As a fan of "Das Boot", I've always wanted to see the complete mini-series.
he 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image requires one to make distinctions between transfer quality and overall quality. The transfer is very good since there are no hints of compression artifacts, shimmering, pixellating, etc. Everything looks sharp and clear. However, the print that was used for the transfer is not entirely clean. There are several scenes that have lots of dust, scratches, or excessive grain. Therefore, the image is an excellent transfer of a faulty source (kind of like "Star Wars: Episode II"). Since, at the end of the day, a transfer can be only as good as its origins, I can give the DVD only a "7" for its Video. Also, the video is not as sharp as the video found on the SuperBit discs.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 German audio track is loud, active, oppressive, and disturbing--all intentional qualities. You sense the claustrophobia of a submarine as much through the excellent sound design as you do from the movie's visuals. The best bits occur during the submarine's descent into dangerous depths as the hull crumbles and as the ocean pressure forces nuts and bolts to explode off of ship joints. The audio is "immersive" in terms of placing you in the middle of tightly-packed men and equipment, not in terms of placing you in a wide-open field as with other movies. However, the audio is sometimes not as sharp, clean, and clear as the audio offered by the SuperBit edition.
Since the principal actors did their own English dubbing, the DD 5.1 English track is an acceptable substitute for those of you who are adamant about not watching in German while reading English subtitles. (In fact, the English dub job for "Das Boot" was often cited as one of the best foreign-language dubbings ever created.) Those of you without 5.1-speaker-set-ups should watch the movie with either the DD 2.0 stereo German track or the DD 2.0 stereo English track.
Optional English and French subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
All of the extras are on Disc 2 of this two-disc set. There is a brief "Behind the Scenes" featurette that was created for the 1997 release of "The Director's Cut". There's also a trailer for "The Director's Cut" as well as other Wolfgang Petersen movies from Sony. (The featurette was on the 1997 DVD but not on the SuperBit DVD.)
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy insert provides a note from director Wolfgang Petersen about "Das Boot" and its various incarnations as well as an ad for other Petersen-directed projects from Sony.
Film Value:
Sony is perhaps the worst of the major studios when it comes to releasing multiple versions of a movie on DVD. Rather than releasing something that can be considered "definitive", Sony releases a bunch of DVDs that all have their own plusses and minuses. Therefore, the consumer has to make difficult decisions concerning problems that didn't have to exist in the first place. For example, "SuperBit Deluxe" sets are usually copies of pre-existing Special Editions that get rid of audio commentaries and offer extras on second discs. However, why not simply take the pre-existing Special Editions, complete with their audio commentaries, and use them as Disc 2s of "SuperBit Deluxe" sets? That way, you still get the SuperBit experience with Disc 1 but also the option of watching movies with audio commentaries.
Anyway...
If you don't yet have a copy of "Das Boot", then "The Original Uncut Version" is your best bet. However, many of you may find its length to be oppressive or unncessary, and the DVD doesn't have either the audio commentary or the informative fold-out insert that accompanies the 1997 "The Director's Cut" DVD. Also, "The Original Uncut Version" is not as good as the "SuperBit" edition of The Director's Cut in terms of Video and Audio presentation.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 German audio track is loud, active, oppressive, and disturbing--all intentional qualities. You sense the claustrophobia of a submarine as much through the excellent sound design as you do from the movie's visuals. The best bits occur during the submarine's descent into dangerous depths as the hull crumbles and as the ocean pressure forces nuts and bolts to explode off of ship joints. The audio is "immersive" in terms of placing you in the middle of tightly-packed men and equipment, not in terms of placing you in a wide-open field as with other movies. However, the audio is sometimes not as sharp, clean, and clear as the audio offered by the SuperBit edition.
Since the principal actors did their own English dubbing, the DD 5.1 English track is an acceptable substitute for those of you who are adamant about not watching in German while reading English subtitles. (In fact, the English dub job for "Das Boot" was often cited as one of the best foreign-language dubbings ever created.) Those of you without 5.1-speaker-set-ups should watch the movie with either the DD 2.0 stereo German track or the DD 2.0 stereo English track.
Optional English and French subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
All of the extras are on Disc 2 of this two-disc set. There is a brief "Behind the Scenes" featurette that was created for the 1997 release of "The Director's Cut". There's also a trailer for "The Director's Cut" as well as other Wolfgang Petersen movies from Sony. (The featurette was on the 1997 DVD but not on the SuperBit DVD.)
--Miscellaneous--
A glossy insert provides a note from director Wolfgang Petersen about "Das Boot" and its various incarnations as well as an ad for other Petersen-directed projects from Sony.
Film Value:
Sony is perhaps the worst of the major studios when it comes to releasing multiple versions of a movie on DVD. Rather than releasing something that can be considered "definitive", Sony releases a bunch of DVDs that all have their own plusses and minuses. Therefore, the consumer has to make difficult decisions concerning problems that didn't have to exist in the first place. For example, "SuperBit Deluxe" sets are usually copies of pre-existing Special Editions that get rid of audio commentaries and offer extras on second discs. However, why not simply take the pre-existing Special Editions, complete with their audio commentaries, and use them as Disc 2s of "SuperBit Deluxe" sets? That way, you still get the SuperBit experience with Disc 1 but also the option of watching movies with audio commentaries.
Anyway...
If you don't yet have a copy of "Das Boot", then "The Original Uncut Version" is your best bet. However, many of you may find its length to be oppressive or unncessary, and the DVD doesn't have either the audio commentary or the informative fold-out insert that accompanies the 1997 "The Director's Cut" DVD. Also, "The Original Uncut Version" is not as good as the "SuperBit" edition of The Director's Cut in terms of Video and Audio presentation.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]12021[/release]