Another Das Boot Thread

[krashkart]

Ever since I joined up here at Subsim I have been meaning to buy a copy of Das Boot. I finally broke down and bought the original uncut version on sale from Amazon. It arrived in the mail yesterday and I spent my whole evening watching it from beginning to end. I haven't seen a movie in recent history that was this exciting (although, the last hour of Melancholia rates a close second to this)!

The whole time they're at sea I'm picturing in the back of my mind my own U-boot in SH3 crashing through the waves. Every attack they endure becomes my own, and of course their final struggle at Gibraltar absolutely blew my mind. SH3 will never be the same for me after this. :DL

The only thing I really didn't like about the movie, knowing now what I've learned from around here, were the depth charges exploding so close to the boat without destroying it. But other than that, the movie engrossed me so much that I didn't get to bed until nearly 1AM this morning. I had to watch it in full. It was that good. :haha:


Das Boot is quite the experience. Thanks for getting me hooked, Subsim. :salute:

[Sailor Steve]

Every u-boat subsim from Aces Of The Deep to Silent Hunter 5 has been an attempt to recreate the Das Boot experience in one capacity or another. Military History magazine rated Das Boot as the #3 war movie of all time. All Quiet On The Western Front was #1, and #2 went to Paths Of Glory.

As for the depth charge scenes, I personally wish they had not done any external shots, including the torpedoes hitting the ships. I would rather have just the viewpoint of the men inside the boat. On the other hand someone else long ago pointed out that scenes like that are made for the general audience, much the same as having dogfighting airplanes be 100 feet apart rather than 400 yards. So we live with it and we try to ignore it and we whine a lot.

[krashkart]

I had to allow the depth charge scenes as artistic license. Every submarine movies needs those explosions to be up close and personal, otherwise a general audience would shrug it off or miss the point.

One thing I really drew from watching this movie was a much deeper respect for the average German sailor. It helps that this is an authentically German movie about Germans serving their duty to their country. It wasn't tainted with an overlying sense of political fanaticism like we sometimes see in war movies. This wasn't about policy, it was about the survival of human beings trapped in a steel coffin. By the end of the movie there wasn't a character on board that I didn't like.

I got a real kick out of the CPO, the kid that always seems to have a mischievous grin on his face. :)

[nikimcbee]

My funny DB story, so when my parents bought a fancy TV/ sound system, I went over to their house to watch the Director's cut of DB. (they weren't home at the time:D) I turned the sound up so loud, that when the depth charges went off, the sound was vibrating the pictures on the wall.:haha:

Surround sound is cool!:rock:

I also bought the blue ray version on it.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things I like about this longest version is the portrayal of the 1WO. In the 'short' theatrical version he sort of comes across as the nazi they accuse him of being. The Director's Cut was a little better, but it's only in the full-length version that he's shown as a kid who had it good on his stepdad's ranch in Mexico, but was young and confused, and saw it as his duty to make his way home and join the war effort. Because he is young and confused he joined The Party, not because he's a believer in the cause, but because he thinks that's what he's supposed to do. He's unsure of himself and finds confidence in that sense of belonging to something greater than than himself. That the Something Greater is evil is not part of the equation, and he probably doesn't even see it. I really like the fact that he stays cool and does his job properly when things are going south.

Yes, the smirking 2WO (not CPO) is a bit different from his description in the book. There he is the captain's right-hand man, and the quote is that the captain only sleeps well when the 2WO is on duty. That said, I too like his portrayal in the movie, making jokes to steady his own and everyone else's nerves.

The CPO (actually we would call him the COB) is the stout, stalwart guy who comes to Werner's defense when he gets hit with the oily rag. He's the man who controls the crew and is the liason between the crew and the officers. He's also the equivalent of the Master Sergeant in all those English films, the guy who stands straight and tall when under fire and calmly says "Steady on, lads."

[nikimcbee]

Which version of the movie did you get?

[nikimcbee]

My favorite scene in the whole movie was the first crash dive, to mess with Werner. The expressions on the actor's faces are priceless, because you can look at them and you know which crew members are new and who the veterans are.:Kaleun_Applaud:

[Sailor Steve]

Krashkart said he has the 5-hour Uncut version. I have them all; the first two on videotape and the big version on DVD. I had the Director's cut on DVD as well, but gave it away when I got the longer version.

I don't have the Blu-Ray version yet, mainly because I don't have a Blu-Ray player. Then again, I'd only watch them each once, since the Uncut version is far and away my favorite.

As for the crash dive, there is a teaser in the uncut version which I don't remember being in the Director's Cut.

[krashkart]

Which version of the movie did you get?

The long version. I did my research before settling on the purchase, and consequently made sure to watch it un-dubbed with subtitles. :D

[nikimcbee]

Krashkart said he has the 5-hour Uncut version. I have them all; the first two on videotape and the big version on DVD. I had the Director's cut on DVD as well, but gave it away when I got the longer version.

I don't have the Blu-Ray version yet, mainly because I don't have a Blu-Ray player. Then again, I'd only watch them each once, since the Uncut version is far and away my favorite.

As for the crash dive, there is a teaser in the uncut version which I don't remember being in the Director's Cut.

The only reason I bought the blue ray version was for the tons of extras about making the the. If irecall, the blue ray contains the original US theater release version and the director's cut.

[nikimcbee]

The long version. I did my research before settling on the purchase, and consequently made sure to watch the un-dubbed version with subtitles. :D

That's the only way to watch it. I gotta use those German classes for something.

My favorite version is the "Director's Cut" for the (vastly) improved sound.:rock: If you're ever able to, watch DC DB on a big screen TV with surround sound. Turn all the lights off and turn it up as loud as you can stand.:D

When the destroyer passes over and drops the DCs... find something to hold onto!:rock::dead:

[frau kaleun]

I had to allow the depth charge scenes as artistic license. Every submarine movies needs those explosions to be up close and personal, otherwise a general audience would shrug it off or miss the point.

Pretty sure they talk about this in the commentary on the Director's Cut, and yeah... it was a matter of making the audience understand how perilous the situation was when one of those went off. If they had shown them at a "proper" distance, most people wouldn't know enough about the physics involved to understand why that was still such a big problem.

IIRC, it was also a matter of framing, i.e., they had to show them that close in order to show them at all and still get the explosions and the boat all in the picture while also giving enough of a "close-up" to the boat that you could tell what was going on in the murkiness of those underwater shots.

Kind of the same way they used dark colors for all the inside surfaces of the boat, when in reality they probably would've been painted in lighter colors to better reflect and maximize what little interior lighting they had on board. But that would have been a technical nightmare to shoot, and more importantly would not have conveyed the same claustrophobic atmosphere to the audience.

Anyway, Das Boot is awesome, the end. :D

[krashkart]

Anyway, Das Boot is awesome, the end. :D

Indeed. :rock:


I feel like I have passed through some monumental threshold that I had never known about. A new level of manhood... or something. Now to find myself a sexy little newsgirl and a cork... :O::DL



EDIT: I also understand now why there are so many bananas on Balz' U-boot. :haha:

[Hinrich Schwab]

Now to find myself a sexy little newsgirl and a cork... :O::DL

Don't forget the violin string...it's a complicated procedure, you know.:D:O::haha:


I had a copy of the Director's cut on VHS when it came out and bought the Uncut version on DVD a few years back. Both are excellent. When I bought the book a few weeks ago, I had it devoured in less than a week. It is just an excellent story. The best part is that the movie implies and the book outright states that the seasoned vets on the crew pass time by trying to out-troll one another. :har: It adds such a different dimension to the crew and makes so much sense to the cardboard cutout characters from other sub stories.

[krashkart]

This movie was a bad influence. I am getting my butt kicked by a sub chaser south of Shikoku right now. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=258&pictureid=5377

How deep is this hull warrantied to?? http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=258&pictureid=4485



EDIT: I'm gonna have to order the book sometime. Sounds like a good read.

[sharkbit]

EDIT: I'm gonna have to order the book sometime. Sounds like a good read.

Good book. :up:

Brings out the boredom of a long patrol because there really is not a ton of action in the book. The author will spend a whole page describing the color of the ocean and the sky.

:)

[Sailor Steve]

:yep:

Three things that affected me greatly.

1. The movie hints at it but the book describes how he befriended the enlisted men by standing bridge watches for them. Then he describes how heavy the binoculars became after two hours.

2. The lemons. He describes how the different officers spruced up their lemon rations. Of course the U-boot Coctail was the 2WO's method, but the LI eating a spoonful of sugar and then biting down on the lemon slice...I was amazed the next time I watched the movie. They don't mention it, but sure enough, he does it just that way!

3. Johann and Franz. Some things got changed for the movie, but it always annoyed me that their first names were used. Enlisted men are always called by their last names. So I read the book and was delighted when Buccheim commented on the same thing. Turns out that it was someone's idea of a joke to put them together on the same boat, because Johann and Franz were their last names! It's been awhile, and I can't check because the book is in my storage, but I think it was Karl Johann and Emil Franz.

[Hinrich Schwab]

:yep:

Three things that affected me greatly.

3. Johann and Franz. Some things got changed for the movie, but it always annoyed me that their first names were used. Enlisted men are always called by their last names. So I read the book and was delighted when Buccheim commented on the same thing. Turns out that it was someone's idea of a joke to put them together on the same boat, because Johann and Franz were their last names! It's been awhile, and I can't check because the book is in my storage, but I think it was Karl Johann and Emil Franz.

*checks book* Page 45. August Johann and Karl Franz. In the movie, Franz only gets one or two brief moments of screen time while the book explains a bit more about the two. After reading how different they are in the book, I developed a bit of a gripe during Johann's "key" scene in the movie. Not a real big deal, but it was a big departure from the original text.