Das Boot

Trivia: All the actors were fluent in English and dubbed themselves in the English version.

Trivia: The full sized mock up of the U boat was rented by Steven Spielberg for use in the first Indiana Jone's film.

Trivia: The movie is based on actual events and some of the characters have existed in real life. One of them, Pilgrim, took his own life after the book on which the movie is based was released.

Trivia: The tragic ending is considered even moreso by many people because the captain dies. However the director's cut states that he actually survived.

Trivia: When it came out it was the most expensive German movie ever made.

hifijohn

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Mistakes

Revealing mistake: In one scene just before the attack on a big Hunter the young captain (Jürgen Prochnow) is sitting with his charts. Beside him he has got a glass of beer standing. The sub lurches heavily right and left in the hard weather, but the surface of the liquid stays the same.

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Quotes

Captain: April fool. Practice makes perfect.

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Questions

Question: I know practically nothing about submarines, so this seemed a bit strange to me. When there's that huge storm, why do they keep staying at the surface, only going down for an hour at a time?

Answer: U-boats also travelled much faster on the surface...about 18 knots, vs only 8 knots or so beneath the surface.

Answer: Because that's what the U-boat was designed to do. Unlike modern nuclear boats, they didn't have the capacity to stay submerged for long periods - basically just as long as the air lasted; there wasn't atmosphere control equipment. They would 'snorkel' near the surface, recharge the batteries with the diesel engines, and then dive for a few hours at most before having to come back up and repeat the process.

Rooster of Doom

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