Rent Das Boot (1981)

Pressure, Depth, Repeat - Das Boot review by griggs

On rewatch, it’s even more suffocating. I remembered the tension, the torpedoes, the rattle of depth charges—but I’d forgotten the stink, the boredom, the hours of sweat-soaked monotony. It’s a war film stripped of heroics, where courage looks more like endurance and fear is just part of the job.

What struck me this time was how lived-in it feels. The crew’s banter, the cramped routines, the way they joke one minute and brace for death the next—it all feels grimly authentic. The claustrophobia is relentless, but so is the humanity. Petersen isn’t out to glorify anything; he just drops you in the tin can and shuts the hatch.

I used to think it was about survival. Now it feels more like a slow, rust-covered descent into absurdity. The sea doesn’t care who’s right. And by the time you surface, if you do, you’re not sure what home even means anymore.

On the Original Cut. - Das Boot review by Steve

In 1981, West Germany was best known for its arthouse directors, like Herzog, Wenders, Fassbinder etc. This is something different, a combat film set during WWII, and it was a success across the world. Which may be unexpected as this is relatively mute on Nazi politics. It takes a while to adjust to how empathetic it is to the German U-boat crew.

When they celebrate a hit, it is against allied ships. This is set in 1941 with the Kriegsmarine intent on sinking cargo heading for the UK, to starve the nation to defeat. The film demonstrates why morale was so low in the German forces; whether the deluded commanders back in Berlin, the usual grumbling about food and leave....

Or, most emphatically, the hardships of serving in a submarine crew, which we experience with astonishing realism via the excellent models and sound/visual effects. There are well staged action scenes, but much of the time we watch scared, homesick young men with much to complain about- living in malodorous squalor.

There's isn't much of an overview other than an offstage impression of the war going badly. There is no plot intrigue. This is about experiencing their hell. There's an authentic seeming cast, led by Jürgen Prochnow. It's too long, but still interesting to see the other side of the story. This is widely reviewed as the best submarine war film ever made.