A war film dubbed ‘claustrophobic’ and ‘thrilling’ is available to stream now via Amazon Prime Video.
Das Boot, released in 1981, is often deemed one of the greatest war movies of all time, telling the story of the German submarine U-96 and its crew as they set out on patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic.
It is based on Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s 1973 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name and was nominated for six Academy Awards.
Wolfgang Petersen’s masterpiece was the German film with the most Oscar nominations until 2022, when All Quiet on the Western Front snatched the title.
Despite Buchheim expressing his displeasure with the film adaptation, Das Boot received a sequel in the form of a TV series in 2018, set nine months after the events of the original film.
Overall, high production costs make it one of the most expensive films in German cinematic history, but it was certainly worth splashing the cash on, becoming a commercial success and grossing nearly $85million worldwide, which is equivalent to $277m (£202m) in today’s money.
The film currently holds a near-perfect 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘Taut, breathtakingly thrilling, and devastatingly intelligent, Das Boot is one of the greatest war films ever made.’
RogerEbert.com said Das Boot has ‘enough nerve-wracking suspense to make your heart pound against your chest like depth charges rupturing a submarine’s hull.’
Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote: ‘This is the finest submarine movie ever made. Although director Wolfgang Petersen emphasizes the claustrophobia of undersea life, his above-surface scenes are powerful as well.’
Meanwhile, Associated Press said: ‘Peterson has captured the teamwork, the claustrophobia and the peril of underwater warfare. He draws compelling performances from the crewmen, many of them quite young.’
‘The execution is second to none; taut, claustrophobic and overwhelming,’ Empire summarised.
Time Out added: ‘Petersen’s shooting style displays a breathtaking, if impersonal and faintly academic, virtuosity comparable to that of Lean or Coppola.’
Speaking to No Frills Sailing in 2019, Das Boot star Martin May explained how the film impacted his life.
‘Well, the answer is quite clear: It shaped everybody profoundly who had the honour to be part of the crew, no matter of before or behind the lenses,’ he said.
‘So did it shape me: It meant the best possible start into my career of being an actor.
‘It … really is still even to date the most professional produced, best executed movie production I ever worked with – and I know that many of my colleagues feel this way too.
‘Wolfgang Petersen is the most complete director I ever worked with – we were making a movie for almost one year without a single occasion of yelling, can you imagine that.’
Das Boot is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
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