Das Boot . Austin Chronicle . 07-27-98

Das Boot

DIRECTED BY: Wolfgang Petersen

REVIEWED: 07-27-98

Oh man, not a movie with subtitles! If you have never seen a foreign film, if you have never seen a great submarine film, if you want to see a great film, see Das Boot. This film is nothing short of breathtaking. With claustrophobic, nightmarishly ghoulish production design, this film is like a defibrillator to the chest. It stops your heart dead in its tracks. You'll cheer for Nazis. That's how good the film is. You'll cheer for those Nazis who lie beneath the surface of the ocean waiting to destroy American ships. You'll root for them. You'll cry for them. You'll live with them. This is filmmaking at its absolute pinnacle. A film of such audacity that you'll feel the bursting of sea water in your face as they sail across the top of the ocean: pounding music, torrential winds, and the Captain (played by the brilliant Jurgen Prochnow) howling against the nature of the sea itself. One of the best films, period. This is why you go see movies. It's the best film that will play in Austin this year. After you see it, demand they show it again. Give it its own week. I want to see it seven times in a row.

--Harry Knowles

Other Films by Wolfgang Petersen
Air Force One
Outbreak

Film Vault Suggested Links
Mighty Peking Man
The Best Man
Marius and Jeannette

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