Movie #195: Das Boot

Movie #: 195
Movie Title: Das Boot
Year Released: 1981

Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Notable Cast: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengschü

Short Description: The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #72
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 8/4/2013

What I Liked: For as bad as the first half was, the second half was very compelling. After the U-boat is damaged in a skirmish and sinks, the majority of the second half follows the crew's frantic attempts to fix the submarine before they all suffocate from a lack of oxygen or drown from water flowing in through leaks. The acting job was superb throughout but especially during the second half, specifically from Jürgen Prochnow as the captain and Klaus Wennemann as the chief engineer.

What I Disliked: Dive, dive, dive. That completely describes the entire first half of the director’s cut of Das Boot, which was 107 minutes alone. When the IMDB description mentions the boredom that the crew of the U-boat endures, it's also applies to the viewer. Other than the occasional diving or rising to the surface to see if they could find an enemy ship, there was nothing remotely interesting going on. I'll admit that I didn't finish this movie until my third attempt at watching it because I fell asleep twice during the first 107 minutes.

Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)
Rationale: This was really a tale of two movies and it's a shame I can’t judge it solely on the superior second half.