A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Capt.-Lt. Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock – Der Alte: Jürgen Prochnow
- Lt. Werner – Correspondent: Herbert Grönemeyer
- Chief Engineer Fritz Grade – Der Leitende-Der LI: Klaus Wennemann
- 1st Lieutenant – Number One-1WO: Hubertus Bengsch
- 2nd Lieutenant – 2WO: Martin Semmelrogge
- Kriechbaum – Chief Quartermaster-Navigator: Bernd Tauber
- Obermaschinist Johann, „Das Gespenst“: Erwin Leder
- Fähnrich Ullmann: Martin May
- Funkmaat Hinrich: Heinz Hoenig
- Chief Bosun: Uwe Ochsenknecht
- Obermaschinist, Ario: Claude-Oliver Rudolph
- Bootsmaat, Pilgrim: Jan Fedder
- Frenssen: Ralf Richter
- Preacher: Joachim Bernhard
- Schwalle: Oliver Stritzel
- Bockstiegel: Konrad Becker
- Dufte: Lutz Schnell
- Brückenwilli: Martin Hemme
- Monique: Rita Cadillac
- Kapitänleutnant Phillip Thomsen: Otto Sander
- Kapitän des Versorgungsschiffs “Weser”: Günter Lamprecht
- …: Thomas Boxhammer
- …: Roger Barth
- Erster Offizier der “WESER”: Günther Franke
- …: Christian Bendomir
- …: Norbert Gronwald
- …: Albert Kraml
- Benjamin: Jean-Claude Hoffmann
- …: Peter Pathenis
- Hagen: Arno Kral
- …: Christian Seipolt
- Schmutt: Helmut Neumeier
- …: Ferdinand Schaal
- Maschinist Franz: Wilhelm Pietsch
- …: Rolf Weber
- Markus: Dirk Salomon
- Elektromaschinengast: Lothar Zajicek
- Officer Aboard the ‘Weser’ (uncredited): Sky du Mont
- Erster WO Merkel (uncredited): Ulrich Günther
- Françoise (uncredited): Maryline Moulard
- Nadine (uncredited): Edwige Pierre
- Seewald (uncredited): Günter Spörrle
Film Crew:
- Costume Design: Monika Bauert
- Sound Recordist: Karsten Ullrich
- Production Design: Rolf Zehetbauer
- Director: Wolfgang Petersen
- Novel: Lothar-Günther Buchheim
- Producer: Günter Rohrbach
- Production Manager: Michael Bittins
- Original Music Composer: Klaus Doldinger
- Director of Photography: Jost Vacano
- Second Unit Director: Hannes Nikel
- Casting: Willy Schlenter
- Art Direction: Götz Weidner
- Post Production Supervisor: William H. Brown
- Sound Mixer: Milan Bor
- Screenplay: Dean Riesner
- Executive Producer: Edward R. Pressman
- Foley: Mel Kutbay
- Assistant Art Director: Walter E. Richarz
- Executive Producer: John W. Hyde
- Executive Producer: Mark Damon Johnson
- Producer: Ortwin Freyermuth
- First Assistant Director: Georg Borgel
- Production Manager: Philippe Dussart
- Additional Photography: Ernst Wild
- Special Effects Supervisor: Karl Baumgartner
- Makeup Artist: Alfred Rasche
- Makeup Artist: Ago von Sperl
- Makeup Artist: Rüdiger von Sperl
- Assistant Art Director: Philipp von Seil
- Sound Effects Editor: Peter Horrocks
- Foley: Hans-Walter Kramski
- Sound Effects Editor: Karola Storr
- Music Editor: Alan Willis
- Script Supervisor: Isabel Prochnow
- Property Master: Monika Moritz
- Scenic Artist: Friedrich Thaler
- Still Photographer: Karl-Heinz Vogelmann
- Sound Recordist: Albrecht von Bethmann
- Sound Recordist: Heinz Schürer
- Sound Recordist: Werner Böhm
- Sound Recordist: Stanislav Litera
- Property Master: Peter Dürst
- Sound Editor: Mike Le Mare
- Special Effects: Karl-Heinz Bochnig
- Special Effects: Max Gretmann
- Production Executive: Lutz Hengst
- Special Effects: Willi Neuner
- Production Secretary: Caroline Perchaud
- Assistant Camera: Mike Rutter
- Sound Mixer: Trevor Pyke
- Second Assistant Director: Marie-Antoinette Petersen
- Property Master: Rüdiger Wagner
- Special Effects: Franz Kirschke
- Key Grip: Ludwig Sauermann
- Electrician: Rudi Denk
- Electrician: Iko Dimitri
- Electrician: Franz Schlammer
- Electrician: Willi Zopf
- Continuity: Isabel Goslar
- Production Secretary: Ingrid von Anka
Movie Reviews:
- Wuchak: _**Life on a German U-boat**_
During WW2, the German submarine U-96 (with Jürgen Prochnow as the captain) leaves the French harbor of La Rochelle for war adventures & misfortunes in the North Atlantic when they’re eventually commissioned to go through the Strait of Gibraltar. The men experience the challenging claustrophobic life of serving on a U-boat with its highs and lows. Who will make it back alive?
“Das Boot” (1981) is a well done accounting of what it was like to live on a U-boat in WW2 – the claustrophobic living conditions, boredom, filth, sheer terror and… no women. One great scene is when the submarine surfaces after torpedoing a couple ships in a British convoy; it’s like hell came to Earth.
The flick focuses on the Germans in the restricted spaces of the U-boat and it’s amazing that a compelling film can be made from that limited dramatic angle. While this is a war picture, it doesn’t glorify war. It’s “anti-war” simply by showing the way it was for sub-mariners.
The film runs 2 hours, 29 minutes, and was shot in North Sea near Heligoland; the Atlantic Ocean; La Rochelle, France; and Bavaria, Germany.
GRADE: B