Das Boot (Directors Cut) [DVD] [1998]

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.

'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.

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.