Editing Das Boot (section)

{{short description|1981 West German war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen}}
{{About|the film|the 2018 TV series|Das Boot (2018 TV series){{!}}''Das Boot'' (2018 TV series)|other uses|Das Boot (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox film 
| name           = Das Boot
| image          = Das boot ver1.jpg
| alt            =  
| caption        = Original German theatrical poster
| director       = [[Wolfgang Petersen]]
| screenplay     = Wolfgang Petersen
| based_on       = {{Based on|{{lang|de|[[Das Boot (novel)|Das Boot]]}}|[[Lothar-Günther Buchheim]]}}
| producer       = Günter Rohrbach
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jürgen Prochnow]]
* [[Herbert Grönemeyer]]
* [[Klaus Wennemann]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Jost Vacano]]
| editing        = [[Hannes Nikel]]
| music          = [[Klaus Doldinger]]
| studio         = {{ubl|[[Bavaria Film]]|Radiant Film|[[Westdeutscher Rundfunk]]|[[SWR Fernsehen]]}}
| distributor    = [[Constantin Film|Neue Constantin Film]]
| released       = {{Film date|1981|9|17|df=y}}
| runtime        = 149 minutes<br />([[#Different versions and home media|see below]])
| country        = West Germany
| language       = German
| budget         = [[German mark|DM]]&nbsp;32&nbsp;million (equivalent to [[Euro|€]]{{#expr:({{Inflation|DE|32|1982|r=3}} / {{FixedEuroRate|DEM}}) round 1}} million {{Inflation-year|DE}})
| gross          = $84.9&nbsp;million<ref>[http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1982/0DABO.php Box Office Information for ''Das Boot''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001521/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1982/0DABO.php |date=31 December 2013 }} The Numbers. Retrieved 27 March 2013.</ref> (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|84.9|1982}} million {{Inflation-year|US}})
}}
[[File:Das Boot, the tower.jpg|thumb|The conning tower of the submarine, at [[Bavaria Studios]], Munich]]
'''{{lang|de|Das Boot}}''' ({{IPA|de|das ˈboːt}}; {{lit|The Boat}}) is a 1981 [[West Germany|West German]] [[war film]] written and directed by [[Wolfgang Petersen]], produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring [[Jürgen Prochnow]], [[Herbert Grönemeyer]] and [[Klaus Wennemann]]. An [[Film adaptation|adaptation]] of [[Lothar-Günther Buchheim]]'s 1973 semi-autobiographical novel [[Das Boot (novel)|of the same name]], the film is set during [[World War II]] and follows the {{GS|U-96|1940|6}} and her crew, as they set out on a hazardous patrol in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard [[U-boat#World War II (1939–1945)|U-boats]] as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country.

Development began in 1979. Several American directors were considered three years earlier, before the film was [[development hell|shelved]]. During production, [[Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock]], the captain of the real ''U-96'' during Buchheim's 1941 patrol and one of Germany's top U-boat "tonnage aces" during the war, and Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on {{GS|U-219||2}}, served as consultants. One of Petersen's goals was to guide the audience through "a journey to the edge of the mind" (the film's German tagline {{lang|de|Eine Reise ans Ende des Verstandes}}), showing "what war is all about".<ref>{{Cite book |last=McCaulay |first=Philip Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ_YAQAAQBAJ&dq=wolfgang+petersen+%22what+war+is+all+about%22&pg=PA61 |title=World War II Movies |year=2010 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-557-30299-4 |language=en}}</ref>

Produced on a [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]32 million budget (about ${{To USD|32|DEU|year=1982|round=1}} million, equivalent to [[Euro|€]]{{#expr:({{Inflation|DE|32|1982|r=3}} / {{FixedEuroRate|DEM}}) round 1}} million in {{Inflation-year|DE}}), the high production cost ranks it among the most expensive films in [[Cinema of Germany|German cinema]], but it was a commercial success, grossing nearly $85 million worldwide (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|84.9|1982}} million {{Inflation-year|US}}). The film has been exhibited both as a theatrical release (1981) and a TV [[miniseries]] (1985). Several different [[home video]] versions, as well as a [[director's cut]] (1997) supervised by Petersen, have also been released. [[Columbia Pictures]] issued both German-language and English-dubbed versions in the United States theatrically through their Triumph Classics label, earning $11 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |date=1997-03-31 |title=Das Boot: The Director's Cut |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/das-boot-the-director-s-cut-1200449025/ |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{lang|de|Das Boot}} received positive reviews, and was nominated for six [[Academy Awards]], including for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]] for Petersen himself. He was also nominated for a [[BAFTA Award]] and [[DGA Award]], and the film won the [[German Film Award|German Film Award for Best Film]]. It was the German film with the most Oscar nominations until the release of ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' in 2022.