Originally made as a television series for German television there are a lot of versions out there. I saw the US theater release on the big screen and it was riveting. I have it on DVD also and I think it a longer version than the theater version. I can't imagine how those men had the courage to return for the next mission knowing how death was getting more certain with each trip. Well recommended.

Very few films on the topic out there, Das Boot is a compelling and disturbingly realistic depiction of a German submarine crew, the fears, anxieties and agony of being positioned in such a fragile and vulnerable vessel. I loved the human touch of the characters.

I was hesitant when I learned how long this movie was but once it started, it was so engrossing it didn't matter. The tension had me on the edge of my seat for hours. This is a true cinematic masterpiece.

Probably the best and most engrossing film about WW2 ever made. You actually start to sympathise with the crew of what is after all a German U-boat.

One of the cinematic masterpieces, both on technical merit and for the raw emotion poured into the story. A must see.

A work of genius. A dark, claustrophobic, oppressive and unnerving film that is one of the best pictures of men at war ever made.

It's not easy to think of a better war movie.Not only are the attempts to finish the sub off very realistic,but the movie did a terrific job establishing the sub captain as soldiers divorced from their fellow German war criminals.

Everytime it's onTV I have to watch it. Really immerses you into the lives and minds of the submariners of the Third Reich. Feels very realistic. A simple story very skillfully delivered.

A near perfect film. . .you actually feel squeezed in the submarine with the sailors. The director's cut is long and requires an attention span and a brain- if you have a short attention span then don't bother. DAS BOOT is the greatest and most realistic sub movie ever. The book is even better.

This is on my Top 10 list.

This was a great movie. One of the few movies that captures the Deutsche experience in world war two, showing that most Germans went to war for the same reasons that the Americans ans Brits went to war,: To serve their country.

I watched this movie because some of the negative reviews I've read about U571 (which I really enjoyed) mentioned Das Boot as the best submarine movie for realism and effect. Being an enlightened individual, I tried watching it last night in it's original German, with subtitles, as recommended in the aforementioned reviews. Unfortunately, I dozed off about 20 minutes into the movie. Tonight I watched the English dubbed version. The dubbing was quite well done. I was expecting something exciting like U571, and Das Boot is not like that. It did give me a good feel for what the characters were experiencing and it was an enjoyable movie, just not exciting. I didn't notice any glaring realism that made me wish U571 was done differently. All in all, a good movie, but not one I would watch more than once.

Excellent moive. Completely evokes the claustrophobia and spiritual dilema of these men and their situation.

I sat through this one with an old girlfriends father. Since then I've heard many people mention it in converstion as a movie worth seeing. As for you I guess it was okay, seemed kinda long, and dark and maybe even a little boring. Of course, like I said I was watching it with this girlfriends dad sitting next to me and he was really into it and well let's just say it was sort of a forced moment. Let me put it this way...if I hadn't finished the film with him I probably wouldn't have bothered to rent it later to see the end.