Das Boot Blu-ray review

            Das Boot is still an ambitious and highly impressive film, even with thirty years passed and many imitations which have followed since. Das Boot is the ultimate war movie, where the face of the enemy is never seen. Instead we spend nearly the entire film confined with the crew of a singular submarine careening through the Atlantic during the Second World War.

             Written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot was the first of many oceanic adventures that the German director would go on to make for Hollywood. This first epic achievement takes on the viewpoint of a German U-boat on a mission to destroy an allied armada on their journey to bring supplies to Britain. The battle hardly seems as easy or as exciting as it sounds, however, and a great deal of the film is spent showing the monotony of the life at sea.

            This is even more so the case in the director’s cut of the film, which runs almost twenty-minutes longer than the already epic theatrical cut. All 209 minutes allow for the full experience of living on a submarine for an extended period of time, making this a remarkable film beyond the action sequences. It is a great film which becomes an even more exciting one once the men finally have a mission. The suspense of some of the underwater action is enhanced even further by the remarkable high definition presentation of this Blu-ray.

            The two-disc Blu-ray Collector’s Set comes with both the theatrical and the director’s cut, each on their own disc. There are also a variety of special features taken from past DVD releases, including vintage featurettes and a commentary track by Petersen. There is also a retrospective documentary with the director, making this a complete package.