Das Boot

[bigboywooly]

Well the most annoying thing about u571 was where were the Brits ?????
As in RL it was a British operation that the film is about not a US one

Not a patch on Das Boot anyway..U-571 makes everything seem sweet: there is no claustrophobia, the crew gets along pretty well, they kill every german in sight, and even a destroyer. Das Boot shows a destroyed boat, terribly strained relationships, a sense of quiet desperation and resignation. Where U-571 plays glorious fanfare, Das Boot counters with powerful silence. Where Das Boot puts grime, U-571 substitutes pretty faces. Where Das Boot has realism, U-571 doesn't.

Originally Posted by Umfuld

Well I know nothing about subs at all. But one of my favorite movies is Hunt For Red October.

Anyone have any thoughts about that? Just wondering if that is more or less accurate in regards to modern subs. I don't read Clancy, but from what I know he does a lot of research on the subjects he writes about.

Again, not to side track the thread, I'd just be interested in hearing from anyone who knows about such things.

I know something about Clancy. It's rumoured he was debriefed by the Pentagon after he wrote the Hunt for Red October...but this is just a rumour. Probably brought on by the fact that Reagen said to the audience at a public function that it was his "favorite book". Also, take into account that the publishers of the book were the Naval Press and Hunt for Red October to this day remains the only work of non-fiction ever published by them.

The book caused a lot of controversy at the time (1984) considering it was the height of the Cold War and there were murmers Clancy was giving away classified information through the book. Though an Admiral once said "There is a major flaw in the book, which I cannot disclose. But for this reason, the book is purely a work of fiction and no danger to national security".

The idea for the book came from a real life incident where a Soviet destroyer was trying to defect to a Scandinavian country.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Syxx_Killer]

I watched Das Boot a few weeks ago when it came on one of Encore's channels. It was ok. I guess since this forum praised the movie so much I had my hopes set too high. I taped it, nonetheless.

The Hunt for Red October was an ok movie, too. I watched the movie a few times before finally reading the book. I was completely shocked how different the movie was from the book. I think the only thing the book and movie had in common was the name.

[Umfuld]

You just can't beat Connery doing a Russian accent.

:rotfl:

[boshunter]

I must say the novel is alot better than the movie....
but the movie itself is a masterpiece!

for anyone who haven't read the Das Boot novel, they should, its somewhat different than the movie and cover alot more

as for u571.. what a joke =)
but the truth is...there will never be a "perfect" war movie... no one want to see the truth and no one will ever be able to recreate the event that happen to those men who die in a war that should never happen

[CybrSlydr]

Das Boot is a damn good movie. Alot better than most movies from it's era.

I picked up the Director's Cut Superbit version at Best Buy for $10. Great investment!

Man, the ending... After all that.

[U-Bones]

Originally Posted by Kurushio

I know something about Clancy. It's rumoured he was debriefed by the Pentagon after he wrote the Hunt for Red October...but this is just a rumour. Probably brought on by ....

Sounds like something a news anchor would say.

Das Boot was great, although I confess I like all sub movies, even the corny WWII era ones.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

I hate it when Americans try to make movies about something they dont really have that much experience about. Especially true in U-571 - They should've got Wolfgang Petersen to do that, he wouldn't have messed it up half as much. Sure its alright to watch if you're mainstream but its pretty painful if you're a submarine enthusiast.

Dont get me wrong, America has made some excellent movies in general (Ghostbusters! ) but war movies have become way too Americanised, subsribing to the "one man/squad on a mission to save Europe from evil"

Bridge Too Far, anyone seen that? Thats a brilliant movie. Its got all three countries in it, and they all work together, providing some excellent chemistry:

"Ask the Brits to get some of those pontoon bridge boats down here ASAP."
"Yes Sir!"
"And be sure to say please!"

Another thing I cant stand is when someone makes a war movie, where the Germans dont speak German.

Oh yeah, remember Kelly's Heroes?

[Rhodes]

I like Kelly's heroes...eheh, I saw a movie a few months, The Enemy Below with Robert Mitchum, Curt Jurgens, Theodore Bikel, Doug McClure, 57 movie. The u-boat crew was not portrait as "evil doers" and the captain of the destroyer was not the "revenge looking" caracter. Of course the u-boat model and interior are wrong but the movie is good. I tinhk a good remake now,well done, the movie would became a very good one about the war of atlantic.

[Rosencrantz]

Umfuld wrote:

Well I know nothing about subs at all. But one of my favorite movies is Hunt For Red October.

I was 11 years old I first time read Clancys HFRO and few years older I saw the film. Have to say I didn't liked the film at all. Like someone said before, it can make you feel there is not anything else common between the film and the book but the name. I think the film lost the very basic idea of Clancy: Picturing the life on board and different procedures carried by the crew as realistic as possible, even in the story wich is basicly fiction. Clancy had to carry out a huge intelligency work on his own and in one interwiew Clancy tells, how he intewieved a retired submariner to find out at least a little bit about what was it like on board. I think this was a principal idea what was screwed in the film. After I saw the film, I remember, I thought Connerys beard was the best part of that film, even it didn't followed the style common and allowed to russian CO's.

I haven't found any writer picturing the subs like Clancy, despite those who really have been on board. First books of Clancy I think are well writen but afterwoods the writer maybe lost some of his touch or maybe started just make the money. At least the subs allmost dissapeared...

Sry the long post.

-RC-

[Ula Jolly]

Sean Connery is just dead flat sexy.
I read HFRO when I was perhaps thirteen or fourteen, it was a joyous read. As I read more Clancy-books I was disappointed there weren't more submarines - I think HFRO was his best work, at least among those that I've read. (Sure The Bear And The Dragon is a big book, but that doesn't automatically make it as good).

[Slick Rick]

Das Boot is tops with me. I dont believe anything before or since comes even close..

First, a quote from Ice Station Zebra: "One a submarine we're all on a first-name basis. My first name is captain".

What bugged me about Crimson Tide was the relationships between the officers. On a ship the Captain is the next thing to God: no one questions his decisions or his authority. That said, a good captain know and trusts his executive officer, and the fights they had were nothing like anything that would happen in the U.S. Navy. The plot hinges on the fact that the screenwriter knows nothing of naval protocol or procedures.

The beauty of Das Boot is simply that it doesn't really have a plot; it just follows the crew through a very bad patrol.

[Myxale]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The beauty of Das Boot is simply that it doesn't really have a plot; it just follows the crew through a very bad patrol.

That was probably the best summary of "Das Boot" i've ever heard.
Kudos!

[Perseus]

Originally Posted by Kurushio

No, Crimson Tide. That is much more realistic and would've won a few Oscars had it not been for the fact it was competing against the like of Dances With Wolves (I think...a major movie of the genre anyway).

Crimson Tide, much more realistic...?

OMG

No way. I mean, for starters: the moment the sub loses ULF comms, just as the AEM is coming in. The screens the radio operator is watching start to flash and what not. HILARIOUS. If there's no comms anymore, a message is (at best) stopped in mid-sentence. Your screens do not start flashing, nor do they try to imitate a graphic hoola-hoop. And then there's a load of other rubbish - AAARGH, I'm not even going into that. I'm still embarrassed about the 10 euro I spent to see that *cough* movie *cough* in the cinema.

Realistic movies - erm, try "Hostile Waters" or hell, "Hunt for Red October". Sure, there's some silly Hollywood-stuff in the latter but about 95% is pretty darn accurate.