Set during World War II, the film tells the fictional story of U-96 and its crew. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the submariners as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country.
1954
17 August 1957, Essen, Germany
30 July 1951, St. Pölten, Lower Austria, Austria
1957
18 December 1940, Oer-Erkenschwick, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
10 July 1952, Berlin, Germany
9 January 1959, Vienna, Austria
21 January 1930, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Germany
20 May 1947, Buenos Aires, Argentina
10 June 1941, Berlin, Germany
9 March 1957, West Berlin, West Germany
8 December 1955, Bad Boll, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
1960, Verden an der Aller, Lower Saxony, Germany
7 January 1956, Biblis, Hesse, Germany
May 14, 2012
Still makes compulsive viewing.March 19, 2009
Agripping, impressively detailed account of one harrowing voyage by a German U-boat during World War II.June 24, 2006
Petersen's shooting style displays a breathtaking, if impersonal and faintly academic, virtuosity comparable to that of Lean or Coppola.February 23, 2012
Everything described in the film is authentic.August 30, 2004
Das Boot is yet another moving testament to the wastefulness of battle.July 25, 2011
Few war films are more potent than Das Boot...the ultimate submarine movie. [Blu-ray]April 24, 2009
It is unlike any other war film in that it confines the audience in a confined submarine where we digest the fear and panic of the human beings on screen. In short, "Das Boot" is a religious experience.September 21, 2011
The execution is second to none; taut, claustrophobic and overwhelming.December 09, 2011
Gripping and authentic.February 19, 2008
Just as good, some say better, than the original classic.December 09, 2011
The film has no qualities beyond its formal polish.February 02, 2002
The film reaches right out to grab us by the neck and squeeze hard.