Boot, Das (1981) (Uncut) [NF 21202-LD]

What does one say about a classic film that has not been said before? The German only release in PAL without any subtitles and in full screen represents the only true version of the film that was actually broadcast on TV. Some may ask what makes it so special that the DVD version did not address? The truth is that the DVD version is not actually the same film that was broadcast on German TV. This film was not broadcast in 16:9 but in 4:3 in the mini-series version. The DVD has been heavily manipulated since its original broadcast, which is the version that now exists on DVD. This mini-series follows the same format as the German laserdisc release Boot, Das (1981) [64037] and the Philips CD-i format (VCD) from EuroVideo that were issued quite early. All three of these video releases (PAL) were only available in Germany and all of them open with a royal blue sea color instead of the dark green opening on all other releases of this film.

So, how is the sound on this almost five hour version? In a nutshell, quite wonderful. The sound pans and moves around within the stereo image. The sound reminds me of that used on the American Laserdisc release, Boot, Das (The Boat) (1981) [79346]which also seems to have used this same type of panning of the sound. Is the sound good? Yes, it is very good indeed!

So, how is the picture? The picture is wonderful and very detailed for something so old. There is no hint of aliasing whatsoever, which one would naturally expect from a 4:3 version. There is no hint of crappy color rendition since this version is quite vibrant looking. This version looks like a film is actually being projected in a theater instead of that highly scrubbed DVD and Blu-ray crap that we all know today that looks more like a videotape than a film! There is not one single instance of this film having audio sync issues or 50 cycles per second hum like that earlier theatrical version from Germany Boot, Das (1981) [64037].....avoid that title at all costs!!!

Other points that differ from the foreign releases and now the German DVD releases is the fact that the superimposed German titles that were overlayed onto the film describing how many days out at sea are completely absent from all releases. There was a Japanese release of this in NTSC but I do not know how this compares to the version that was produced for the German market, but hey, if you like Japanese subtitles in your picture...

Would I recommend this version? Yes, I would simply because there were only 500 pressings of this version ever available to the public and it is already practically impossible to find!!!

Excellent write up! two issues arises; 1- I have to refresh my German, its been a while. 2- I probably won't be ever finding this release:)

joey2064..... thanks for that.

I really enjoy your LD reviews & appreciate the care, time & effort taken - please keep them coming if you feel so inclined .

In the UK we got this broadcast as 3 episodes that ran to 100 minutes each back in 1984 or '85 on the BBC - it was much praised at the time & deservedly so.

We were lucky to get the 293 minute version (the sometimes quoted 300 minute BBC cut - the extra few minutes were for the opening & closing credits for each of the episodes) in German with subtitles & not dubbed thankfully.

Again, great review.

I enjoy reviewing my titles when I find time to do it. Whenever I look for a foreign film in one of the three languagues I speak, I prefer the laserdisc from that country so I don't have to watch subtitles. Unfortunately though there are many important films from Germany that were not released in Germany on laserdisc. "The Tin Drum" (die Blechtrommel) and "Europa Europa" (Hitlerjunge Salomon) are two that immediately come to mind that had only ntsc releases on laserdisc unfortunately.

Europa Europa is released from Image is pan and scanned unfortunately.

Yes, I used to have that version of "Europa Europa" on laserdisc and did enjoy it at the time. When I was in Berlin a few months back I bought that film on DVD only to find that it is only available in a 4:3 letterbox version. But with that being said, at least the film opens with its original title, which is "Hitlerjunge Salomon".....where did they ever come up with "Europa Europa" for the foreign market I wonder? It is very sad indeed that they never released that film on a German PAL laserdisc!

I can also recommend : Boot, Das (The Boat) (1981) [PILF-7355]

The very recent Blu-Ray version : [thanks to Kris for the hint!]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Das-Boot-TV-Serie/dp/B00LPXQ67M/ref=pd_cp_74_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1YW1GSFMSP06HFQV6ZQV

How does that japanese version of the TV series look on laserdisc? I am guessing that it must be made from the original PAL source that was used for the German laserdisc release with a quick conversion to NTSC. To do otherwise would have meant that all five hours would have had to be rescanned frame by frame for a proper NTSC release. And that did not occur with the TV series until it was remastered for DVD when a new version was made for both PAL and NTSC in 16:9 at the same time a few years back. It is also at this time that the title sequence was changed from blue to dark green when the sub emerges from the water and all German overlays were removed to indicate the number of days out at sea. It also made the jump from 4:3 to 16:9 as well for both the DVD and Blu-ray releases. So, while the DVD and Blu-ray claim to be the original TV-series, it is quite obvious that they were done at a much later time due to all the changes from what was originally broadcast and seen by millions in both Britain and Germany.

Please do a review of the japanese laserdisc release as I am very curious on your thoughts and would like to know what, if any, differences were included in that release.

So let me start with the German Blu-Ray it is 1.78 : 1, so widescreen aspect ration (16:9), it says "ungekurtzte tv fassing" - it does not say it has not been manipulated, which it for sure is.

The Japan TV-series was released on August 8th, 1997, and has 4:3 aspect ratio, it also has the blue image iso the green image at the opening scene (including of course the german text)

I cannot say if it is a "simple PAL to NTSC" transfer, the (original) source is clearly film, this is visible by the black spots appearing in the image.
As I do not own the German LD, I cannot do a one-to-one comparison, the image is dark, looks like 0 IRE, but again this is just my guess.

Anyhow the Astro Records version has been released before the Herald JP version, if it is a PAL to NTSC transfer, it is a shame they did not copy the "Making Of" as well .. how many minutes is this part ? (I expect only a few)

Thank you so much for giving me information on the japanese laserdisc version. Actually the German PAL version has a 45 minute making of the film on side six.

QUOTE : Actually the German PAL version has a 45 minute making of the film on side six.

The JP has each episode of ~52 minutes on a separate side and each new episode starts with a short recap, the u-boot start sequence and episode marker in total of ~2,5 minutes.

The German version which has also 6 sides has 45 minutes of extras, does each episode not start on a separate side, or is there no separate start sequence before each episode (one long movie with different cuts)? How else to have 45 minutes left on side 6?

Japanese has 313 minutes so 313/6=52 minutes / side
German has 356 minutes so 356/6=59 minutes / side

Very interested how it is done on the German release, in order to have 45 minutes left for the making of on side 6

Basically on the German laserdisc it just runs continuously without interuption. Although I can not verify it from actual facts but there are reports that the DVD and Blu-ray versions had scenes trimmed and some were even cut for those releases. Wether that is true or not is hard to know without a direct comparison of both sources running side by side and at five hours that would be quite the task! But the talk in the German newsgroups seems to suggest that the two laserdisc versions are longer than either the DVD or the Blu-ray releases....but again, take that for what it is worth. They also reported that the German laserdisc was in mono but I can clearly hear that it is not and the package is labelled as being digital stereo. They also suggested that the German LD was like the VHS or Japanese LD with the recaps in place, but again that is not true either. But there is one thing that remains sure is that the version on DVD and Blu-ray is not the same version that was shown on either British of German TV at the time. You mentioned that the Japanese version looked rather dark, but I can tell you that the German version is spot on with black levels like the DVD version. "Das Boot" is just one of those films with so many changes that they would have to write a book to list all of them!

I think you should compare apples with apples, which is very difficult in this case, I have several versions of this title :

1)jp original 6 episodes on LD (1997)
2)jp extended version AC-3 on LD (1999)
3)us extended version on LD (1997)
4)european double dvd of extended version
5)european double Blu-ray of extended version
6)german double Blu-ray of 6 episodes

Good news is 3) to 6) only cost a few bucks... so nice to have.

They are all different..
Comming back to your original question if the Japanese 6 episodes is just a PAL to NTSC transfer, with your answer the German PAL version runs continuously, it is clear, it is not, as it does not include the intro for each episode.

On Laserdisc I like 1) and 2), this as 3) has dropouts (DADC US pressing)
Would be nice to do a real comparison with the German one, may be I ll find one in future.. but with the Japanese release I am already very happy

There was just a copy of this title a couple of weeks ago on German eBay that only went for 7 Euros and was in excellent condition. Right now of eBay there is the Japanese copy that you have, although it seems rather pricey and is not pristine and the seller aknowledges that fact. The large booklet inside looks nice although I can not read Japanese! Ha

Yea, I guess they would be from different transfers if they do not include the same intros in the same places....and also the side breaks would be different too. I remember when living in the US many years back and ordering the US release of the original theatrical film produced by Columbia Tristar... Boot, Das (The Boat) (1981) [79346]....I had to send it back twice to get a rot free copy.

You seem to be as obsessed as me with all those various copies in varioius formats....it's a comfort knowing I am not the only one who truly enjoys that film!