The thing about Johann - for one thing, it's an amazing performance that shows a man who is terrorized and haunted by his mental break and it's blunt, ugly, and raw. There's nothing romantic or tragically beautiful or heroic about it. But it's often forgotten that he's not just a quirky mechanic. He's a veteran like the captain and they've served together before. I can't give an exact quote but if I remember correctly, Johann is introduced as someone who has the captain's trust 100%. When he breaks, it's personal and therefore, a moment of horror for the captain, too. He has to bark orders at his friends and when it doesn't work, he goes to his cabin to retrieve a pistol. Because if the crew hadn't succeeded in restraining him and eventually calming him down, the captain would have been forced to shoot his friend. In that environment, you cannot have someone break like this for several reasons: he could be a physical danger to the crew, and the machinery, and his behaviour could cause a mass panic. Their friendship and the fact that it's an experienced veteran who snaps and not a rookie are often forgotten and overlooked which is a shame since it adds a few more layers of horror to the scene. Imagine having to potentially kill your friend to safe the team. Imagine someone snapping and acting unpredictably in a space like a submarine. Imagine being a rookie and already scared shitless and then you see one of the most experienced veterans on board, the one the captain trusts (and therefore being one you look up to for guidance, too), being the first to break under the mental pressure. Imagine asking yourself how much mercy you could expect at your lowest point if the dignified captain is ready to put a bullet into his friend's head if the safety rules demand it.
Original Johan died this year....over 100 years old ... Johan for me is the hardest beast and vulnarable in the whole movie... Johan is a part of Boat himself one of the crucial parts... His archilis point snaps after living endless hours in the dirtest loudest hotest part of the boat and so the Cpt. cross the line with him too. the Cpt. said this ....He is the Crew and a boat need a good crew and the crew rescued both, and at the same rime all ppl. too while they save him....
its Johann´s 9th patrol, hes says it when asked by the captain later when he comes to apologize. Given the circumstances and the casualty rate, 9 tours is a lot.
@@sebbosebbo9794 Nope that was not Johann. That was the chief engeneer, Fritz Grade, (the one who should have left the boat in Spain, alongside Lt. Werner) he was 107 years old and the last crewmember of U96 alive.
Watching this thing in all its glorious 5 hours is the only real way. Best german movie AND best submarine movie AND superb survival horror. What a freaking masterpiece.
Oh, no, they absolutely don't make it to Italy, they go back to La Rochelle in France where they started, as originally intended. I know it's somewhat hard to tell in the screen adaptation, but that final bombing gives it away - it's simply a typical British air raid on a German military installation in occupied territory. No bomber had the reach to go from England to Italy at that time. But even without that - they had _barely_ even approached the first patrol line and were still a long distance away from the actual narrow part. They'd already failed during the night - *_nobody_* would risk another attempt with a heavily damaged boat during the day, even with the patrol ships this far out gone to celebrate their sinking (or whatever the reason may have been for their absence).
At 5:03 you begin to explain the mission of german u-boats in WWII. I guess you got something wrong there. The task of german u-boats was to detect and destroy enemy freighters in order to weaken the supplies for the UK. There was no such thing as underwater submarine-fights in WWII. German u-boats attacked single freighters or convoys that over the years were better and better secured by destroyers. The destroyers searched them with ASDIC (some kind of early sonar) to determine place and depht of the u-boat and dropped waterbombs with set depht-charges. To drop the waterbombs, the destroyer had to go full speed, to avoid beeing blown up by it's own waterbombs. At full speed ASDIC was useless because of the noice the ship's propeller were making. This was the time-period the u-boat had to change course and depth to avoid the waterbombs. If there were more then one destroyer, the u-boat was f*cked. One could determine the u-boats position with ASDIC and guide the other one were to drop the waterbombs.
Yes, the captain survived. He was injured but he made it. His name was Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, he was one of the most decorated naval officers in history and even visited the filmset during production.
How many enemy subs have they sunk,??? No they asked how many ships they have sunk. It appears you have difficulty differentiating between a surface vessel and a submarine. 09:37
One point: U-Boots *mostly* ran on the surface, being sluggish and draining their batteries when underwater. They were not like the nuclear submarines of today. It's most likely just that their crews had little free time to spend hanging out on the conning tower. Underwater maneuvers were for combat and evasion.
@@rear9259Not to dismiss modern naval hardships but surely those Americans on the aircraft carriers still have better ventilation and nutrition than the days of yore, right?
@@mejestic124In the Uncut Miniseries, during the Three-Week-Storm Arc, at one point Herr KaLeun permitted the sub to go one whole hour underwater for some precious peace and quiet. I wonder how long the batteries would last at maximum.
8:02 This did actually happen. In 1942, a German Uboat rescued the crew of a sunken ship called the Laconia and broadcasted its position on all channels, Allied and German. This unfortunately resulted in the Uboat and it’s rescued crew being targeted by a B-24 bomber. After this incident, the German navy issued an order to all Uboat crews to not rescue any stranded men from sinking ships.
@@44unknown83 Nice try at attempting to humanise Donitz and the German war machine. The fact remains that in the grand scheme of thing the Nazis needed to be stopped by any means necessary since their entire war was a genocidal war and every unit played their part in that. Also German Uboats routinely targetted merchant ships sailing between the US and the UK so any opportunity the allies had to sink one had to be taken without hesitation.
The ending of Das Boot is absolutely crushing. Just like “All Quiet On The Western Front”. You spend all this time becoming close with these characters and then…they die. It’s just like that. It’s an accurate depiction of warfare. Das Boot is one of the greatest war films ever made. Probably one of the least watched by American audiences. As far as submarine films go, it’s right up there with “Run Silent, Run Deep”, “The Hunt For Red October”. and “The Enemy Below”. Das Boot definitely is top of the list for sheer horror though.
Das Boot also shows how *random* war is. that your survival doesn't depend on strategy or making the right choices. in the end a lot of it is *luck.* with their skills the crew got through so much and then dies through being in the wrong place at the wrong time. no way to know or prevent. just random bad luck. this was more shocking than if they had simply failed as it defies all logic and reason, there is no making sense of it.
While I do agree to a certain extent, Das boot actually DOES show that strategy matters, as when they first leave the port at the beginning of the movie they have super high esteem and thoughts of Germany’s position in the war and that they are winning (mind you its not the captains first voyage) While during the movie the captain starts wondering and asking certain questions wondering if they are beginning to lose the war as one of the lines he talks about is, How their was way more u-boats when he started and they were in bigger groups patrolling smaller areas and they had shorter patrols and how everything was easier and more organized in the beginning of the war but now things seem ‘not right’ and ‘how are they supposed to patrol half the atlantic with 1 u-boat by themselves’ So while I agree luck is a significant factor strategy and support clearly do make a very big difference in both the morale and survival of the me That is my opinion good day sir
I also watched the 5+ hour version. I cannot recommend it enough as the definitive must see version. Amazon has it on DVD, but it's not streaming anywhere currently. I took a shot at the 2018 version but honestly they are related in name only. The intro credits pay a little homage to the original, but EVERYTHING about the show is different. It's no longer centered around a u-boat crew, and splits between 2-3 story lines, taking place mostly on land in occupied France. It's worth checking out, but as for me personally, I'll stick to the original.
Best way to watch this movie is the 5 hour version, in German without subtitles, in a dark, small, slightly damp room with a bunch of other guys, drinking bottled beer and eating food from tins :D
and go to the local garage, get some waste-oil to pour on your rug (and maybe some mud from the north sea coast) and tell the boys not to shower for two months before the screening
Don't make me re-watch the movie for the 200th time, listen to the soundtrack for the 400th time, re-read the book and glue yet another U96 model... Don't.. DDddDdDDdDd God damnit
Nice! The Captain is called "K.Leu(n)", an abbreviation of his rank "Kapitän-Leutnant", pronounced "Ca(r) Loin". "Ya vole Herr ca(r) Loin" is the equivalent of "aye aye Sir". The chief engineer is called "L.I.", "Leitender Ingenieur", pronounced "el eeh". U96 hunts mainly cargo ships not submarines.
@@ThorstenKreutzenberger Correct. Johann's rank is "Ober-Maschinist", comparable to the army rank "Ober-Feldwebel" (in English: "Master Sergeant"), that is, he is an NCO "with sword knot" ("UnterOffizier mit Portepee").
I remember going into this movie knowing it would end badly (war films, amirite), but that ending still had me a teensy bit crushed. My boy Erwin Leder gives such a haunting performance and I was glad he redeemed himself later on in the film.
I got roped into seeing "Underworld" at our local cinema by a few of my friends. Imagine my surprise when Singe came on screen. And imagine my disappointment when me and another guy in the room where the only people to blurt out "Johann!" at that moment.
It's not just the camera that's shaking - the whole set was on rockers and being slung about. Only shaking the camera would have been painfully obvious with all the provisions hanging around in the sub.
The 2018 series was horrific. They should be sued for what they made of the original. It's more like a US Marvel movie, all that was missing was a strong female lead...
5:03 Ok, this is, weird. Their primary target was allied convoys, headed for Britain. First of all. And there were no british or american subs escorting them. But most importantly, the submarines of ww2, were never ment to fight each other. Fair they could detect each other, mabye. But the torpedoes are surface based so you couldnt hit one if submerged. But also, you cant target a submerged sub, even in periscope depth. There was only one incident in a whole war, where 2 subs fired at each other at random, and one got sunk. But that was one rare encounter. So as you mentioned the "danger from below", you have a point there couse there was danger from below, tho it were not submarines, but rather the pressure of the ocean that could crush the boat if she dived too deep. This video is great, but this detail just annoyed me, a little bit. Couse Im interested in navy so dont take it personally :D
This is my favorite war movie ever. I spent years in war as a tank crewman and that movie and Fury are bar none the best films that understand the connection between man & machine and what it's like to have to put your whole faith into those things being your lifeline. Edit - a word
Something always struck a chord with me when Wardaddy puts his fist on the hull of Fury and simply states “This is home.” For Capt. Lehmann and his crew, U-96 was home. Home is where these crews were born and grew up as fighting men, as soldiers and sailors. Home is where they slept, talked, laughed, cried, and fought. Fought the enemy… Fought each other. Home was their vehicle, their shield and protection, their platform for waging war. And tragically for most involved, home would also be their coffin.
@@cyhawk4788 Yeah there's a few other scenes in the film as well when they rejoin with the units at the forward base where they're all sitting well aside from the rest of the Soldiers and they're busy with their tank. No time for bullshitting with the infantry or making friends there; you're almost intentionally segregated from normal units because your mount is going to be your whole day. And while I got out about 15 years ago, that concept is still every bit as true as it was in the 1940s. And something about sub crews, they really seem like they're cut from that same cloth.
Peterson's German masterpiece. I saw as the five week stomach punch. For various reasons i wasnt at home the final episode and watched in hospital -fair to say that me and the lads (who were all over thirty , i was well under 20) were all crying. Truly epic and gutrenching, sympathetic yet not patronising and a german fim maker who understood the wider European countries audience. Superbly lit , acted (no false notes off any of the actors) and an awareness that because someone wore a nazi uniform did not by default make tgem a nazi. Truly great review if das boot
If there is any branch of the Nazi military that was most innocent? It was their actively engaged Naval personnel at sea. Most of those guys were just doing their jobs and knew that them being de-centralized was extremely rare for Nazi military structure. So they did what they were told to stay that way.
There is a real tragic story to your post, its a good example of "choise of words" if you will.... German U-Boot Captain Oskar Kusch was a well respected man within his crew. When he became captain of U154 there where three na*is among the crew, the XO (Lt. Abel), the second officer and the chief engeneer. Somepoint during their first patrol, one of the three noticed that there was no picture of the Führer on board. When they asked Kusch about it, he replied "This is a warship. We dont do idolatry here!" After the patrol, XO Abel reported Kusch for this. Kusch was arrested and shot on the spot, for "destroying moral of his combat unit". Abel got promoted to captain and well.... he holds the record for the shortest war patrol in history .... U154 was sunk a few yards outside port (no survivors) Kusch remaind a cold case until 1997 !!! Only after looking close to his personal record, his case was reopend and a court cleared him of all charges. Today his name and story are remembert on a special board inside the "Marine-Ehrenmal" in Laboe, a memorial to soilders of all nations, who died at sea.
I like the German version with the subtitles. For whatever reason, it makes, through the original German translation, a slightly different and, in my opinion, better narrative.
What adds flavour is that the crew was pulled from all different parts of germany, you hear a variety of sometimes pretty strong dialects, and I´d guess that also adds to the feeling even if you don´t understand german. it just sounds more natural then having them all speak flawless standard stage german. (e.g., Johann is from Bavaria, Frensen from hamburg, Schwalle from Berlin, the bosun is from Mannheim, Kriechbaum from somewhere northern germany, the 2WO from Rhineland, one of the mates is austrian, LI is from Cologne...etc...and you really hear that as a german.)
A long while back at 8 or 9 yrs old, remember seeing this as a 6 part series on BBC 2 w.German subtitles & WOW I was ingrossed! This & World at War opened my eyes to the terrifying reality of war all seen at a young age.
I dont remember if it was explicitly mentioned in the movie, but salt water leaking in the boat might get the batteries to leak (poisenous) chloride gas. Amongst other troubles.
Fun fact: There is a Das Boot TV series wich is basically the Movie(s) but with 6 one Hour episodes. (There are two tv series, but the series that i mean is the one wich was made parrallel to the movie)
The initial TV cut is 3 2-hour episodes. The 6 1-hour episodes version was later but I think it’s the same footage except for the choices of “Previously On Das Boot” footage that starts every episode.
@@arnodobler1096 I only ever saw it in movie form. That's interesting. I like the new series too. It's a bit broader and less sympathetic to the Nazis. (I can sympathize with military on the other side because they all go through so fucked up shit).
The mini series with comments of Lt. Werner before, during and after an episode is 5.5 hours long. Its closer to the book, because it has this inner monolouge of the writer.
Going Crazy inside a sub was not a rare thing. I knew an old, old italian officer that was assigned to a sub during the war, It's First assignment. The british destroyers once bombed them with depth charges for hours and hours, One man went Crazy, started screaming. Luckly for him the crew knocked him out and locked him into the captain's cabin (the only Place of the sub you can lock somebody into). When they made back to the port there was a discussion between the officers if sending him to the court martial or not (a death sentence was almost sure) but they decided to pass an Eye and send him to a menthal asylum. He survived the war, the Sailor and that youg officer i Met 70 years After. He was teansfered to another submarine, the First One later sunk.
One of my favorite films - that I can only bring myself to watch once or twice a year. Perhaps its not truly a NIGHTMARE the way this or Apocalypse Now are, but 1953's "The Cruel Sea" is another film that doesn't pull punches on the hardship of naval warfare. Might be worth an analysis vid.
I'm claustrophophobic as well. I've visited the _U-505_ which is on solid ground in Chicago, Illinois, USA. That was nerve-wracking enough. I have also toured the _USS Pampanito_ which is moored in the San Francisco Bay. That was almost beyond endurance, she rocked with the waves, you could hear the waves lapping against and echoing through her hull. _Das Boot_ was a tough view for me.
What??? Attacking other subs? No that wasn't the mission of the U-boat service nor any other submsrine during WW2 "U96 Travels around trying to detect snd destroy enemy subs" 04:57 It was to destroy enemy shipping 😢😢😢😢😢 Down vote for major historical error because in the movie the U96 only attacks enemy merchant shipping and destroyers
The tragical end of this movie never happend in point of fact. But in postwar german narratives it was (and it is!) completely inconceivable to end a german military movie with a good final for german troops. Immediately the accusation of glorification of Nazi Soldiers would arise. Especially the left wing of the German society, and particularly the "Green Party" and their societal environment demand this taboo strictly. And this conception includes even a big part of the conservative Christan Democrats too. And that's one of the reasons why the new party AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) who decline doing so, is completely excluded out of the democatic spectrum of german politics. They are treated as outlaws, and whoever try to cooperate with them promptly is a Nazi himself. Also Germans of today still are great in self-flagellation. And it seems they are proud of it!
6:55 It's not just his facial expression that sticks in my mind. This detail is certainly not so noticeable to non-German-speaking viewers: Joahnn has a Bavarian dialect and that makes his fate even more dramatic for me as a Bavarian. Bavaria is in the far south-east of Germany, far away from the sea. We Bavarians are more connected to the Alps, while the northern Germans grow up with the salt water of the sea. Of course, nobody wants to die, but for a southern German, a watery grave is perhaps even more frightening.
We shall go on to the end, .....we shall fight on the seas and oceans, ...in the air, ... we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.
Its not on any service. You can by the german DVD with subtitles. You get 6 episodes, with narration and comments from lt. Werner. In this TV series format its 5.5 hours long.
Not as claustrophobic as a submarine but... Your comment on making repairs made me think of my father. He was a driver/mechanic in a Sherman Firefly tank during the Liberation of the Netherlands in WW2. My sister collected his writings and recordings he had put down the last few years of his life. She then printed it into small books for all family members. Anyway, my father said more than once on making sure the tank was in good repair so "the crew would survive". So, even when not underwater, maintenance of a war machine was crucial.
Could you do a nightmare fuel video on the 1970 czech movie Witchhammer. It is based on the real Moravian witch trials and you can see, how much can power corrupt.
Could you do a review of "Death ship" I found the movie on youtube when i was 9 and i was good bit traumatised It's a good movie with very good scenes and sometimes a good scare The plot is wierd sometimes but in the end it all comes together (i think) and it gives a aceptable ending Would recomend the trailer before watching the movie And to fully undstand what the ghost ship is i would also recomend looking it up in IMDB because its not that obvious
Honestly, it irritates me that every movie from the german perspective needs to have characters that oppose the nazis, when historically, they'd be the great minority in the Wehrmacht. The nazis were in power because of massive popular support, so naturally many supporters would join the armed forces. Point is, we need to stop pretending the average german soldier wasn't a nazi. He was, and we shouldn't pity his death.
