Das Boot - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[camila]

Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare in both world wars was in response to the Royal Navy's blockades, which were widely considered illegal under international law.

[toni]

Because the original TV mini-series was severely criticized in Germany for portraying World War II Germans sympathetically, the producer greeted the first American showing of the film at the Los Angeles Film Festival with great trepidation. They weren't sure how a former enemy nation in that war would react to the film, especially in a city with a large Jewish population, and their fears were reinforced when the audience applauded the opening caption saying 30,000 of 40,000 German men that went into war in submarines didn't come back. However, when it ended, the audience gave the film a standing ovation in appreciation of the artistry of the filmmakers.

[stephanie]

Originally filmed in German, all of the major actors could speak English. When the movie was dubbed into English for USA and UK distribution, all of the principal actors actually dubbed their own voices into English.

[scarlett]

The Captain awards include the Knight's Cross which is worn around his neck and the U-boat War Badge, the former awarded for "extreme battlefield bravery or outstanding military leadership" and the latter was awarded after two successful u-boat patrolsThe Engineer is seen wearing a German Cross in gold on the right side of his tunic and the Iron Cross first class on the left side. Both were awarded for repeated acts of bravery in combat.

[ronnie]

The U-505, a type IX U-boat similar to the one in the film, however it was much larger and designed for longer Patrols. This only surviving variant can be toured at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

[charlie]

The only surviving class IX U-Boat is in a Chicago museum, so a full-size floating replica of the exterior was built. Clever editing made this look like three different boats in the La Rochelle pens. Before filming began, it was used by Steven Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The replica comprised three sections, which started to break apart during filming at sea - in the scene following the crew singing "It's A Long Way From Tipperary", a crack can be seen between the first & second sections, midway between the gun which points forward and the crewman with his arms down. That night the replica was blown out to sea and destroyed, but enough parts were salvaged from the surrounding beaches to reconstruct about 2/3rds of the replica, though this now required some extra flotation devices.

[gerald]

Unusually for a major motion picture, was filmed largely in sequence.

[ray]

The submarine models built for Das Boot were also the ones used in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

[mathew]

Wolfgang Petersen's wife, Maria, came up with who was to be killed in the film's conclusion.