Das Boot ***** (1981, Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann) – Classic Movie Review 10,703

Writer-director Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 German World War Two submarine thriller Das Boot [The Boat] is based on the novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim and was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

It stars Jürgen Prochnow, who gives a splendidly stalwart performance as the skipper, Captain Lieutenant Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, and commands Petersen’s epic war adventure film of a German U-boat mission at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941.

Petersen faithfully chronicles the cramped, squalid routine of the submarine patrol, the struggle against the elements and the terrifying encounters with the enemy.

Well-written characters, cliff-hanging episodes, location filming in the North Atlantic, and an excellent U-boat replica built in the Bavaria Film Studio make what was then Germany’s most expensive film a remarkable, thrilling achievement.

The cinema feature runs 149 minutes. Other versions: the director’s cut at 208 minutes, the Original Uncut Mini-Series Version at 293 minutes and the video version at 138 minutes.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,703

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