Das Boot - The Tommies' Viewpoint

After completing the Das Boot task I found myself having mental images of the end sequence from the viewpoint of the RAF.

Cut for spoilers.

Watch Das Boot in a single sitting

This challenge was given to me by my friend Juliette, who is a big fan of the 1981 movie/mini-series (depending on which version you're watching) about a German U-Boat in World War Two. The uncut version is a whopping four-and-a-half hours long, so I've spent much of my Sunday sat in my jim-jams watching this epic.

One thing that struck is not only how well-made it is - the directing, the acting and the set design are all excellent. It also occurred to me that all this makes you completely forget just how cliched a lot of it is. Take a look at the characters. You've got a captain who hates the Nazis, and a first officer who's a fervent Nazi. There's the veteran who's close to cracking, another officer who's just completely devil-may-care. And of course, there's somebody who pines for his sweetheart back home (a war movie staple that generally screams, "I am so not getting back alive.") Oh, and the foil for all this is a naive war reporter.

A lot of the scenes are also straight from what you'd expect in a war movie set on a sub. There's a scene where the captain insists on taking the boat well below crush depth. And while they're down there, naturally there's somebody who goes mad and demands to be let out. There's a scene when they're forced to see first-hand the people they're killing rather than just hearing the explosions. And of course, there's the obligatory war-is-futile ending.

If it wasn't so well-crafted, all of this would stick out like a sore thumb. The fact that it doesn't is a tribute to the director, cast and set designers.

Watch Casablanca

"What is your nationality?"

"I'm a drunkard."

"That makes Rick a citizen of the world."

Might as well start the challenge with a task that's relatively straightforward to organise.

Everybody has a great movie that they've never got around to watching. Mine just happened to be Casablanca.

Having never seen it before, I was wondering whether it would live up to its reputation, or if it would seem dated, nearly 70 years after its original release.

As it happens, I thought it stood the test of time pretty well. There may be a distinct lack of CGI exploding helicopters or rampaging dinosaurs, but it remains a suspenseful, thoroughly-engrossing drama with good writing and outstanding performances. Curiously, the most often-cited one-liners from the film - "Here's looking at you, kid" and the frequently-misquoted "Play it, Sam" didn't actually strike me as being the most memorable in the film.

On a side topic, here's a hilarious review from Nostalgia Critic about how the 90s Pamela Anderson movie Barb Wire is essentially a bad rip-off of Casablanca.

One task done, only 51 left to go...