Why "Das Boot" Became Germany's Most Expensive Film 

Hi, I am Fred Sottile, host of the show. Before anyone asks why I had a father who served in Korea and claimed another one who served in WW II, I did. Let me explain. My natural father, Dominick Sottile served in Korea but died at the age of 26. Two years later my mother married Jim Van Natta who served on the Dragonette, a WW II submarine. I am very lucky to have this heritage. Both men were giants as heroes. Credit to my mother who attracted these strong figures. She too, was exceptional; a great woman of a great generation. Thank you all for your support, and all the best to you. Sincerely, Fred Sottile

Stating "They're Nazis" was ridiculous. We simply have no idea if many of them joined the party or were simply naval men doing their duty.

1. As we know, not all men are bald. Likewise, not all German soldiers were Nazis. A soldier is a soldier, and a Nazi is a Nazi. Sometimes the two things came together and sometimes they didn't. Many soldiers were criminals, many Nazis were not. Likewise, not all Americans supported slavery. Life is not black and white. 2. Initially, the Kriegsmarine had an order to rescue enemy survivors and provide them with assistance. Usually, the enemy was informed that his ship needed help and the location was given, life rafts were made available, and sometimes the wounded were taken on board (then such boats could not submerge). However, the Americans (and the British) had a different policy. Instead of saving their survivors, they attacked and sank German boats that were helping the drowning. In this way, the Germans lost many submarines. Therefore, Admiral Doenitz issued a complete ban on providing any assistance to enemy survivors or revealing their location. It was a nightmare for every sailor. And this scene is shown in the movie.

Fun fact: You can visit the submarine interior set used for "Das Boot". It is still fully preserved standing on the lot of the Bavaria Filmstudios near Munich, open to visitors. It survived all these decades because it was made out of actual metal and wood.

an old english woman who had lived through the blitz of London as an 8 year old child, was watching this movie and she was rooting for them all to come home safe!!

Das Boot is one of my favorite movies. Here's a minor correction and some trivia: No real subs were used in the movie. All were wooden replicas - which had been driving production cost. Even the outside shots cruising on the sea used a full-scale swimming replica. The "sea-worthy" replica broke and sank late in the production. It was salvaged and patched for the final scene (arrival in La Rochelle). Some shots reveal patches. But the intended look of a battered ship, returning from a tough fight, helped covering some of the damage from the mishap. Das Boot was not just a movie. They also shot a longer version for a TV-mini series, which was aired 4 years later and was super successful (a "street sweeper" as we say in German: no one on the streets while an episode aired). The extra footage from the TV series was what allowed them to make the extra long "director's cut movie" version more than a decade later.

It was also made as a tv serie witch is even longer

The Confederate Military had a submarine, The Hunley. The concept of a submarine is very old

I find myself staggered at the lack of knowledge of the young presenter.....then I have to remember that I"m 61 years old and it takes decades to learn stuff........ subbed.....I like movies and how different people see and interpret them.......

2:15 That's a gross misconception. Actually only a small amount of the German population where Nazis - even if we are a bit loose with the definition less than 15 % of the Population where part of the NSDAP (and that already includes people who joined the part out of fear and to protect themselves without actually sharing the ideology). Even when they came to power in 1932 they only got 37.1 % of the vote share. And the reason they got so many votes is the same why the Brits fell for the lies of the Brexiteers and voted for Brexit in 2016 and why so many US americans voted for Trump: Hitler promised change for the better (all lies of course, but the people at the time wanted to believe him because the situation in Germany was catastrophic - the economy was weak because of the war reparations that where part of the treaty of Versailles, and on top the Great Depression caused by greedy US bankers wiped out all growth that had been achieved). Same thing happened with Trump and the Brexiteers - they promised everything and held none of their promises, causing massive problems instead. Only a small part of the population was ever involved in the Nazi ideology. As for the movie - while the high ranking leadership of the military where involved with the Nazis most of the lower ranks and mid tier officers where not. In the movie only one of the officers is actually a supporter of the Nazis, the rest (including the captain) are not. You really need to educate yourself before making such insults. The term "Nazi" only and exclusively refers to members of the NSDAP, the Nazi party.

13:38 i guess he is talking about the Bismarck, and the Bismarck was hit by a torp in the rudder from a Swordfish Torpedobomber, not a minisub. Or was there a other incident i dont know?

Their are videos of the making of Das Boot, that are on youtube.

They had an 11 metre model of the boat which they sailed in the zone of two colliding bow-waves between two real ships running parallel, . That how they made a lot of the storm shots. That model was not radio-controlled. There was a poor sod sitting in it, fearing for his life and vomiting all over himself much of the time.

Great movie, i love those WW2 stories.

A submarine was presented to Napoeon, but he refuse to pay for it. The first U-boat used in war was the American civil war.

They had one small model for the under water scenes and some of the storm scenes, where they had Barbie Ken dolls with mechanical engineering to make them move up and down. Then they had a medium model for even more storm scenes and other "real water scenes where a stunt man could maneuver it around. And then a real size exterior boat when actors where needed on the boat. And an interior boat on a railing where all the scenes inside was shot. All models where down to each bolt and screw made as they should have looked.

Das Boot and Paths of Glory are the top 2 war movies/anti-war movies i've seen. There's a 6 part miniseries of this too. I've not seen any versions of this for a long time. I cant remember much about the miniseries, if it included the Directors Cut plus extra bits or not? Near where I live in UK we have the RN Submarine museum which is an amazing day out. Its main attaraction, HMS Aliance was designed during ww2 but not completed until 1946 I think? Its so much more spacious and comfortable compared to this Uboat class. HMS Holland 1 is another fantastic restoration there. built in 1901.

They wanted to let go the journalist and let the leading engineer go back home before the Gibraltar crossing. Sorry, but did you even watch the movie? The engineer was down with his nerves and at the point of time the captain judged, that he is of no real use anymore because of his worn down nerves (he was wrong about that, but nontheless). Because one guy on a journey though Spain was difficult and because the journalist was useless for them anyway, he wanted him to accompany the engineer on his way back home. In a podcast about Das Boot you don't even know important details about the movie anymore? Hmmm... PS: The oily rag incident didn't happen under attack. They weren't fighting for their lives at that point of time. They greased in the torpedoes as a part of the normal daily routine on a normal day without any tension or threat for their lives. But the journalist was simply getting on their nerves with his constant photographing and wanting them to pose for photos in the middle of them doing an annoying and work intensive, dirty job. Again: This is a podcast episode about the movie Das Boot and you aren't even remembering that movie properly anymore? PPS: U-571 was a cringy, very bad made & written, very bad copy of Das Boot with very bad, wooden "action movie"-gung ho-dialogues. You enjoyed that ultra-crappy movie? I see....

to-day (2024) anyone joining the german navy is greeted with "welcome to the german navy, it may be the year 2024, but the devotion to duty, and discipline has not changed since 1904!!

The first submarine to be used in combat was during the American Revolutionary War.

Wtf, have you even seen the film ?

Wow der Typ tut ja so als würde er sich super auskennen und der Interviewer weiß nicht mal ob das Nazis sind? Like in the first sentences? 😅 ein bisschen peinlich

there is a making of documantry about das Boot, where you can see how everything was filmed. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8k86hb9Pyrg.htmlsi=f8UWjdT6btzPNkjj ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YWq6KBH9Eic.htmlsi=FvOZ560XLpuCseKH

2:12 The majority of the crew as well many real german soldiers were NOT Nazis! If you mean Jewish hating people who sees them as top tier race. They were regular people who had to serve for their country as all other soldiers from other countries does. Sure, you hade some fanatisc, but you have them everywere!

German war movies, Das Boot, Stalingrad, etc. Demonstrate the futility of war. They all demonstrate the personal struggles between duty and their own personal view of humanity. This is what all militaries deal with. I disagree with your statement that these people just threw themselves at the enemy with no thought for their own survival.

It's not a boot for your feet , pronounce it like "boat" and your closer but still not correct

Not best review. Don’t know anything about the subject or the people

1. As we know, not all men are bald. Likewise, not all German soldiers were Nazis. A soldier is a soldier, and a Nazi is a Nazi. Sometimes the two things came together and sometimes they didn't. Many soldiers were criminals, many Nazis were not. Likewise, not all Americans supported slavery. Life is not black and white. 2. Initially, the Kriegsmarine had an order to rescue enemy survivors and provide them with assistance. Usually, the enemy was informed that his ship needed help and the location was given, life rafts were made available, and sometimes the wounded were taken on board (then such boats could not submerge). However, the Americans (and the British) had a different policy. Instead of saving their survivors, they attacked and sank German boats that were helping the drowning. In this way, the Germans lost many submarines. Therefore, Admiral Doenitz issued a complete ban on providing any assistance to enemy survivors or revealing their location. It was a nightmare for every sailor. And this scene is shown in the movie.