History Film / DasBoot

** This may well be caused by the fact that the U-Boat service had to receive so many replacements (to replenish casualties they sustained which was growing to such massive amount by 1943), as the service loses men (especially old experienced ones) they will tend to get replaced by newer ones that are either heavily indoctrinated (due to being young enough to have gone through the mandatory Hitler Youth in the 1930s for instance) or more entrenched with the Nazi ideology. During the earlier part of the war, they probably are as apolitical as the other Kriegsmarine aspect, but as the staggering casualties mount, they get slowly refilled with men who are more aligned with the Nazi. In addition, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander of the U-boat fleet and later supreme commander of the navy, was a staunch supporter of Hitler, to the point that he was named Hitler's successor at the end of the war. However, it's also likely that the submarine branch was from the very beginning filled with actual Nazis due to the fact that the submarines were considered among the most important assets of the Kriegsmarine, which would require crews you could trust to be loyal to the regime.

** The German crew, especially the Captain, have an uneasy sense of pessimism that they are going to lose the war. In 1941, while they had taken losses and suffered setbacks, such as the failure to defeat the RAF in the Battle of Britain, the Germans were still flush from their victories in Poland and France, and in the East, they were expecting another victory by taking Moscow. Nazi propaganda was selling the war as a constant string of triumphs, leading to high morale in both the military and civilian society. It wasn't until their loss at the Battle of Stalingrad that the Germans began to realize they were doomed to defeat.

** In the uncut version, Werner explains in narration that they have been sent to Italy in order to help secure the supply lines for Rommel's Afrika Korps, as they are "losing Africa." While Operation Crusader was underway at this point, the North Africa campaign was not even close to a decisive end.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TagLine A journey to the edge of the mind.]]'']]

* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: The captain of the supply ship ''Weser''[[note]](Pronounced "VEH-suh")[[/note]] awkwardly assumes the tall, clean shaved and [[SharpDressedMan uniformed]] 1WO is the Captain among a bunch of jaded and bearded sea-wolves.

''Das Boot''[[note]](Pronounced "Dahs Boht", like saying "dogs bolt" but without the letters "G" or "L")[[/note]] (''"The Boat"'' in German) is a 1981 West German war film [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim about the perils-ridden patrol of a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]], in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSevenSeas Atlantic Ocean]]. It is directed by Creator/WolfgangPetersen and stars, among renowned German stage actors, Creator/JurgenProchnow as TheCaptain (commonly called ''Kaleun''[[note]](Pronounced "KAH-loin")[[/note]], short for ''Kapitänleutnant''[[note]](Pronounced "KAH-pee-tahn-LOYT-nahnt")[[/note]], or ''der Alte"[[note]]("DEH-uh AHL-tuh", German for "the Elder'')[[/note]], with a soundtrack by Music/KlausDoldinger. The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the claustrophobic atmosphere in a World War II era sub. As noted by many visitors to Bavaria Studios, the interior set of the sub is actually even more claustrophobic than comes across on the screen.

''Das Boot'' (''"The Boat"'' in German) is a 1981 West German war film [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim about the perils-ridden patrol of a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]], in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSevenSeas Atlantic Ocean]]. It is directed by Creator/WolfgangPetersen and stars, among renowned German stage actors, Creator/JurgenProchnow as TheCaptain (commonly called ''Kaleun'', short for ''Kapitänleutnant'', or ''der Alte / the Old Man''), with a soundtrack by Music/KlausDoldinger. The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the claustrophobic atmosphere in a World War II era sub. As noted by many visitors to Bavaria Studios, the interior set of the sub is actually even more claustrophobic than comes across on the screen.

* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: The captain of the supply ship ''Weser'' awkwardly assumes the tall, clean shaved and [[SharpDressedMan uniformed]] 1WO is the Captain among a bunch of jaded and bearded sea-wolves.

* DownerEnding: A pretty extreme example - there really wasn't a much stronger way for the efforts of the submarine's crew (and the entire German navy really) to be rendered totally useless. Not to mention that most of the more sympathetic characters (2nd watch officer, Bibelforscher, Johann, Senior Cadet Ullmann and The Old Man) are in several close-ups shown to have died or are (possibly) dying, driving the point home that death in war is not a matter of personal karma but that everyone can become a casualty.

** However in extended versions of the film while the other sailors went back to work, you can see the Boatswain being silently amused about the incident after Werner stormed out, hinting that he was just putting up a show and had no intention to punish the culprit or even report what had happened to the officers.

* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The character of Phillip Thomsen is very loosely based on Heinz Hirsacker, the real life commander of U-572. Hirsacker was neither as distinguished or as critical of the regime as Thomsen is portrayed in the film and was never awarded a combat decoration for his U-Boat service, much less the Knight's Cross. He was further accused in 1942 of cowardice before the enemy after repeatedly avoiding enemy ships and retreating to base at the first sign of pursuit. Hirsacker was convicted by a court martial and sentenced to death, but committed suicide in 1943 before the sentence could be carried out.

* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The character of Phillip Thomsen is very loosely based on Heinz Hirsacker, the real life commander of U-572. Hirsacker was neither as distinguished or an opponent of the regime as Thomsen is portrayed in the film and was never awarded a combat decoration for his U-Boat service, much less the Knight's Cross. He was further accused in 1942 of cowardice before the enemy after repeatedly avoiding enemy ships and retreating to base at the first sign of pursuit. Hirsacker was convicted by a court martial and sentenced to death, but committed suicide in 1943 before the sentence could be carried out.

--> '''Machinist''' (while walking past the Chief Engineer): We waste a lot of fuel eh?

-->'''Frenssen''': Gibraltar, I don't get it. How are we supposed to do that?

-->'''Kriechbaum''': What a bright lad you are. They should let you do the navigating.