History Film / DasBoot

''Das Boot'' (''"The Boat"'' in German) is a 1981 West German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]]. 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 [[SubStory 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 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]]. 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 [[SubStory 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.

->'''Der Leitende:''' It's... quiet.

* RootingForTheEmpire: Invoked as American audiences, when the film was first in its American release, cheered against the protagonists because they were, well, fighting for Nazi Germany. However, they were won over by the characters and the fact they were not card-carrying Nazis, but just German seamen.

''Das Boot'' (''The Boat'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]]. 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 [[SubStory 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.

* PlotArmor: Played with and deconstructed. Werner often tries to reassure himself that the boat can't sink because ''he's'' on the boat and ''of course'' he has to get out of this. After all, we're all the main character according to ourselves, and every one of the 75% of German submariners who perished felt the same way. [[spoiler: Ultimately Played Straight.]]
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] ForegoneConclusion, for those aware of the original book being written by a surviving eyewitness.

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: When everything is going to hell and the submarine is stuck on the ocean floor, the depth gauge is past its last marking (260 meters) by about twenty meters. 260 meters is already way past the point where the navy originally expected the hull to be crushed and destroyed. The shipyard rated it to ''90'' meters.

* RedAlert: [[https://youtu.be/eVBPGZEVRH0?t=22s "ALARM!!!"]]

* RootingForTheEmpire: Invoked as American audiences, when the film was first in its American release, cheered against the protagonists because they were, well, Nazis. However, they were won over by the characters and the fact they were not card-carrying Nazis but German seamen.

* DeathFromAbove: The crew are menaced by Allied aircraft several times. [[spoiler:The first time (shown only in the uncut edition) takes place right after they leave their port with minor equipment damage. The second time, Krichbaum is badly wounded. The third...[[DownerEnding well]]...]]

* TriumphantReprise: "Rückzug" and "Heimkehr" reprise the film's main theme in triumphant fashion as the U-96 crew manages to cheat death right under the Royal Navy's nose in Gibraltar and come back at the base.

* TorosYFlamenco: The soundtrack plays flamenco music when the crew arrive in Spain. They dock at Vigo, a northern city where that kind of folklore has no roots in real life.

** Later aboard the submarine, the crew is enjoying themselves after a stressful day. We see one crew member dancing like some sort of tropical girl while the rest of the crew shouted out catcalls and wolf whistles.[[note]]The writer of the novel, Lothar-Günther Buchheim, was incensed when he first saw that scene. He said that no U-boat crew would ever behave in such a way.[[/note]]

''Das Boot'' (''The Boat'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] {{sub|story}}marine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]]. 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''). The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the [[SubStory 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'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) submarine U-96]]. 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''). The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the [[SubStory 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.

Bavaria Film, the studio that made the film, released a sequel in 2018, also titled ''Series/{{Das Boot|2018}}'', in the form of a series.

** [[spoiler:The airstrike depicted at the end of the movie could not have taken place at that point in time late 1941. RAF planes would not have risked a low flying air raid against a heavily defended German naval base in 1941. The airstrikes that did take place almost always were against surface ships and from a higher altitude to avoid flak. This kind of air raid was more likely towards the end of the war. Unsurprisingly the real U-96 was sunk by an air raid but right at the end of the war.]]

''Das Boot'' (''The Boat'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) submarine U-96]]. 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''). The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the [[SubStory claustrophobic atmosphere]] in a 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'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the German submarine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-96_(1940) U-96]]. 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''). The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the [[SubStory claustrophobic atmosphere]] in a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 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'') is a 1981 German movie ([[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the 1973 novel of the same name]] by Lothar-Günther Buchheim) about the crew of the German submarine U-96. 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''). The movie is generally praised for its realistic portrayal of the [[SubStory claustrophobic atmosphere]] in a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 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.

Bavaria Film, the studio that made the film, released a sequel in 2018, also titled ''Series/{{Das Boot|2018}}'', in the form of a miniseries.

** While the film does give an excellent feel of what life was like on a U-Boat, the film takes place in autumn 1941, when the U-Boat Force was doing much better than it would later on.

* NoseArt: Type 5: The Laughing Sawfish. Historically it was the emblem of the 9th U-Boat Flotilla, of which the historical U-96 was a member of.

** The first scenes involve the crews from a pair of submarines in the Wolf Pack having a party the night before going back to the Atlantic.

* SensorSuspense: Inverted to great effect, as the sonar pings bouncing off the boat are being used to showcase how the Allied navy is hunting the German U-boat.

* SubStory: TropeCodifier: not only universally regarded as the greatest submarine film, but also easily among the greatest war films.

* NaziProtagonist: It is World War II and the crew is German, but only the 1WO seems to be the only one who supports Hitler.

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: When everything is going to hell and the submarine is stuck on the ocean floor, the depth gauge is far past its last marking (260 meters) by about twenty meters. 260 meters is already way past the point where the navy originally expected the hull to be crushed and destroyed. The manufacturer's warranty extended only to ''90'' meters.

** The officers of the ''Weser'' also get in on the aversion: while they greet the U-boat crew with the Roman salute and "sieg heil"'s, when the captain is about to toast them, he begins to include the ''Führer'' in his speech; an officer clears his throat, and the captain stops short, remarking they're nowhere near Germany (and implicitly, they don't have to observe that custom). He later greets a Kriegsmarine attaché and his Gestapo escort with "Heil Hitler", though.

* {{Homage}}: More than a few films have taken inspiration from this film, including ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' and ''Film/TheAbyss''.

* SpiritualAntithesis: This film is given one with the 2020 film, ''Film/{{Greyhound}}'', where an Allied naval convoy endures the attacks of German U-Boats.