Review of Das Boot (1981) by Joe C — 28 Jun 2015

To experience the claustrophobia of U-boat warfare, lock yourself in a small metal cupboard with a few smelly friends and get another friend to lob high-explosives in your general direction for, ooh, say a tour of several months.

While under perpetual threat of sudden inundation and/or implosion. If that seems a bit too much like hard work, settle down with a copy of Wolfgang Petersen's tense sub spectacular instead. Wait and watch as the crew of U-96 fight boredom and grow beards scouring the horizon for the next Allied convoy.

Then start biting your nails. The most claustrophobic film on this list, charting the adventures of German U-boat U-96. A superbly crafted exercise in nerve-shredding tension, compelling characterization and the minutiae of submarine life.

Spring for the director's cut. At 209 minutes it's a substantial time commitment, but the epic scope and lengthy running time isn't wasted on simplistic pictures, in fact it adds so much more development that every time a mortar rocks the men on the U-Boat, you're right there with them.