Synopsis
At the height of WWII, a young submarine crew heads out to sea on a top-secret mission that all but ensures most will never make it home alive. Ordered to patrol the Atlantic and destroy an allied armada bringing supplies to Britain, these raw recruits must band together, bracing themselves against a depth-charge assault from an unseen enemy.
Das Boot is a unique point of view that if done the wrong way certainly would have been a disaster and the end of Wolfgang Petersen’s bright career. No one, outside of Fritz Lang and Nazi propaganda, dared to approach the German side of World War II on film. How in the world could you create sympathy for anything Nazi Germany when it committed so many atrocities to mankind? Wolfgang
Petersen, a German-born director, knew the stakes when putting together the story and shooting the film. He knew that if he did it wrong this certainly would be the last film he was involved with, as Germany isn’t too proud of World War II. What he put together was a very contained and focused view of a group of sailors on a submarine. He focused more on the human element than on the German Nazi element. He made sure to throw in small scenes that reminded people that these soldiers were just as human as the American or Ally soldiers that went to war. For example, there is a scene between Herbert Grönemeyer’s Lt. Werner and a submarine soldier. Werner watches this man write a letter to his girlfriend in France; one of many letters. He has a warm conversation with the man about the girl in the midst of this steel war beast under the sea. This type of moment really takes both men out of their Nazi roles and gives them a deep human element. This is one of many moments that Petersen uses this sort of character development to keep the audience out of the World War II mind and more in the ‘these are men just trying to get home’ mentality, which is the central focus of the film.
Outside of warm conversations, there is another moment of the film where you understand that these sailors just want to finish their job and return home. When Jürgen Prochnow Captain Lt. Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock’s ship finally sinks an Ally tanker, the crew come up to survey the tanker’s damage. They witness sailors on fire jumping off the sinking ship into the ocean. Horrified, Henrich orders the submarine to slowly back away from the stranded and drowning sailors, and no one celebrates the victory. Wolfgang Petersen makes this moment surreal for the audience and reinforces the point that war is hell regardless of the side you’re on. The sad, war torn faces of Henrich and his men as the ship is sinking is a pivotal moment in the film where the audience will understand how completely horrified the sailors are of the situation occurring before them. He also shows that Henrich’s attitude, though sad, has to be ‘them versus us’. It’s powerful and sad, but necessary for the film to stay on its contained track keeping focus completely on the men and less on the missions.
If you’ve never seen Das Boot then you’re in for a unique, carefully crafted view of the other side to World War II. You won’t find a more powerful viewpoint that will have you sympathizing with one of the most evil armies the world has regretfully known. Petersen’s complete focus on the individuals rather than who they fought for made this film work on so many levels. Having shot this film in a closed-in submarine environment helps to keep it all on track, forces the audience to get to know the men involved, and helps keep the men isolated from their Nazi counterparts (which is vital if you want to keep the audience’s attention on the men).
Das Boot is a must-see, especially the director’s cut, if you have never experienced it before.
The Blu-ray portion of this release is as good as the film itself. Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures did a superb job on the transfer of the 1981 classic. They didn’t miss a detail in how good the variety of situations on and off the submarine look. For example, when the action scenes within the superb are at their zenith, when everything is breaking, lights are busting and smoking is gathering, you don’t get the typical artifact riddled visuals that you would typically find in a shoddy Blu-ray transfer. Smoke rolling into a black/white scene generally gathers a rough color band, but nothing can be found here. Even when the alarm lights (blue/red) are going off in some scenes you don’t get the typical grain that you would find in the picture quality, especially when the lights are reflecting off of actors’ faces. It’s enormously impressive to see such care and concern with this Blu-ray transfer.
Now, outside of the inner scenes of the sub, you get equally as impressive quality with the daytime and nighttime shots. For example, when Henrich and crew make a pit stop before the finale of the journey, the rough looks of the men as they approach the dinner hall of their superior’s ship is magnified more when given HD detailing. You can see the rough, pale faces that look worn on Henrich and his men in contrast to the clean cut looks that non-sub folk are sporting. The lighting and non-grainy transfer makes this moment more powerful with such a clean look to it.
The studios did a great job in taking care of the transfer and making sure that the viewer got the highest quality in this release.
As for the features of this 2-disc release, here’s what you’re looking at:
• Wolfgang Petersen-Back To The Boat
• Going Deeper:
◦ Maria’s Take
◦ The Perfect Boat
• Captain’s Tour
◦ Rooms Overview
◦ Entry Conning Tower
◦ Torpedo Room & Crew Quarters
◦ Captain’s & Officers’ Rooms
◦ The Control Room
◦ Petty Officers’ Room & Galley
◦ Diesel & Electric Motor Rooms
• Historical Material
◦ Behind the Scenes (1981)
◦ Battle of the Atlantic (1983)
• Director’s Commentary – Wolfgang Petersen
Everything you wanted to know about the film is packed into this release. The three strongest pieces is the Wolfgang Petersen-Back To the Boat featurette, the director’s commentary and the Going Deeper featurette. Each brings some depth to the production process, how it began and what obstacles the director, actors and crew went through during filmmaking.
The ‘Back to the Boat’ featurette is particularly detailed in the production process. Shot in a documentary style, the featurette revisits the actual submarine set and Petersen himself gives detailed information on how he landed the gig, what the cast/crew went through during production and how the film was received (it’s especially interesting for him to explain the Jewish Hollywood reaction to the film). It features tales from Jürgen Prochnow and his experiences on the set, and it also goes into detail about such things as proper replication of the submarine set.
All in all, the features added to both the theatrical and director’s cut of Das Boot make this the best release of the film to date.