Das Boot (1981)

The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth and sheer terror.

Competently made, realistic and well-cast drama that successfully conveys the claustrophobia and terror inside a war-time submarine; the production, however, was mainly intended to prove that German cinema can do it, and it shows.

Halliwell**: "Well-crafted but totally unsurprising saga of heroism and self-sacrifice; a decent view of war from the German side, designed to impress world markets. It did so only moderately."

Maltin***1/2: "Realistic, meticulously mounted nail-biter...Manages to embrace an anti-war message, as well."

The Perfect Storm (2000)

In the Fall of 1991, the "Andrea Gail" left Gloucester, Mass. and headed for the fishing grounds of the North Atlantic. Two weeks later, an event took place that had never occurred in recorded history: a giant storm.

The story is told presenting the crew of the ship as simple fisherman who become heroes. But the only true hero in this movie is the storm.

On second viewing: it's watchable mostly for the storm scenes.

Halliwell*: "There are some astonishing visual moments here - notably the small boat attemting to climb an impossibly high wave - but the crew members, each equpiied with a personal crisis to fill in the gaps between the waves, are no more than stereotypes so that their elemental struggle remains uninvolving."

Maltin**1/2: "...drenched with special effects and noisy, exciting seagoing action, but its characters and story points are bathed in cliche'."