News UK Film 4 Das Boot

[Notebook]

Probably not available outside the UK from CH4, but if you can watch this film, its well worth it:

21:00 till 01:00

N.

 

[garyw]

I've seen this both as a full length movie and when it was broadcast as a TV series. incredible stuff, made when stories were what television and cinema was all about.

 

[Loru]

I'm long time fan of series. And of course this awesome theme.

 

[mojoey]

I think we're talking about the same Das Boot, which, from my recollection was absolutely superb. I must find it now

 

[garyw]

Das Boot = The Boat. A very long and well told movie about the work of a German U Boat crew in World War II.

 

[Stevodoran]

Probably not available outside the UK

Wrong their

Other than that it was a great film! Bit annoying that i had signed up for netflix like 2 days before this solely for watching it It got a bit boring at some parts but kept me throughout

 

[Notebook]

I think it came out on TV before it had a dvd or whatever release. At least in the UK, it was in four weeky 1 hour parts, as far as I remember.

 

[Urwumpe]

I think it came out on TV before it had a dvd or whatever release. At least in the UK, it was in four weeky 1 hour parts, as far as I remember.

Had been paid by German public broadcasting funds, the movie and TV series part had already been part of the contract from the start.

The director had been really insane on this one, in a positive sense. He filmed the whole movie in chronological order (Not the usual jumping of scenes depending on availability of resources), and when one sailor goes over board and needed to be hospitalized: That one was real, this was never part of the storyboard, but was an accident during filming, resulting in real broken rips - and a director who said to the actor "That was really a nice idea, Jan, can you do that one again?" Another accident happened, when the submarine was suddenly lost one morning. A not so unknown US director had rented the mock up for filming a pretty not so unknown movie called "Raiders of the lost arc"...

The good thing about the movie: I don't think you will soon see a crappy Hollywood remake of it, like they made of 21 Jump Street. It is perfect like it is.

 

[Notebook]

Thanks Urwumpe, I can't remember how old it is, 1980's? If I remember right it was one of the first productions to make use of Steadycam:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadicam"]Steadicam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
Helped with the dramatic crew shots during the diving scenes, I would think.

EDIT: From the Wikipedia site
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Boot"]Das Boot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Special camera

Most of the interior shots were filmed using a hand-held Arriflex of cinematographer Jost Vacano's design to convey the claustrophobic atmosphere of the boat. It had two gyroscopes to provide stability, a different and smaller scale solution than the Steadicam, so that it could be carried throughout the interior of the mock-up.[2] Vacano wore full-body padding to minimise injury as he ran and the mock-up was rocked and shaken. The gyroscopes used to stabilize his rig were very noisy, and most of the film had to be dubbed as the location sound was unusable.

Throughout the filming, the actors were forbidden to go out in sunlight, to create the pallor of men who seldom saw the sun during their missions. The actors went through intensive training to learn how to move quickly through the narrow confines of the vessel.

Picture quality is better than I remember, though I only saw it on tv. Prbably got a decent print(or negative,though thats unusual) and a bit of digital processing.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

The scene when they run down the whole length of the ship actually shows the Arriflex effect best - because suddenly the boat was huge and small and cramped at the same time. Today you would likely use unstabilized camera for a "Blair Witch" effect or digitally process the scene to artificially enhance it... with the loss of realism.

 

[Notebook]

Its a remarkable production, stood out above everything else at the time. I'd put it up with The World At War series for quality.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

Its a remarkable production, stood out above everything else at the time. I'd put it up with The World At War series for quality.

I would also put "Letters from Iwo Jima" to the list then as a more recent addition. While technically not that impressive anymore, the storytelling is epic and the atmosphere as sinister as in "Das Boot".

Like in the Titanic movie, you already know what is going to happen, but then, how it unfolds is really impressive.

 

[Notebook]

Agreed, old "Feeling Lucky Punk" has produced some good films. The Unforgiven is a favourite. Re WWII genre, I guess the nearest "modern" I can think of is "Band of Brothers"

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

Agreed, old "Feeling Lucky Punk" has produced some good films. The Unforgiven is a favourite. Re WWII genre, I guess the nearest "modern" I can think of is "Band of Brothers"

N.

Absolutely. There was also a Pacific version of it ("The Pacific"), which had the taste of "Oregon Trail" in it.

 

[Ghostrider]

Absolutely. There was also a Pacific version of it ("The Pacific"), which had the taste of "Oregon Trail" in it.

Why? Did they broke the axle and die of dysentery?

 

[Urwumpe]

Why? Did they broke the axle and die of dysentery?

Exactly. :thumbup:

 

[mojoey]

The Pacific was ok, but it lacks what Band of Brothers had, more of a story behind it, than did The Pacific.






(But Saving Private Ryan is arguably one of the best WW2 films)

 

[Urwumpe]

(But Saving Private Ryan is arguably one of the best WW2 films)

I dislike the ending of it... most of it was great, but it became a bit too much Hollywood along the final battle, as if the writers ran out of ideas after the middle and used uninspired junk for giving the movie at least one ending.

Also, the best WW2 film is in my choice "The longest day". But "The Enemy Below" could also be a good choice.

 

[Ghostrider]

I dislike the ending of it...

Well, there was a realistic ending shot with Ryan stepping down from the bus and crossing the street to his house, waving his arm and yelling "Yo mama, I'm home" only to be run over and killed by an ice cream van.

I think they'll show it on "Family Guy".

 

[Codz]

The Longest Day is certainly one of my favorites. I also enjoyed Das Boot, Stalingrad, Band of Brothers, and Memphis Belle.