The Atlantic Ocean, 1941. German U-boats are struggling to maintain mastery over the sea, challenged everywhere they turn by the British Navy. Increasing numbers of German vessels are being lost and manpower is running short. The Nazi government has resorted to sending callow young seamen out on missions that are steadily growing more dangerous. Welcome to the world of Das Boot.
Beautiful camera work and poignant dialogue draw you into the world of the captain and crew. You share with them the boredom of non-combat operations, the thrill of the chase, and the terror of a depth charge laden destroyer passing overhead.
Das Boot goes to great lengths to make you forget that the crew are Nazis, instead focusing on the human aspects of the seamen. Change the language as well as a few story elements, and these men could be fighting for any country. One sees the struggle of the men to understand what it really is that they are fighting for, their anger at being forced into such a dangerous position by a government whose ideologies many of them do not share.
Regardless of whether the crew are Nazis or not, when you hear the telltale ping of a passing destroyer’s sonar, and see the abject horror splayed across the faces of these young men, you forget that they are fighting for one of the most despicable governments ever to exist, and instead empathize, feeling every bit of their terror and suspense right along with them.
From beginning to end, Das Boot is an involving film, a must see for every fan of war films.
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