-boat's officers aboard to partake of a lavish buffet. As the former "Sieg Heil!" and exclaim how tough war is, the latter's' disdain for their Kameraden is readily apparent.

The nightmare of undersea warfare is grippingly portrayed. After a very narrow escape for our heroes, we cheer when the sub limps back to port near the end of the movie. This relief soon turns to sorrow and horror at the film's ironic conclusion.

There is no female lead in this production, no romantic interludes, and nothing to soften the hard, gritty reality of men at war. It's definitely a Guy Flick, but none the less excellent for being such. It's most assuredly one of my All-Time Ten Best movies.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars THE submarine film
Of all the films on U Boats and submarines in WWII, this is head and shoulders over the others for realism and quality.
Published 9 days ago by Mr I
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Film
I saw this film years ago and enjoyed the directors cut and the quality of the film. You service was excellent
Published 11 days ago by bnm
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Very good. Very quick, Very reliable. Very pleased . Super quick . No fuss. Very competitive price wise. Informed when it was available straight away.
Published 15 days ago by Mr. Alan W. Beckley
5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting tribute to German Submariners.
I suppose that the title is easy for me to say as neither me or any family were torpedoed. The german submariners were fighting for their country though, and the sound track is... Read more
Published 26 days ago by david j palin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Film
One of the great films enhanced by the extra quality of sound and picture. Everyone should watch this it is very atmospheric.
Published 29 days ago by Mr Graham George Terry
5.0 out of 5 stars Best submarine film ever made. (Ever)
This was originally a German TV mini-series, although you could never tell, apart from its running time, which in the full uncut version, is four and a half hours. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. P. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Read the book , had the tape but wanted to be able to view on my disc player.I think the film and the book are marvellous and have viewed it many times.
Published 1 month ago by John Beckinsale
5.0 out of 5 stars Speedy delivery
Very good film in an excellent format every bit as good as the TV series but better definition in Blue Ray
Published 1 month ago by Mr. R. J. E. Biden
5.0 out of 5 stars A blu-ray treat
If you ever want to watch a truly atmospheric film then this is the one - Blu ray means a full length version of this modern German classic can be seen without a break . Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dave Clough
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous blu ray
Sound and picture v v good and being able to select english dialogue is a nice touch as well, superb.
Published 2 months ago by M. Gowlett
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