What or how many Das Boot Versions are there / have you got?

[EmZeD45]

Hi Fellow Sub Fans

Being a Fan of Sub Films / war films right from a kid - curled up on the setee next to my dad watching Run silent, Run Deep and Enemy Below on a black & white Tele, And asking, what was probably loads of annoying questions - (LOL my Lad does it to me now.) So as a long time fan I could not believe it when back in 1984, (By then just got my own house !) Here in the UK as alternative viewing to the Olympic games was a dramatisation about a German U-Boat - Das Boot, to be screened on BBC2 over three nights (no comercial breaks on this channel so make sure you go for a Pee before it starts ). Each part being, One and a half hours long. Well I was in my element! Not being a sporting minded person and no satallite/ Cable TV and only 3 or 4 tarestrial channels - and No PC's to play on (I had a mattel intelivision games console back then - mmmm B-17 bomber! - oops I digress) there was not normally a lot else to watch . So what was being billed as the best most realistc sub story to be shown was going to be a breath of fresh air - or rather a breath of Bilge Oil, sweat and salt water.
Well having one of those new fangled VHS Video recorder thingies I not only watch it but recorded all 4 and a half ours of it. And it was the version in German with English Sub Titles, the best one in my opinion as it was screened some years later dubbed into English - Still good but - not as good, lacking a bit something I felt. A few years later (1986-ish maybe) Das Boot was available as a VHS release but I was disgusted to see it was chopped down to something a bit over 2 hours I think. Well I never bought it as I still had my 4 1/2 hours worth, (well being a sad git I recently re-checked it and it's run time is actually 257 mins allowing for 1 set of start and end titles - that's 4 hours and seventeen minutes in English money!)

So My point is after all this waffle - I just treated myself to the directors cut DVD version which boasts - extra footage. And yes it does there is footage in there that is not in the 257 mins I have already but at 200 mins run time the directors cut also still has a hell of a lot missing! No Naration off Lt Werner for a start - which I think really added to the atmoshphere of the film. A sneak attack by an allied plane after a few days out of port - in the directors cut it is mentioned when the Captain is going over U96's patrol log but you didn't get to see it. The bits with Ullman and Francoise is missing and her waving him off from a window over looking the U-boat pens. Johan is missing coming up to the bridge for some fresh air. 'Colien' whispering to 2nd officer to 'Alarm in 20 minutes' as a test - all missing to mention a few.

On the other hand in the directors cut, Thomsen throws up in the toilets at the party, and the party in general is extended a bit. Lt Werner gets an oily rag thrown in his face while taking pictures of the crew loading torpedos and there are some other bits and pieces - and the dialog seems altered a bit - like its a slightly different version of a scene :hmm:

So what versions have you all got out there - the directors cut the same as here in the uk? (available in widescreen and 4:3 versions)
anybody else got a recording from an original TV transmission? did a different version get shown over in the States? Europe? What I would like is a DVD version of the whole lot put together - like that's ever going to happen Trouble is once these VHS tapes get old...... oh I don't want to think about it - it's too horrible!

Sorry if I have gone on a bit too much - but I would be interested hear you opinions and find out what you have out there? after all it is a film very dear to our hearts I am sure

Cheers