Das Boot (1981)

Movie: Das Boot (1981)

“It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called “Battle of the Atlantic” to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. “Das Boot” is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served. Written by Anthony Hughes {husnock31@hotmail.com}”

• Director: Wolfgang Petersen
• Release Date: 10 February 1982 (USA)
• Run Time: 149 min | 209 min (director's cut) | 293 min (uncut version)
• Country: West Germany
• Genre: Action , Drama , History , War
• MPAA: Rated R for some war violence and brief language. (director's cut)

Tagline: This is the story of 42 raw recruits caught up in a war they didn't understand, and the Captain who must lead them in their struggle to survive.

Trivia: The only remaining U-boot of the VII-C class wasn’t used in the movie because it is a technical monument and memorial which can not only be visited, you can actually get an inside view of the U-995. It’s located in Laboe/Germany and was placed there in 1972.

Goofs: Anachronisms: At the beginning of the movie, the voice-over narration in female voice laments that the war “is going badly for Germany.” However, the movie is set in autumn/winter of 1941, when Germany was at its peak and the war was still going quite well for her; Hitler had invaded Russia, and even though he was eventually to be stopped at the gate of Moscow in December, 1941, the whole of Europe (including most of Russia west of the Urals) was under German control. The U.S. had not entered the war and its industrial might had not been brought to bear against Germany.