Review of Das Boot (1981) by Kenan I — 03 Jan 2010

We follow a group of German men aboard a submarine during WWII, their sole purpose to hunt down and destroy whatever allied ships they encounter in the North Atlantic. During the time on the boat, we get to learn about the life of the men aboard a sub, itâ(TM)s dirty, smelly and claustrophobic, but friendship and the thought of home get the mens morale high, despite being constantly shadowed and bombed by enemy destroyer ships.

The boats interior and the mens behavior is so realistic and the intense dark tight scenes where the men sweat together as the enemy floats above them is so nerve wrecking and so well done that you actually feel like youâ(TM)re on the boat along with the men, itâ(TM)s almost like you can smell their sweet and the claustrophobic space. Furthermore despite the men being German who through decades have been portrayed as bad Nazi scum, we feel an emotional bond to these men, they are not the enemy, they are just young men who fights for their country and not for Hitlerâ(TM)s Nazi propaganda. They are men we can connect with, they party, laugh, tell jokes, have loved ones at home and work harder that any man alive to maintain the goal of winning the war and going home. This is not a war movie about politics but about the bond and the nature of humans during war.

The sound and visual aspects of this movie is incredible, the viewer cringes as the men aboard the submarine are bombed over and over again, barely holding on psychologically. The images and sounds feel so close that you can feel the intensity and how the nerves of the men are put to a test.

All in all Das Boot is a very well crafted movie and probably one the best war movies ever made with some intense and at times quite emotional scenes.