Television series

Das Boot

Name: Das Boot
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Released: 2018
Cast: Franz Dinda, Tom Wlaschiha, Rick Okon, Rainer Bock, Julius Feldmeier

Other titles called Das Boot: the 1981 film, the 1985 series (Das Erste).

War drama

A tense WWII submarine drama following a green U-boat crew on a covert mission, intercut with a German woman's dangerous double life in the French resistance. It's claustrophobic, propulsive, and morally complicated—less interested in heroics than the grinding human cost of war. For anyone who loved *Das Boot* the film or wants to understand how ordinary people became complicit in extraordinary evil.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a slow-building submarine war story where dread comes from cramped quarters and frayed nerves more than from battle, and you like ensemble character work.

Skip it if you want a tight, self-contained story, because at four seasons and 32 episodes of 53 minutes each, it sprawls well beyond the submarine and asks for patience.

What it asks of you: Expect a long haul: each episode runs close to an hour, and the tension builds through waiting, silence and claustrophobic routine rather than constant action.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Expanse2015

A ensemble crew trapped in a claustrophobic vessel facing impossible choices and external threats. The tension comes from confinement and loyalty tested under pressure, with the same slow-burn character work beneath the action.

But Three seasons in before the story really clicks; some find the early political plotting ponderous rather than gripping.

All Is Lost2013

A man alone against the sea in a relentless, wordless survival story. No heroics, no speeches—just problem-solving and the grinding terror of being trapped with no escape, watching systems fail.

But Barely any dialogue and no character backstory; if you need people to talk about their feelings, this will feel remote.

Battleground1949

An ensemble of American soldiers in the frozen chaos of the Battle of the Bulge, showing how ordinary men become exhausted, frightened, and morally worn by proximity to death. Unglamorous and deeply human.

But Black-and-white and paced like a 1949 film; younger viewers sometimes struggle with the deliberate rhythm.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Das Boot

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Hidden Life2019

Both examine the terrible calculus of an individual conscience trapped within an immoral state; both ask what it costs to resist, and what it costs to comply.

Terrence Malick's film about an Austrian farmer who refuses to swear allegiance to the Nazi regime. It's a meditation on conscience, complicity, and the courage required to say no when everyone around you has said yes. Visually transcendent and spiritually devastating.

But Malick's elliptical, poetic style is not for everyone—three hours of voiceover, pastoral imagery, and long silences instead of plot. You have to surrender to it.

U-5712000

A submarine crew infiltrates a German U-boat to steal its Enigma machine. It's taut, propulsive action-thriller that understands the specific terror of being underwater with the enemy.

But Heavily fictionalized (the real capture was less dramatic), and some sequences strain credibility for the sake of spectacle.

Witness1985

A woman caught between two worlds—modern law enforcement and an insular Amish community—forced to hide while her loyalties are tested. The quiet tension and moral ambiguity echo *Das Boot*'s examination of complicity.

But A love story subplot that some find trite; the pacing shifts away from thriller into quieter character study in the second half.

The Hunt for Red October1990

A Soviet submarine commander and his crew navigate Cold War paranoia, divided loyalties, and the impossible task of survival when everyone suspects betrayal. Intelligent, tense, deeply human beneath the espionage.

But The accents are occasionally distracting, and post-Cold War audiences sometimes find the geopolitical stakes harder to care about.

Dunkirk2017

Three timelines (land, sea, air) collapse into one desperate retreat. Like *Das Boot*, it's about ordinary soldiers trapped by circumstance, watching systems fail and making impossible choices under fire.

But The fractured structure and minimal dialogue can feel cold; some viewers want more character investment than the format allows.

Cross of Iron1977

A German soldier and his platoon survive the Russian front through brutality, cunning, and exhaustion. It refuses to sentimentalize the German perspective while showing the cost of survival in a collapsing army.

But Bleak and violent; the film's refusal to offer moral comfort unsettles some viewers. It's also dated in its style.

The Bridge on the River Kwai1957

Prisoners of war forced to build a bridge for their captors face the quiet war of will, obedience, and dignity. Like *Das Boot*, it explores how ordinary men rationalize participation in systems larger than themselves.

But Three-plus hours, and the second half pivots toward action-adventure in ways that dilute the psychological tension of the first.

Kursk2018

Both centre on submarines and the specific terror of drowning in a metal tomb; both use the confinement to ask how people behave when death is not a possibility but a schedule.

The true story of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk's catastrophic sinking in 2000, told through the families, officials, and trapped sailors. It has *Das Boot*'s claustrophobic precision and the same question: how do men die when escape is impossible?

But Based on a disaster where nearly everyone dies; it's relentlessly grim with little hope offered. Some find that emotionally exhausting rather than cathartic.

Persepolis2007

Like the German woman in *Das Boot*, the protagonist is a young person navigating loyalty to family and home while the state demands compliance. Both explore how ideology fractures identity and forces you to choose between survival and integrity.

An animated memoir of a girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution, torn between her Western identity and her country's transformation. It's intimate, funny, and furious about how ideology consumes the people living inside it.

But Animated, which some equate with 'for children'; it's emphatically not. The art style is stark and sometimes repetitive. Reading subtitles for 95 minutes tires some viewers.