Das Boot
Director's Cut (1997)

This version is one of the best things to happen to cinema on earth in a long time. Originally released in 1981, the director's cut is a three-and-a-half hour odyssey that doesn't seem to last nearly as long.

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, this West German film about a U-Boat crew and their travails is a spectacular adventure film -- an underwater adventure as well as one inside the minds of the crew, and, in particular, the captain (Juergen Prochnow). This particular version has better sound than the original, too: in the theater where I sat I found myself mesmerized by the sensurround effects of bolts ricocheting off the side of the sub, as well as droplets of water falling all around. Don't know how this will play out in video, but if it's at a theatre near you, don't, uh, miss the boat!

*** See More Reviews *** | www.georgethomasjr.com