There are two modes of play: Baltic Training and the missions. You’ll be facing fighter raids, depth charges and cannon fire so you’ve got your work cut out. There are certain missions available, and it’s up to you to complete them, keeping your ship and crew safe while doing so. You are the captain of a German U-boat during WW2. Besides that, this is a simulator: sometimes many activities need to be performed in order to complete your mission successfully. I noticed little of the environment known from the movie. Although some of the missions bear some resemblance to the movie, they are not identical. This is the game Das Boot, and the first thing I’ll say to you is not to expect a reproduction of the movie. You will know the atmosphere of the movie, the panic and the claustrophobic environment, and the chances are that you liked it.
"Das Boot" remains one of my all time favorite films and to finally be able to own and see it as Wolfgang Petersen intended is one of the best things to happen since the invention of DVD.Most of you will know the movie Das Boot. Grönemeyer's performance becomes the very soul of Das Boot. Part Greek chorus, part conscience of the uninvolved, we join him as an outsider on the inside, becoming participants in this heart rending drama. Werner becomes the multi-faceted prism through whom we watch and live this story. Petersen's writing of Herbert Grönemeyer as the eager young reporter, Werner is a masterful creation. You have no difficulty believing this crew standing behind this captain's every decision. Jürgen Prochnow as the Captain gives a remarkable, strong performance, making one believe - from the very beginning - this is a true leader of men.
The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, each actor - even ones with little to no dialogue, making bold indelible choices in developing their characters. The scenes of Das Boot racing through the Atlantic, it's difficult near fatal destruction in the narrow Strait of Gibraltar will have your blood pumping at fever pitch. This is masterful film-making of the highest order, with sound and lighting that capture the claustrophobic nature of a submarine, almost suffocating the viewer. Additionally, the actors were all put through vigorous physical training so that when racing through the set of a dangerously reconstructed U-Boat, they move naturally with an almost balletic swiftness that is dazzling. Petersen kept his cast indoors and unshaven during the entire shoot with the resulting effect that the crew actually looks like a group of men who have not seen natural light, or breathed fresh air for 65 days. We also get more of the sense of what war really is immense spans of boredom and ennui interrupted by the occasional horrors of violence and death. We see friendships and bonds formed, the irritability that comes with lack of privacy and tension so dense it becomes an almost physical presence. In this wonderful uncut release of the original German miniseries we're forced to spend even more time with the crew of U-96 and in that time get to knew them better. When I first saw "Das Boot" I was the same age as those kids so it resonated more powerfully than I could have possibly imagined. Petersen masterfully developed his cast into a crew who are no longer "the enemy" but fresh faced kids, neither prepared nor aware of the horror that was waiting them. Went out for a beer and then returned to the theatre and watched it all over again. Back in the early 80's I called in sick (along with some friends) to see the opening of Petersen's Das Boot. When a film about World War II has American audiences routing for the Germans, hoping and cheering them on for the success of their mission, one can only become conscious of the ultimate horror and futility of war.