Greatest film ever made. Much respect from England.

Grönemeyer ist befremdlich mittlerweile!

When the long version came to TV in Ireland my parents allowed me to stay up late to watch it. It was a mini series set over weeks on the TV. I was enthralled and mesmerized. No one I ever met thought about Germany or Nazis, that’s bullshit. It was about young men exposed to danger and the heartbreak of war. The world loved and embraced Das Boot and still does. I salute you all. Thank you for making the best submarine film of all time. And yes, the 5 hour version is the one for me.

As a US Navy veteran who was a sonar operator, I LOVE THIS FILM! I have it on DVD. I was the guy operating the sonar looking for the submarines; I would've been the guy operating the ASDIC looking for the U-boat in this flim. The film accurately captures the monotony of life at sea, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. As for capturing camaraderie among the crew, no film does it BETTER! We'd rip on each other, do the stupid shows, etc. Though Germany was our enemy in WWII; though I'm glad we won the U-Boat war; I couldn't root against the men in this film. In most WWII films I ever saw, I rooted against the Germans; I could not and did not do that here. Because I'm a US Navy vet, I can identify with the guys on the sub. Even though I've seen this film multiple times (I have the DVD!), the ending always gets me; they triumph over all their crises only to die when returning home. Das Boot is a powerful, powerful film. It's one of the greatest of all time. We'll never see the likes of Das Boot ever again.

Perhaps one of the best and most honest war films ever made. One of my personal favourites. Hollywood would have ruined this film and turned it into just another crappy quick money production instead of the piece of art it became

One of my favorite movies of all time - RIP Wolfgang Petersen.

Das Boot is an incredible film.. And this is coming from a life long British Sailor!.. It told the story from the other side and was accurate.. Huge respect from me..

At the age of 63 I've seen a hell of a lot of war films and Das Boot is the best of the lot. Since its release, I've made the effort to watch it at least once a year and no matter how many times I've seen it the poignant end hits me hard.

I remember when this incredible series was shown in Scotland, a national newspaper published a letter from a veteran of The Royal Navy whose ship had been sunk by a U-Boat, he was saying that even he was hoping that U-96 would be saved in the scene where they are stuck on the sea floor and where they were all getting choked by chlorine coming from the batteries.

I still remember when "Das Boot" came out on TV as a six part, prime time miniseries. Everyone and their dog was glued to the screen. And next day in school everyone quoted it.

Das Boot is an absolute masterpiece of film making. My respect for Wolfgang Peterson as a directorial genius was sealed after my first viewing. There are so few brilliant films about one of the most grievous events in the history of warfare, I can't count the number of times I' watched the CD limited edition of Das Boot... always finding something I missed, the mark of a brilliant film.

PS: At 14:44 the subtitles say "The Scots are breaking." The original line is "Die Schotten brechen" Unfortunately, "Schotten" in this context, means "bulkheads" not "Scots". Similar at 21:25, the subtitles say "bullet shots" while in the original it says "Kugelschotten". Although "Kugel" can colloquially mean "bullet", here "Kugel" is used in the sense of "sphere" and "schotten" as above. 23:34 "it was quite different". Original "dann wurde dir auch schon ganz anders" Hard to translate literally, but meaning "then you were about to throw up" 23:50 In the original Semmelrogge says "Ein edles Gewächs", a standing expression for noble/very good grapes.

Truly an epic and poignant film. It's pristinely display raw emotions of the German submariner-courage, guts, love of each other and the tragedies of war. Excellent cast of actors. One of the best war or antiwar films of all times! No glorification of human sufferings here, only their survival.

The stuntman who drove the model boat even needs subtitles for German viewers. 😁

I remember the series being shown on BBC2 TV, in the UK, on a Sunday evening in the mid 1980s. It was a must watch series and I enjoyed discussing it's brilliance with my work colleagues on a Monday morning. It was a film about the ordinary sailor thrown into the hostile environment of war. Much respect from the UK.

As an ex-submariner I know what these brave me went through, a brilliant film well done.

I even called my yacht ' Das Boot ' and had a happy swordfish on the bow.

For me this film is undoubtedly a Masterpiece in the war movies category. The fact that it was entirely "German made" is a major plus to reveal a part of the historical truth concerning the stupidity and the horror of the war ! I don't speak German but I watched it in original version with subtitles and it brings us even closer to these Men of the Underwater war ! A Kelt from Gaul, Rock the Universe !!

In my opinion one of greatest films ever made. Never grow tired of rewatching it.

There is a version of DAS BOOT, that comes in a metal DVD container, that is around 6.5 hours long- approximately. This version incorporates much from the German TV show & it's simply great !! Myself ? I must watch the German version with the English subtitles. For me, this is the only way.... 🚬😎👍

I read the book before the movie existed ... and the book is the key to success, because it is brutal and honest and REAL.

During the 70s I was in the Australian Air Force; later I became a newspaper and radio film critic/journalist regularly writing on films being released for 'free-to-air' TV screening. I must confess that I was not too fond of the original cinema release of 'Das Boot'. I had already known that it was part of a bigger work that 'one day' might turn up as a TV mini-series which were popular at the time. Yet, when I was given an advance copy of the 209 minute Director's cut my opinion was totally turned around. I must stress that I never, for a moment, thought that, any version, of this film/TV series was glorifying war in any way. To me, 'Das Boot' has always been about the suffering of those submariners at the cutting edge of incredible hostilities. The real life casualty figures for the Kriegsmarine submarine service being at a tragic 30K mirrors the 50K losses of Allied aircrews due to their around the clock bombing campaign over occupied Europe and Germany. Neither campaigns were 'glorious' or pro-war. 'Das Boot' brilliantly shows us the physical and psychological trauma of serving while 'locked up' in a metal tube that can deal out death while also being so vulnerable itself to sudden destruction; just as it was for the 'metal tubes' that flew across the skies that could, at any second, go down in a blaze of flame and destruction. The only saving grace for the fliers was their ability to sleep between clean sheets back at base, if they survived. Submariners, rightly held up as heroes by their own side, were treated like 'kings' and given comforts and perks largely unavailable to the general public at the time. But they too had to survive the 'hell underwater' to receive those luxuries. 'Das Boot' is, undoubtedly, the best 'submarine film' ever made. For pure filmmaking skill, taking chances and steering deliberately away from stereotypical 'sub movies', 'Das Boot' has a clear shot at being considered as one of the top 50 motion pictures ever made. Sadly, I'm still waiting, and hoping, for someone to make its counterpart film showing similar, raw, situations of the aircrews flying long-range bomber missions of WW2. Perhaps '12 o'clock High' is a contender but it is flawed in that it really only shows the trauma felt by its lead character and barely dwells on the collective 'torture' of enduring flak, fighters and flying accidents etc. An excellent documentary on 'Das Boot'. This video, I think, should also have a dubbed English version so one can take in more of the gripping visuals while the filmmaker and actors describe the incredible difficulties of making a truly outstanding film. Thank you so much for the upload. Cheers, Bill H.

The benchmark, the Gold Standard of Submarine Films!

An amazing movie. I still watch it several times a year, and one of my young sons favourites. He sometimes stands at the top of the stairs and screams "Alarm!"

I saw the tv series years before the film. It is infinitely superior in every way. When I got to see the film, even the directors cut, I was very disappointed it's not even a pale shadow of the series!

Totally enjoyed this video. I slowed the play down to .75% setting so I could more easily read, understand and see the characters presented and view the sets. I first saw this at a friends' house in 1981 on his VCR and VHS tape in the original German. After seeing it, I bought both for myself, never regretted that buy. Wore out that tape, and since have gone to DVD and Blueray which I have various copies of "Das Boot"..I've always listed this as the BEST submarine film and maybe the best war film ever. I'm talking 100 years of work here including "Best Years of Our Lives" and "Saving Private Ryan" and "12 O'clock High" and "All Quiet on The Western Front". The attention to detail and realism are remarkable.. 78 y/o in USA.

Not even to this days,they can't make movie like Das Boot... Best war movie ever...

I am now 72 & a brit, this series is unforgetable & will go down as a true classic like high noon etc etc.

I was stationed in Germany with the Canadian Army during the later parts of the production. Given the general leftist youth movement at the time there (sounds very similar today) I am not surprised that this classic was not accepted at the time. If you don't see this as an anti war movie just maybe consider what the characters portrayed may have become with out war. Thank you so much for this behind the scenes view. Danke, Danke!

The ending of this documentary, with the film veterans talking about how they have "brotherhood" despite the madness of the production, is obviously a metaphor for war veteran fondly remembering their sense of purpose and comradeship despite the horror of war.

I can just imagine the feelings of the people of La Rochelle during the filming.... gladto have seen this.

You could smell this movie that's how realistic it is

Thank you so much for uploading this, I couldn't find anything behind the scenes with English subtitles. I just recently finished the mini-series, I did not even know it existed long after I watched the director's cut back in the day, which I thought of nothing more but a masterpiece. The mini-series takes a masterful foundation and builds even more on it, the sheerness of dull moments, the tension, the horror and the dreadful immersion make this story so believable and profoundly realistic. The final shot is so deeply etched in my memory and I doubt I will ever forget it.

Great film, great actors, great music ........ one of my favorite war movie!

All submariners are brave heroes. They frought bravely under unimaginable conditions and constant danger. Respect

One of the best films ever made! ... Thank you for all your efforts!

das Video lauft 35sec und ich hab schon Gänsehaut,ich liebe diesen Film so abgöttisch, dass ich U-Boot Simulation auf voll realistisch spiele und sogar das Navigieren auf See lernte und wie man Torpedo Rechner verwendet und Kurs bestimmt usw.Selbst wie die Enigma funzte lernte ich,jedoch ehr erfolglos,das war mir dann zu viel arbeit :D

For me two german films are excellent: "Das boot" and "Stalingrad", I've read all Buchheim books and "Das boot" is very realistic. And this excellent music! No Hollywood cr*p with love stories, but crude reality of war...

I don't understand why the film was seen as a failure, because I thought it was absolutely brilliant, I bought the DVD as soon as it came out , this film is now a classic, RIP Wolfgang Peterson, and the cast members who have also Passed.

Ich liebe dieses Film. Einfach. Für mich der beste Film des alles zeiten.

It's fascinating to look back at all these young, unknown actors and amateurs who went on to become the top rank of German film faces.

Wonderful documentary of a masterpiece film!!!

Thank you so much for the English subtitles and for the whole film,! That's really a splendid picture, and it was very interesting to see a film about the real story about its production!

Ex RCN stoker here. Easily one of the finest films ever made, and a personal favourite. Well done doc. Thanx.

Truly a masterpiece.

Watched this movie in Munster West Germany I was a British soldier. A wet Saturday afternoon. German which I couldn't speak. But made a impression on me,!

7:00 Ein Glück, denn haute liegt so ziemlich das gesamte englischsprachige Kriegsfilmpublikum auf den Knien vor dieser Produktion (besonders dem TV Mehrteiler von 1985) und schaut ihn sogar im O-Ton mit Untertiteln. Wir können dankbar sein, daß der Buchheim so ein Wadenbeißer war. _(Fortunately, because today almost the entire English speaking war film audience kneels before this production (especially the 1985 TV-miniseries) and watches it in original voice with subtitles. We can be thankful for Buchheim being such a hard-ass.)_

Faszinierend ! Diese Doku zu sehen ist so spannend wie der Film selber… 👍🏻👏🏻

If Das Boot were made by either Sturges or Siegel instead of Wolfgang would be a completely different movie.

Quality, in very sense. I vividly remember watching the series on tv in the 80’s as a kid with my brother and parents at home in the UK - it was the highlight of our week. We were all totally gripped and wanting the boys to make it. Hearty respect to those men. Duty bound and never broken. To all those sailors that served on both sides: If you were here I’d get the rums in, it’s the least I could do.

Brilliant ! One of the best (anti) war films ever. Glad it was a German film. I'd hate to think what Hollywood have done to it - thinking of 'Pearl Harbour', 'Fury', 'Green Beret' and other pieces of crap.

17:33 "The people looked older than today" I once had a sudden problem at a Barbecue. Suddenly I felt bad, a bite stook in my gullet, I stood up, lean against a chair and the last thing I know, that I rised my arms to keep my bloodpressure up. I woke up, my wife rised me from the gras I was lying on and asked me, very scared, "What's up with you?" I've never seen such a sharp drawn face wrinkels again in my live. After that experience I can understand when somebody get's a hundred years older in a very short time.

As a US submarine sailor, I found this documentary very interesting, and the movie is the best! Thank you!

Quel film magnifique. J'avais vu ce film avec celle qui est devenue la mère de nos enfants, on commencait à sortir ensemble, et avant de voir ce film elle n'avait jamais aimé les films de guerre. Pourtant elle avait pas raté une minute de ce film rivée à son siège. Ce film n'était pas un film de guerre, mais un film sur la vie, ses joies, ses peines, ses douleurs, ses regrets et sur sa fin... J'ai vu ce film au complet plus d'une 20 aine de fois et avait même acheté une copie, celle là à un musée aux USA en 2018.0

I saw this upon its release, my hands hurt at the end from gripping the arm rests.

Thank you for posting this wonderful documentary on one of my top favorite war movies.

This was such an incredible movie. The music also was so haunting and dramatic. I have watched it about 10 times to date. So interesting to see things from a German perspective.

One of my favourite films. And it is antiwar.

I thank The Critical Drinker for producing a video of the movie. I watched the mini series and I watch it every now and then.

Saw this in theaters at the age of 12 in Greenwich CT. I still vividly recall much of it. That's a great film.

This is my favorite film of all time

I've lost count of the number of times I've watched this masterpiece. If anyone doubts the horror of war, watch this film, and All Quiet on the Western Front.

28:30- ist ja irre. Das stimmt tatsächlich. Verrückt, was Menschen so einfällt. Auch der Typ der das vorführt ... Beste Erklär-Stimme und Ruhe dabei.

my favorite submarine movie, so realistic, great job !!! Greetings from Poland :)

the cinemas should have played it with an theatre style intermission. two 1.5h parts. giving the whole 3+h experience. even then, the longest, mini-series, version is the best. the movie needs time to create the tension, give information, and then after the waiting, and buildup, the action feels so much more dramatic. its a great drama, love film (sailors love for the sea), adventure, everything. of course there is remorse for why they did what they did, but the adventure itself, outside of politics, is still great.

For me by far the best ww2 movie ever made

I will also add that at the time of my viewing of this we have seen Stalingrad, and All Quiet on the Western Front so, great German war films that continue to show an honest depiction of German war experiences.

As a retired US Navy Submarine sailor, I can truthfully say the Book and the movie are top notch and I recommend it to anyone with an open mind.

I remember watching this movie as a kid. The best hand down

ONE OF THE BEST FILMS EVER . MUST BE KEPT IN GERMAN. BUT WITH GOOD SUBTITLES. IS A MUST .I MUST HAVE WATCHED IT AT LEAST 8 TIMES .

ich habe diesen film 17 mal gesehen und den roman 4 mal gelesen!!!! ein absoluter EPOS!!!!!!

Such a great movie so refreshing an real, regards from Australia 🇦🇺.

Watched the first series when it came out, then bought the video, now have the DVD. brilliant film!!

My dad served on a corvette (HMCS Leaside) and thought the movie was good. The only time he said anything during the movie was when they torpedo the burning tanker. He just shook his head and muttered "Tanker fires were bad. Oh... they were bad."

Being a young teenage britisher the first time i watched it, i can quite understand how we enjoyed it so much, we was still crippled with dept from loans,empire and dominions given back or swapped for war dept, alot of london and cities was still in ruins from the war, yes indeed as late as the 80's, 3 day a working week because electric got turned off because miners was striking, because maggi thatcher was closing them, so money for blockbuster films wasnt dared thought about, so in this case the only ww2 films would mainly come from hollywood, and all we'd see is the galiant yanks riding into war having to wipe our arses as we was about to loose, they then win all the battles beat germans, say theve won the war and go back home to a intact country weatlthier than before, and get a tv dinner out of a electric fridge and nuke it in a box,theres nothing like rubbing your face in aye, and before i finish, you can bet your life if british didnt like it they wouldnt have too, like we see now with modern programs like who's got talent, or x facter and the office if it goes down a treat this side of the pond, thell be copying it their side, so all in all a great film that ive watched numerous of times, even though i aint got a bloody clue what their saying,... alfee do da same,,,, see!!!!!!!

51:00 The Directors cut is also great. It has everything important in it. The Extended cut mostly depicts stuff like how the commander acts with his crew and there are more personal stories involved

''absolutely brilliant movie''standing the test of time ''fourty five year's on as freash today as the first time i watched it''from new zealand,respect to everyone involved with the project.cheer''s everyone and thank you.

A truly outstanding film! it remains the best submarine movie I've ever seen.

I watched the mini series when I was young. Couldn't wait for the next episode. I didn't expect to be rooting for Germans in war film but the actors performances were so good, you could only see their humanity in an inhuman situation.

Was excited when I found Doldinger from Passport was the music composer. Already a fan of Passport before this film.

Great movie. I can't believe they got negative reviews in Germany. I remember the scene where they are diving deep, I was getting claustrophobic in the movie theater.

Love this film & so glad I stumbled across this documentary!

The six hour version is great, but I still dare to hope for a remastered sound on that. With today's technology, the boat could come alive instead of sounding like a speakers cabin in all of the dialogs

Johan looks younger now than he was in 1980

Wow, thank you SO much for this! 😀👍

A brilliant masterpiece fantastic backstory👍one of my favorite movies of all time 👍👍👍

wow, this is great. shows the dedication, and didn't know they wanted American directors for it.

Unquestionably the greatest submarine film. Very tragic though. The entire cast shines but especially Jürgen Prochnow

One of the best war films of all time. I remember seeing this when it first arrived in the states. As realistic as it gets.

My uncle served in the North Atlantic on board US Coast Guard Cutter Cambell and did battle with U-606 after a surface attack 606 was sunk and Cambell was badly damaged,German sailors were taken on board,the convoy sailed on and both German and crew of Cambell saved ship and made slow time to Iceland, my uncle had great respect for German sub mariners for the rest of his life, God Bless you Uncle Duke……Fair Seas

Una película única, absolutamente excepcional. Muy interesante el documental, gracias.

Real heroes, truly a great, great film. Well made. One of the best films I've ever watched

Großartige Doku, die den Film nicht spoilert und noch immer zeitgemäß ist! Aber wenn im Eck Arte steht, ist (auch wenn keine Eigenproduktion) ja auch eine Erwartungshaltung da.

Absolutely enthralling the making of this epic. I recall another very fine depiction of a submariners existence, 'We Dive at Dawn'. As an older bloke I remember the effects of the war relating to London and Portsmouth. Strangely Das Boot did not raise any nationalistic feelings within me, one could associate with these individuals from a more humanitarian aspect, ordinary people coerced and manipulated into a situation no sane individual would ever contemplate. These brave lads were invariably Mariners doing what Establishments term, as, their duty for their country, they were seldom politically motivated and for that reason one felt deeply for their circumstances as one would for members of the Royal Navy, as an example. Back in 1949 I had the privilege to explore U776 close to the Tower of London, it had been surrendered at the close of war. It was magnificent but strangely my uppermost recollection is of the gleaming copper alloy utensils in the Galley area. I am approaching 85 now, I shall never forget that and Das Boot brought it back to me most vividly.

Definitely one of the best WW2 movies ever made. They succeeded in their aim!

Awesome Movie 👍👍👍 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮

Dont forget the music added so much to the film.

The film takes the viewer on board and makes the viewer fear for the lives of the sailors. The viewer becomes an accomplice and the film then questions the actions. Until the end, the film does not let the viewer out of the role of the sailor, only to show how the war destroys the heroes. So the viewer asks themselves, do I want to go this way? Everyone has to ask themselves this question.

Master piece!

Still by far my most favorite movie. I saw it multiple times when it came out.