The DC Edition is centered around the action elements, focussing on the convoy attack, the depth charging and the gibraltar run. Most of the scenes that show the things Buchheim (author of 'Das Boot') summarized in the chapters 'Sturm' (=Storm) and especially the two 'Gammel' - chapters (Gammel: short for 'rumgammeln', hanging around doing nothing).
The Director's Cut still is a good movie and technically superior to the DVD releases of the mini series (at least over here in Germany). The mini series, however, shows much more of the time on board a boat, which at most time was hardly more than boredom while cruising up and down the Atlantic.
Having watched all three versions (including the very first TV broadcast of the mini series back in the early 80ies) I personally prefer the mini series. The DC Edition is still a good movie to watch, especially when you don't want to hang in front of the TV for five hours.
Oh, and one last thing: Watch it in German, if you can. The English translation is somewhere between horrible and terrible.
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