Das Boot

Das Boot (1981)

Timing: 2:30 (150 min)

8.086/10
2479

8.089/10
32201

8.3/10
287000

All about film

Video 8

Photo 53

Actors and characters

Release date

1981-09-17

Country

Germany

Production

Columbia Pictures, PSO, WDR, Bavaria Film, Radiant Film GmbH, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, Twin Bros. Productions

Genre

Drama, History, War

Budget

$14 000 000

Revenue

$85 000 000

Website

http://www.dasboot.com

Director

Wolfgang Petersen

Actors

Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge, Bernd Tauber, Erwin Leder, Martin May, Heinz Hoenig, Uwe Ochsenknecht
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Günter Rohrbach, Michael Bittins, Ortwin Freyermuth, Edward R. Pressman, John W. Hyde, Mark Damon Johnson

Operator

Jost Vacano

Composer

Klaus Doldinger

Artist

Walter E. Richarz, Philipp von Seil

Audition

Willy Schlenter

Editing

Hannes Nikel
All team (61)

• In the early 1990s, the group "U-96" created a techno version of the film's musical theme – "Das Boot," which became very popular.
• The final scene was filmed in one take, primarily due to the high cost of filming it.
• U-96 – a medium-sized German Type VIIC U-boat from World War II – became one of the most famous submarines after the publication of the novel "The Boat." The order to build the submarine was given on May 30, 1938. The boat was laid down on September 16, 1939, at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel under construction number 601, launched on August 1, 1940. The boat entered service on September 14, 1940, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock.
• Most of the film's shooting took place in Munich.
• Initially, the project was to be directed by Don Siegel.
• During filming, the real captain of U-96, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, was present as a consultant; he was already 70 years old at the time.
• Rutger Hauer was considered for the role of the U-96 captain, but at the last moment, the actor declined to participate in the film, preferring to work on Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'.
• The boat used for filming 'Das Boot' was also used in the filming of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981).
• The theatrical release of the film lasted 150 minutes, while the director's cut ran for 209 minutes. In 1996, a complete version of the film with a runtime of 293 minutes was released.
• Pre-production lasted 5 years. The actual filming took one year, and another year was spent on post-production.
• For the scenes inside the submarine compartments, a tank was built that hung on two gimbal mounts and could sway up-down and left-right, allowing for realistic filming of the jolts from depth charge explosions.
• Two full-scale mock-ups of the conning tower and deck were made for filming on the U-96, as well as a miniature submarine intended for unmanned scenes at sea. Scenes on the bridge were filmed in a pool equipped with devices to create 'storm waves'.
• The film features an Enigma machine for radio communications, around which the plot of another film about a German submarine – 'U-571' (2000) – is built.
• The film's soundtrack features a version of the song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble. The same song was sung by liberated English prisoners of war in the Soviet film about a German submarine, "Secret Passage" (1986).
• The film is based on the novel of the same name by Lothar-Günther Buchheim.
• The scenes in La Rochelle were filmed in the same hangars built by the Germans during World War II. Some residents, who still remembered the occupation, noted that "the Germans are just as crazy as they were then."
• The film was shot in chronological order, with the exception of the opening scenes in the bar and the final scenes in the harbor, which were filmed last.
• When the crew spots a destroyer through binoculars, they shout "Destroyer at ten o'clock!", but everyone looks through their binoculars not to the left of the boat's course, but to the right, "at two o'clock."
• The film's soundtrack features a version of the song 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary', performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble of Song and Dance. The same song was sung by liberated English prisoners of war in the Soviet film about the German submarine 'Secret Passage' (1986).
• The scenes in La Rochelle were filmed in the same hangars built by the Germans during World War II. Some residents, still remembering the occupation, noted that 'the Germans are as crazy as they were then'.
• When the team spots a destroyer through binoculars, they announce "Destroyer at ten o'clock!", but everyone looks to the right, "at two o'clock", rather than to the left in the direction of the boat's course.