MovieChat Forums > Das Boot (1982) Discussion > First time viewer. Should I watch the fi...

First time viewer. Should I watch the film or the 'miniseries'?

posted 13 years ago by Tales-from-the-Goondocks
15 replies | jump to latest

As I understand, they are the exact same film, except that the "miniseries" is obviously much longer, and was later released as an "uncut" version or something like that. As this is the first time I'm going to see it, which one do you recommend? I'm afraid to watch the uncut version because I know I won't get out of my mind the idea that I'm watching a "film", not a miniseries, and I think that will have a negative impact on my appreciation, because I just can't watch a film that's almost 5 hours long, but if you say it is that much better than the theatrical version, then I'm going to try and watch the longer version.

[–] FPAlpha 13 years ago

The miniseries is far superior because it gives the characters time to develop and really shows the monotonous nature of submarine life which is interrupted by moments of sheer terror and fear.

The movie "just" gives you the story of a submarine in WW2, their successess and failures before it ends.. it's still a good movie but the miniseries is far better.

[–] dubyahsrobotminion 13 years ago

Don't watch either. Watch the Director's Cut. There is no sense in sitting through all the filler added to the mini series. You get the theatrical movie combined with the prominent parts added to the mini series, in the Director's Cut. The editing in the mini series is pretty bad, you get dozens of repetitive shots. And if you are looking for dubbing of english, the mini-series doesnt have it. The Director's cut has the actual actors dubbing themselves (in most cases) in english. The Director's cut also has the best quality on disk both in sound and in picture.

Warmonger by day, poet by night!

[–] mojorising_you 13 years ago

I first saw this movie as the dubbed English version. I later watched it in German with English subtitles. Don't watch this dubbed, it's not the same. This is a German u-boat with German sailors. The whole time of watching this dubbed felt phony not to mention the out of sync verbiage.

I will defer the argument of the theatrical vs. director's cut vs. mini-series. The other poster is probably right that the mini-series has a lot of filler, but some like that. One movie I saw recently as the director's cut was "Almost Famous". I didn't like it due to it slowing the movie down with some unnecessary scenes. I preferred the theatrical cut, but hey that's just one example.

[–] lescargo 13 years ago

I agree with you 100% The dubbing has different translations for some of the scenes and I'd like to know which is most accurate. For instance, in one translation the Captain tells the journo to take pictures of the men on the way back because they'll have beards and another seems to imply that it's because it means they'd survived. He also seems to think it's bad luck, and there might be multiple meanings. But listening in German is definitely the way to go, and gave me a great appreciation for the language.

I would recommend watching the director's cut first and if you're as obsessed as I became, watch the miniseries. It has more comedy, more exposition, more emotion, more everything. And it can be divided into segments for watching, although I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to take this sub ride from beginning to end. You become immersed in that world like no other movie I've ever seen.

[–] chouse1020 13 years ago

Another agree on Director's Cut - the ~210 minute version. It's much better than the shorter cut I had seen before then a number of times. I haven't seen the miniseries version, but as others have said - it does sound like it's just padding out what was a very tightly paced story in the Director's Cut.

Make sure to watch in German with subtitles... I don't really even see that as an option. You lose so much of the flavor of the film listening to Jurgen in English.

[–] alcockell 8 years ago

The miniseries was how i first saw it on BBC2 back in the 80s.

[–] grimdeath 13 years ago

I agree totally with you in respect of the subtitles. dubbing always sounds like people reading robotically from a script book. And in the mini series the characters are more rounded and fully developed. I was completely absorbed by the story of their horrendous voyage through the north Atlantic. And although I’m a Brit, I was upset at the ending.

[–] mojorising_you 13 years ago

Well, I undertook the 293 min uncut version this past weekend and I must say it was surprisingly good. Meaning it didn't tediously plod along with unnecessary stuff. The pace was even and I didn't feel impatient with it. I now vote either the Director's Cut or the longer uncut or miniseries as some call it. Of course with the German Language and use of subtitles.

I'd also recommend watching the U-Boat Wars. It's a 3hr expose on the whole U-Boat campaign. Watching this first helped in my understanding of the technology shift employed by the British for conveys, destroyers and most importantly, radar and sonar. As bad as this crew on Das Boot had it, the advent of longer range escort planes and especially the B-24 Liberator bomber really made their life hell and short.

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

The mini series is much better. The film version i have seen was a dubbed version and could never get into it.

Its that man again!!

[–] Strunkinator 12 years ago

To the OP,

What the hell is the difference between a 5 hour "film" and a 5 hour "miniseries"? That's basically what miniseries' are - a film that's too long to be shown in one sitting by a broad audience at a theatre for commercial purposes.

How do you like that piece of satire?

[–] venusinfurs-1 12 years ago

The directors preffered version is the directors cut, don't know if that helps...

[–] persen1 12 years ago

If you don't know what to watch, then the answer is very simple:
Buy the 2 disc Blu-ray and watch first the theatrical version and then the directors cut.
If you then are hype for more personally looks of the characters, then you can purchase the mini series DVD.

[–] DavidTL 9 years ago

I have just watched the film. And I watched the Original Uncut Version (the miniseries). All edited as a single film together (across two discs).

I don't know what another commenter was on about, but the one I had has both the original German language (with multiple subtitles including English) and also an English Dub. The commenter also negatively spoke of 'filler' scenes. There is no filler in it. It is all necessary to show how drawn out it was. The characters themselves are bored and start to feel lazy. But for us as an audience, it doesn't get boring, it just builds the suspense up when they do come across the British navy. You are watching in anticipation as the characters are for the inevitable - that they will have to defend themselves and the boat and fight against the Brits.

It is probably actually the longest film I've seen, where it doesn't get boring or at least makes me check how much time is left (even if I'm not bored!) The run time is no problem, as you get so pulled into it all.

[–] GeoSlv 8 years ago

I'd like to find a copy of the theatrical length to check. Can't see it sold these days. Have seen the director's cut and it would be easy to cut away a lot of drama dialog.

[–] Samuel12345 (3) 8 months ago

Did you manage to watch the theatrical cut? I think the theatrical cut is better than the director's cut