Das Boot Torpedoes U-571 Again

Advantages: The best submarine drama to date
Disadvantages: Very long

...It was only after watching my newly acquired copy of U-571 the other day that prompted me to dust-off my DVD of Das Boot (Director’s Cut) and give it another look. In the past, this movie has been seen in several formats. Serialised on BBC2 and in standard movie length being two of them. The DVD version runs for 200 minutes – and that’s just the movie! I suspect that this is closer in length to the TV mini-series in content than the normal movie. The advantage of the DVD format, is that you can hear the soundtrack dubbed into English, or for the purist, in German with or without English* subtitles, which is, of course, much closer to the original. Tip – If you speak any German, see if you can spot the points where the somewhat primmer English subtitles deviate from the more lavatorial German dialogue...

BNibbles 07.02.2001 (08.04.2001) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)

Live on Earth, Krishna Das

Advantages: Fantastic, spiritually uplifting music
Disadvantages: None

...I was introduced to the music of Krishna Das by my wife. And God bless her for that, says I! For Krishna Das is well, he just IS. Live on Earth is a great introduction to the music of Krishna Das. Krishna Das is an American by birth, and a Hindu. By conviction. His music is a wonderful exploration and celebration of his faith, that of the Hindu. To listen to the music of Krishna Das is to invite a very special experience into one's very soul. Live on Earth is a two CD release and contains a total of 14 tracks. The tracks on CD 1 are: Radhe Shyam Samadhi Sita Ram Shri Guru Charanam Three Rivers Hare Krishna Hanuman Puja Hanuman Chaleesa Sita Ram Jaya Bhagavan On side 2 the tracks are Devi Puja Jaya Jagatambe Mountain Hare Krishna Namah Shivaya Rama Bolo Shri Krishna Govinda/Gopala Each track is pure...

Martinscholes 20.12.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Live On Earth - Krishna Das

Putting Das Boot in

Advantages: Best submarine film I've seen
Disadvantages: German language (subtitles)

...What can I say about this classic Wolfgang Petersen film? Well, I have to admit that knowing a smattering of German does help: it is subtitled, but you miss out on a lot by following that, since not every word is included. But don't let that put you off, this is *the* submarine film of all time. Forget 'U-571', forget 'Red October' or any of the others, Petersen's film gives the other side's view of WW2. Yes, all the creaking, the diving beyond maximum depth is there, but so is some superb characterization, some excellent (and genuine tension) and (how rare in a war film?) some humanity - when they are unable to pick up survivors from a sunken ship, for example. 'Das Boot' is available on video, but comes around every now again serialised on the BBC. See it....

rwsweet 07.08.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)

DAS BOOT NEEDS THE BOOT

Advantages: NONE?
Disadvantages: LONG, SLOW, BORING - NEED I GO ON

...After watching U-571 for the first time (which I didn’t really like) – my step-dad brought his copy of Das Boot – the directors cut on DVD. He then preceded to tell me about the various versions of Das Boot there are, (surprisingly there are quite a few), yet this is one of the great versions as it is in it’s entirety and lasts for around three and a half hours. The film is situated on a U-97 and the crew that man it. There is nothing else you can say about the story-line really. There are depth charges surrounding them, they do their best to maneuver around them, with a do they survive or not element (I don’t want to spoil it but there is a small twist at the ending (nothing great but un-suspecting). There are several advantages to having the DVD I am told as you can choose which language to...

JPARRY 11.05.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)

Das Ist Gut.

Advantages: tense, realistically filmed, exciting action film.
Disadvantages: IT WAS THE BRITS!

...the largely unknown, twenty-something cast as the grey-bearded old sea-dog. Sadly, the screenplay requires them to do little more than run around shouting and any fleshing-out of these characters was either trimmed in post-production due to "running time constraints", or simply not bothered with. As a result it's difficult to feel any kind of empathy for our heroes, unlike Wolfgang Petersen's classic "Das Boot" where you're with them every nerve-stretching inch of the way. I was determined to get a joke about "sub-plots" in this review somewhere, but U-571 doesn't have any - what you see is what you get, and that is a straight-forward, WWII adventure with exciting, realistic action and great special effects - enough to keep most thrill-seekers happy for a couple of hours. 3 stars for the film. U-571 is available on both region 1...

Howiemon 15.03.2001 (14.02.2002) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of U-571 (DVD)

Das Boot (The Boat not (The Boot).

Advantages: Dvd's last forever
Disadvantages: 4 hrs is a long time

......

zrxsheep 26.09.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot - The Mini Series (DVD)

New light shed on dark times.

Advantages: /
Disadvantages: /

...Max Hastings set himself a difficult task when he tackled the events laid out in his book Das Reich, although he himself admits that the finished article is not exactly the book he set out to write. His aim was to write about the actions and consequences of resistance movements and their affect on the armies and battlefields of World War Two. As he delved into the research element of the book he realised that one small series of incidents in southern France in the closing months of the war epitomised everything that he wanted to say and the drive of the book changed direction. Instead of an overview of the general methods of resistance groups and the regular troops that they are pitted against, the book became a detailed look at the actions of the Das Reich, or 2nd SS Panzer division and the corresponding counter actions by local...

steerpyke 23.04.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Reich - Max Hastings

Classic Warfilm Drama where Others Fear To Tread

Advantages: Too Many To Mention other than its a definate MUST SEE
Disadvantages: None

...Without question Das Boot (The Boat) is the best U-boat film of all time. forget the pap and factual inaccuracies of "U571" & humdrum "Saving Private Ryan", if you want the realities of war track down The Boat. I was fortunate to view & tape all 6 hourly episodes when it was broadcast on the BBC 10 years ago, and even though the sound quality back then was very basic stereo you don't really need all this pro-logic & DVD kit to "feel" the claustrophobia smother you within a cramped u boat. I've seen the Director's Cut, and the dubbed DVD version and although good they don't do the film justice. It's typical of the Germans to take an objective view of their part in the war. There is no sterotypes here, no jackbooted thickos waving their arms in the air. Just ordinary young men serving their country for an ideal they do...

dreamstar70 28.01.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)

Life aboard a German U-Boat

Advantages: A good war film with a different perspective, a well made film, well directed
Disadvantages: At 3 hours and 20 minutes the film is quite long

...I decided to buy this DVD because I wanted to watch a war film with a different perspective. I had heard from other people how good this film was and it was obviously evident because it had been nominated for six Academy Awards and an Oscar. Das Boot is a German made film and is about the German crew of a U-Boat who patrolled the Atlantic during World War 2. In most American or British World War 2 films the Germans tend to be dehumanised and looked upon as cold and evil, because Das Boot is German you get to see how normal most of the Germans really were. The characters on board the U-Boat are presented as people who are doing their military service, trying their best to fight for their country. Members of the crew tend to have a healthy lack of trust for most politicians including Hitler and Churchill. Das Boot has been extremely...

gorvifal3 04.02.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)

Nerve Racking

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...Das Boot is one of the most emotionally involving movies I have ever seen. The characters are developed richly, without those awkward moments in movies when you realize that the director is doing so. You sympathize with the crew, and FEEL their plight as they struggle, cramped in a rickety U-boat against the odds. At times the movie grows slow and drawn out, but that is intentional- to make you feel like you are trapped in an underwater coffin with nothing to do, no where to go. The directing is great, the sound is fabulous! I've never heard faint noises tell a story like this before....

ros145 15.07.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Das Boot (DVD)