We are under U because Das Boot is about a U-Boat.
Writer: Wolfgang Petersen (Screenplay) Lothar G Buchheim (Novel)
Starring: Jurgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge
Plot: The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth and sheer terror.
Tagline – Hitler sent out 40,000 men aboard German U-Boats during World War 2. Less than 10,000 returned.
Runtime: 2 Horus 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Brilliant
Story: Das Boot starts as a war correspondent Lt Werner (Gronemeyer) joins the crew of Captain-Lt Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock’s (Prochnow) U-Boat during World War II, looking to create a story about the success of the U-Boat side of the war, the crew are a rowdy group, if they are not drinking on shore leave, they are pull pranks on the newest crew members.
Once out at sea, the crew must face the reality of the dangers of war, destroyers roaming the open water, attacks to the ship and showing just how deadly being in a submarine through the war would have been.
Thoughts on Das Boot
Final Thoughts – When is comes to wartime movies, we know we need to get to know a crew, unit and soldier before going forward with the story, here we meet the crew, we have the typical line up, where we have the stricter, jokey and the nervous ones, each gets there moment to show why they are making certain decision during the journey. We get the high level of peril when the attacks happen, showing us just how claustrophobic the environment would be for the crew, how much they ricked to get the upper hand, while showing us the important information that three quarters of U-Boat crew never returned home from the war. This is on the epic scale because we do spend time learning more about the crew, while they might come off reckless, when it comes to dealing with the operation to survive they will show the loyalty to win the battles they find themselves in.
Overall: Epic War Movie.
