85
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertWolfgang Petersen's direction is an exercise in pure craftsmanship. [Director's Cut]
- 100Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe most convincing war movie ever made.
- 100The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsAt once a devastating condemnation of war and an exciting action film...The additional running time only adds to Petersen's masterfully bleak, claustrophobic atmosphere. Das Boot is by no means a pleasant experience, but it's an intelligent and emotionally gripping one that you won't forget. [Director's Cut]
- 100ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliTakes all of the drama and suspense inherent in a submarine-based story and delivers it in a near-perfect package, establishing Das Boot as not just a terrific adrenaline rush, but one of the best movies ever made. [Director's Cut]
- 90SalonSalonAbsolutely devastating filmmaking that makes you simultaneously feel the glory and the absolute futility of war. [Director's Cut]
- 89Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovOne of the most suspenseful films of all time, its wartime action setting makes it easy to forget it's also one of the most spiritually righteous. [Director's Cut]
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanSweaty and claustrophobic, exciting and horrifying at the same time, it never lets us forget we're riding aboard a giant, primitive tin can, a hunk of industrial machinery that mingles the illusion of omnipotence with the reality of a floating prison cell. [Director's Cut]
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottAs torpedoes shoot through the seas and depth charges pass by, carrying their whining cargo of destruction, Das Boot brings the presence of death to within a whisper of the eardrum.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannA visually spectacular film, distinguished by strong performances and brilliant Steadicam photography that snakes through the U-boat as its patrols the North Atlantic during World War II. [Director's Cut]
- 60Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThe film has no qualities beyond its formal polish--and its careful avoidance (or rather, displacement) of the moral and political issues involved can seem too crafty, too convenient.