Das Boot - The Director's Cut

Starring:JÃ¼rgen Prochnow, Herbert GrÃ¶nemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge, Bernd Tauber, Erwin Leder, Martin May, Heinz Hoenig, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Claude-Oliver Rudolph, Jan Fedder, Ralf Richter, Joachim Bernhard, Oliver Stritzel, Konrad Becker, Lutz Schnell, Martin Hemme, Rita Cadillac, Otto Sander
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

This is the restored, 209-minute director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's harrowing and claustrophobic U-boat thriller, which was theatrically rereleased in 1997. Originally made as a five-hour miniseries, this version devotes more time to getting to know the crew before they and their stoic captain (Jürgen Prochnow) get aboard their U-boat and find themselves stranded at the bottom of the sea. Das Boot puts you inside that submerged vessel and explores the physical and emotional tensions of the situation with a vivid, terrifying realism that few movies can match. As Petersen tightens the screws and the submerged ship blows bolts, the pressure builds to such unbearable levels that you may be tempted to escape for a nice walk on solid land in the great outdoors--only you wouldn't dream of looking away from the screen. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

Great combat movie........2007-07-01

I've heard it said that combat is long periods of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Well, this movie has it in spades.

From what I know of WWII history, this movie is accurate. Beyond that, you spend hours in the confined quarters of desperate men making the best they can of a bad situation.

Naturally, the movie ends on a down note.

Quite a ride. Loved it.

Gripping epic of war at sea.......2007-06-28

This is the model for films about war at sea. The direction and photography are expert: there are very few scenes that look like model work, and you have no trouble believing you are on board the U-boat under the most perilous of conditions. I did think some of the depth charge explosions were too close to be survivable, but I'll accept that as arising from the film's need to get explosions and submarine into the same frame. The crew show a believable and gripping range of characteristics and emotions, including courage, desperation, and ingenuity. These men believe in their country but have little time for ideology. They have a bond that holds them together under the worst of circumstances, and the first-rate acting makes that very real. The ending brings home the cost and futility of war.

Jurgen Prochnow excellent. Oscar-worthy performance........2007-06-12

I only wish some of these long-winded reviewers would stop trying to be Roger Ebert.

Film is terrific. Must see. Fine writing/direction. Walfgang Petersen is another A-list director, no doubt about it.
The only quibble is this: film is on the looong side. Saw the original version in a theatre way back when it came out--and it was just about right. This version, though, just might leave your poor backside aching after a while.

Definitely worth getting. Might be the BEST submarine film ever made.

THE KING OF ALL SUBMARINE EPICS!!!.......2007-06-03

This is the type of movie that you watch when you are really longing for a submarine movie. This is a well-made and very realistic epic of a real life German U-boat in WW II Be prepared to spend the whole day watching because it is very long but very worthwhile. It is a must see!

Noel Serrano

Good but theatrics distracts from realism in spots........2007-06-02

The 3.5 hours watching it did not feel long to me, and it was a generally enjoyable production. There was apparently considerable effort at accuracy and realism in portraying the way things were on a U-boot. But, there were some things that distracted me from the realism.

The English subtitles are often not a translation of the German but a representation of what the translator assumed a typical, modern day American would say. It wasn't a big distraction for me, but I think I would have preferred a more literal translation.

A bigger distraction for me was seeing all attempts at realism abandoned to show the U-boat magically surviving depth charges. I kept wondering if this U-boat was made of Star Trek tritanium material.

The biggest disappointment was the ending. I can understand wanting to end with something dramatic, but this was such an obvious gratuitous cheap shot out of left field trying to evoke an emotional response that it impressed me as an insult to reasonable intelligence rather than a dramatic twist. One can look up the history of the U-96.

Das Boot - Director's Cut (Superbit Collection)

Average customer rating:

Great combat movie.
Gripping epic of war at sea
Jurgen Prochnow excellent. Oscar-worthy performance.
THE KING OF ALL SUBMARINE EPICS!!!
Good but theatrics distracts from realism in spots.

Das Boot - Director's Cut (Superbit Collection)
Starring: Jürgen Prochnow , Herbert Grönemeyer , Klaus Wennemann , Hubertus Bengsch , and Martin Semmelrogge
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Combat | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

World War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Superbit Collection | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

U-571 (Collector's Edition)
The Enemy Below
Stalingrad
Run Silent, Run Deep
Downfall

ASIN: B0000844MV
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Amazon.com essential video

Description

The Superbit titles utilize a special high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These titles have been produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital Studios video, sound and mastering engineers and comes housed in a special package complete with a 4 page booklet that contains technical information on the Superbit process. By reallocating space on the disc normally used for value-added content, Superbit DVDs can be encoded at double their normal bit rate while maintaining full compatibility with the DVD video format.

Customer Reviews:

Great combat movie........2007-07-01

Gripping epic of war at sea.......2007-06-28

Jurgen Prochnow excellent. Oscar-worthy performance........2007-06-12

THE KING OF ALL SUBMARINE EPICS!!!.......2007-06-03

Good but theatrics distracts from realism in spots........2007-06-02

Warriors 3-Pack (The Patriot / A Knight's Tale / Das Boot Director's Cut)

Average customer rating:

Warriors 3-Pack (The Patriot / A Knight's Tale / Das Boot Director's Cut)
Starring: Mel Gibson , Heath Ledger , Joely Richardson , Jason Isaacs , and Chris Cooper
Director: Roland Emmerich , Brian Helgeland , and Wolfgang Petersen
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000094J9J
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Amazon.com

The Patriot
Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichés and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop. On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon

A Knight's Tale
There's no rule against rock anthems from the 1970s in the soundtrack for a movie about a medieval jousting champion, but if you're going to attempt such jarring anachronisms, you'd better establish acceptable ground rules. Writer-director Brian Helgeland does precisely that in A Knight's Tale and pulls off this trick with such giddy aplomb that you can't help but play along. (Upon witnessing a crowd of peasants at a jousting match, singing and clapping to the beat of Queen's "We Will Rock You," you're either going to love this movie or dismiss it altogether.) Other vintage rock hits will follow, but Helgeland--the Oscar®-winning cowriter of L.A. Confidential--handles this ploy with judicious goodwill, in what is an otherwise honest period piece about a peasant named William (Heath Ledger) who rises by grit and determination to the hallowed status of knighthood. As if the soundtrack weren't audacious enough, Helgeland (recovering from the sour experience of his directorial debut, Payback) casts none other than Geoffrey Chaucer (wonderfully played by Paul Bettany) as William's cohort and match announcer, along with William's pals Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), and feisty blacksmith Kate (Laura Fraser). Of course there must be a fair maiden, and she is Jocelyn (newcomer Shannyn Sossamon), with whom William falls in love while battling the nefarious Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) on the European jousting circuit. Add to this an inspiring father-son reunion, Ledger's undeniable charisma, a perfect supporting cast, and enough joyful energy to rejuvenate the film's formulaic plot, and A Knight's Tale becomes that most pleasant of movie surprises--an unlikely winner that rises up, like its hero, to exceed all expectations. --Jeff Shannon

Das Boot
This is the restored, 209-minute director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's harrowing and claustrophobic U-boat thriller, which was theatrically rereleased in 1997. Originally made as a six-hour miniseries, this version devotes more time to getting to know the crew before they and their stoic captain (Jürgen Prochnow) get aboard their U-boat and find themselves stranded at the bottom of the sea. Das Boot puts you inside that submerged vessel and explores the physical and emotional tensions of the situation with a vivid, terrifying realism that few movies can match. As Petersen tightens the screws and the submerged ship blows bolts, the pressure builds to such unbearable levels that you may be tempted to escape for a nice walk on solid land in the great outdoors--only you wouldn't dream of looking away from the screen. --Jim Emerson

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