So I Watched "Das Boot" For The First Time

[Jonathan]

And I must say, that I was impressed by the film quality, the story, and the action sequences. Also, it makes me feel better knowing that the Bdu did not support Nazi-ism as some of the other branches. However, that movie made me feel very depressed about the chances of my men surviving...maybe we'll be in that lucky 25%. Needless to say, the way that a real 'boot operated and the way that mine does are WAY different. For starters...we don't have that much damn water coming in the hatch every time someone comes/comes topside...

All in all, great movie, and if anyone needs a copy, let me know.

[GoldenRivet]

i have seen it all the way through a couple of times... but i cant watch it all the way through anymore.

within the first 30-40 minutes i get the itch to come play SH3! :rotfl:

[mrbeast]

Possibly the finest naval film ever made

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by mrbeast

Possibly the finest naval film ever made

It is listed in the top three German films of all time, including Nosferatu and Metroplis....pretty high class stuff.

[WildYak]

Regarding the political leanings of U-boat crews:

I'm not sure where I read it, but somwhere I picked up that contrary to what is pictured in the film, the uboat crews (at least the officers) were vetted to make sure that they were loyal. Maybe it was Wikipedia (who knows how accurate that is, but that's another story), but it makes sense that on something as valuable as a uboat to not allow anybody who might not be loyal to the cause on board. I bet this is true for the officers, but I imagine that among the typical lay-sailors that there was a wide spectrum of loyalty. Especially towards the end when replacing uboat crew became more and more desperate. I wouldn't expect a uboat captain to be allowed to openly criticize Nazi doctrine at any time, though.

Still the best damn war movie I've ever seen.

[Blacklight]

Needless to say, the way that a real 'boot operated and the way that mine does are WAY different. For starters...we don't have that much damn water coming in the hatch every time someone comes/comes topside...

Usually in my boat.. all that damn water is usually rushing in from the holes punched in it by Allied ships or Bernard screwing something up or both combined.

[BulSoldier]

Great movie indeed.Im now reading the book.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by WildYak

Regarding the political leanings of U-boat crews:

I'm not sure where I read it, but somwhere I picked up that contrary to what is pictured in the film, the uboat crews (at least the officers) were vetted to make sure that they were loyal. Maybe it was Wikipedia (who knows how accurate that is, but that's another story), but it makes sense that on something as valuable as a uboat to not allow anybody who might not be loyal to the cause on board. I bet this is true for the officers, but I imagine that among the typical lay-sailors that there was a wide spectrum of loyalty. Especially towards the end when replacing uboat crew became more and more desperate. I wouldn't expect a uboat captain to be allowed to openly criticize Nazi doctrine at any time, though.

Still the best damn war movie I've ever seen.

Hi!

Gordon Williamson in Wolf Pack: The Story of the Uboat in World War II writes the following:

"U-boat commanders, though proud and patriotic Germans, were quite notorious in their disrespect for the Nazi regime. On one famous occasion, U-boat ace Teddy Suhren of U-564 was approaching port to tie up alongside after a long war cruise when he leaned over the edge of the conning tower and yelled 'Are the Nazis still in charge?' When the replay 'Yes' came back, Suhren immediately put his engines into reverse and backed away from the quayside, much to the amusement of those watching."

Suhren in his autobiography also mentions this incident, coming at the end of his final war patrol in U-564 before he was transferred to training duty. He indicates that backing the engines was normal at this time while docking, but that the timing of his question followed by backing the engines made it seem as if he was going to back out of the pier. The story made its way around the fleet quite quickly, but he said he was never in trouble for it.

Pablo

[Bill KUnert]

Das Boot is a film that really gets you into it. You can almost smell the stink inside the sub. Another WWII movie I really like is Band of Brothers. Like Das boot it doesn't do a lot to glamorize the war. Just a lot of grunts living in miserable conditions and doing their duty-like the German submariners.

[K-61]

Das Boot is one of those films which makes me wish somebody could invent a machine that would, temporarily of course, delete any previous memories of a movie. That way, you could watch your favourite movies over and over again and always experience the thrill of watching a new movie. But they'd have to perfect that technology before I stuck my head in that thing. :hmm:

[Vampire1605]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

i have seen it all the way through a couple of times... but i cant watch it all the way through anymore.

within the first 30-40 minutes i get the itch to come play SH3! :rotfl:

I know the feeling

[Jonathan]

I do not think that we can understate how awesome that movie is.

[Cohaagen]

If you can, get the undubbed mini-series. The passage of time and tedium felt by the crew is more palpable, and it's a much better character study than the movie, especially for supporting characters like Johann, etc. BBC2 showed it a few years ago, best thing I ever watched.

[WildYak]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Hi!

Gordon Williamson in Wolf Pack: The Story of the Uboat in World War II writes the following:

"U-boat commanders, though proud and patriotic Germans, were quite notorious in their disrespect for the Nazi regime. On one famous occasion, U-boat ace Teddy Suhren of U-564 was approaching port to tie up alongside after a long war cruise when he leaned over the edge of the conning tower and yelled 'Are the Nazis still in charge?' When the replay 'Yes' came back, Suhren immediately put his engines into reverse and backed away from the quayside, much to the amusement of those watching."

Suhren in his autobiography also mentions this incident, coming at the end of his final war patrol in U-564 before he was transferred to training duty. He indicates that backing the engines was normal at this time while docking, but that the timing of his question followed by backing the engines made it seem as if he was going to back out of the pier. The story made its way around the fleet quite quickly, but he said he was never in trouble for it.

Pablo

Thanks Pablo,

That's really neat. Shows you the Achille's heel of Wikipedia! I'm in the throes of a Masters degree right now, but as soon as I can get back to reading for pleasure I'd very much like to read some autobiographies of some of the Uboat skippers.

Thanks for the information, it's nice to know that there were some good apples.

[Koondawg]

I just uploaded that to my Zune tonight...I plan on watching it again while at work...so mums the word. I bought the directors cut...a must have...