Wolfgang Petersen

U-96, The True Story of 'Das Boot'

Today, 80 years after the events and 40 years after the film, these images and testimonies shed an unexpected light on the reality of the fiction filmed by Petersen. The international success of the film Das Boot made the U-96, of which it fictionally recounts the 7th combat patrol at sea, the most famous of all Hitler's submarines and arguably one of the most famous movie submarines. But the true story of this extraordinary submarine and its equally exceptional crew goes far beyond fiction. Knowing that the success of Das Boot not only opened the doors of Hollywood to Wolfgang Petersen, but also made this film an absolute reference from which all submarine warfare films produced by American cinema were subsequently inspired, this opens ultimately the way to a broader reflection on the indirect, even unconscious relationship that exists between the power of the images of Hitler's propaganda and that of today's Hollywood cinema.

Release Date:2023-08-24

Character:Self (archive footage)

Vote Count:2

Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story

In 1981, a film about the misadventures of a German U-boat crew in 1941 becomes a worldwide hit almost four decades after the end of the World War II. Millions of viewers worldwide make Das Boot the most internationally successful German film of all time. But due to disputes over the script, accidents on the set, and voices accusing the makers of glorifying the war, the project was many times on the verge of being cancelled.

Release Date:2021-01-10

Character:Self - Das Boot Screenwriter and Director

Vote Count:5

Four Against the Bank

After losing their respective nest eggs thanks to a bumbling bank employee, three men use him to plot a bold and batty heist to get their money back.

Release Date:2016-12-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:160

And the Oscar Goes To...

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.

Release Date:2014-02-01

Character:Self (archive footage)

Vote Count:52

Stardust Hollywood - Sternenstaub und Götterwelten

Documentary about Hollywood.

Release Date:2013-02-23

Character:Self

Der Bernd

Release Date:2012-07-04

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Wolfgang Petersen: Back to the Boat

Author Gundolf S. Freyermuth goes Back to the Boat with director Wolfgang Petersen, star Jürgen Prochnow, and others to discuss the production of 'Das Boot'.

Release Date:2011-04-22

Character:Self

Poseidon

A packed cruise ship traveling the Atlantic is hit and overturned by a massive wave, compelling the passengers to begin a dramatic fight for their lives.

Release Date:2006-05-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2153

Filmlegenden. Deutsch

Release Date:2006-01-14

Character:Self

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:1

Gottschalk meets Petersen

Release Date:2005-05-14

Character:Himself

Troy

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Release Date:2004-05-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:10322

The Agency

The Agency receives word that Fidel Castro will be assassinated when he visits America and the CIA has 48 hours to stop the assassination.

Release Date:2003-01-01

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Starbuck Holger Meins

Twenty-five years after the death of Holger Meins, filmmaker and former student friend of the deceased, Gerd Conradt takes an in-depth look at the helmsman of the Baader-Meinhof gang. Who was Holger Meins? What led him into the underground? What circumstances resulted in his death, a death which made him the declared symbol of the radical opposition in Germany? What remains of his legacy?

Release Date:2002-05-23

Character:Self

Vote Count:3

The Agency

The Agency is a CBS television drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA. The series was created by Michael Frost Beckner and was executive produced by Michael Frost Beckner, Shaun Cassidy Productions and Radiant Productions in association with Universal Network Television and CBS Productions. It aired from September 27, 2001 until May 17, 2003, lasting two seasons. It featured unprecedented filming from the actual CIA headquarters. The show was controversial regarding its exploration of current international affairs and its treatment of the ethical conflicts inherent in intelligence work. Beckner's pilot script, written in March 2001, posited a re-invented CIA tasked with a "War on Terror" after Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization plots a lethal attack on the west. The pilot was to premiere at CIA Headquarters on September 18, 2001 and set to air on CBS September 21, 2001, however, the actual 9/11 attacks convinced the network to hold the pilot and instead air a later episode. That first episode was aired later as the third episode of the first season. The September 11, 2001 terrorist events changed the way Americans viewed topical entertainment and "The Agency", at the time, was one of the most topical offering on network television. The producers of the series quickly responded to this new American perspective on world affairs, but CBS chose to cancel the show shortly after the second season's final episode.

Release Date:2001-09-27

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Vote Count:11

The Perfect Storm

In October 1991, a confluence of weather conditions combined to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic. Caught in the storm was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail.

Release Date:2000-06-29

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:2349

Bicentennial Man

Richard Martin buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew by the youngest of the family's children. "Bicentennial Man" follows the life and times of Andrew, a robot purchased as a household appliance programmed to perform menial tasks. As Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought, the Martin family soon discovers they don't have an ordinary robot.

Release Date:1999-12-17

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:3649

Instinct

In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything—even put his very life on the line—in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.

Release Date:1999-06-04

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Vote Count:613

The Directors

Documentary biography series featuring profiles of various famous film directors.

Release Date:1999-01-01

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:8

Red Corner

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

Release Date:1997-10-30

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Vote Count:367

Air Force One

When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.

Release Date:1997-07-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:3024

Hollywood, Germany - Die amerikanische Herausforderung

Documentary by Eckhart Schmidt.

Release Date:1996-03-26

Character:Self

Outbreak

A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col. Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined, and to prevent an over reaction by the White House.

Release Date:1995-03-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2290

In the Line of Fire

Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.

Release Date:1993-07-08

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1609

HBO First Look

HBO First Look is an American television show on HBO that chronicles up and coming movies. It first started in 1992 with a documentary on A League of Their Own starring Tom Hanks, and still airs today. The series shows behind-the-scenes looks at the filming and interviews with the actors. The show is part documentary and part advertisement. It airs on HBO with no set schedule.

Release Date:1992-06-12

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:10

Shattered

Dan Merrick comes out from a shattering car accident with amnesia. He finds that he is married to Judith who is trying to help him start his life again. He keeps getting flashbacks about events and places that he can't remember. He meets pet shop owner and part time private detective Gus Klein who has supposedly done some work for him prior to the accident. Klein helps Merrick to find out more...

Release Date:1991-10-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:197

DAS!

Release Date:1991-01-02

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:5

Enemy Mine

A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.

Release Date:1985-12-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:981

Das Boot

Based on an autobiographical novel by German World War II photographer Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, Das Boot follows the lives of a fearless U-Boat captain (Jurgen Prochnow) and his inexperienced crew as they patrol the Atlantic and Mediterranean in search of Allied vessels, taking turns as hunter and prey.

Release Date:1985-02-24

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Episode Count:6

Vote Count:109

The NeverEnding Story

While hiding from bullies in his school's attic, a young boy discovers the extraordinary land of Fantasia, through a magical book called The Neverending Story. The book tells the tale of Atreyu, a young warrior who, with the help of a luck dragon named Falkor, must save Fantasia from the destruction of The Nothing.

Release Date:1984-04-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Man who drops Milk (uncredited)

Vote Count:4057

Na sowas!

Release Date:1982-03-29

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:1

Das Boot: Behind The Scenes

Comprehensive classic piece that looks at the process of creating the movie, told with a strong, well-constructed narrative that plays almost as a movie itself, a detailed retelling of how the movie was made and the dedication to authenticity that's evident right down to the finest little details on the ship. After a narrator sets the scene for various segments from the film, the piece takes its time to take a closer look at all of the elements that are necessary to create the movie and the challenges of shooting such a labor- and authenticity-intensive picture.

Release Date:1981-09-20

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Das Boot

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

Release Date:1981-09-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2252

Wetten, dass..?

A long-running German-language entertainment television show based on the format of the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet?.

Release Date:1981-02-14

Character:Self

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:19

Bayerischer Filmpreis

Release Date:1979-12-01

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

NDR Talk Show

Release Date:1979-02-09

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:4

Black and White Like Day and Night

A scientist who swore off playing chess after a nervous breakdown as a boy wunderkind, creates an undefeated chess program. But the Russian world champ beats Tommy Rosemund's masterwork in a televised match. So the West German mathematician becomes a top chess pro himself, which the West German media boast will prove the superiority of Germany and democracy. The jowly, white-faced Rosemund believes that the entire Red Communist bloc is out to stop him from vanquishing their atheist pretty boy, Stefan Koruga, to become the next Bobby Fischer and a symbol that capitalism is preferable to socialism.

Release Date:1978-12-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:8

Bio’s Bahnhof

Release Date:1978-02-09

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

The Consequence

Thomas, the son of a prison warden, falls for Martin, one of the prison inmates. After Martin is released, they try to build a relationship and a life together but, no one will leave them alone.

Release Date:1977-12-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:26

Bitte umblättern

Release Date:1977-04-20

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:1

Planübung

A fictionalized version of a military training fight.

Release Date:1977-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Four Against the Bank

One evening, the once successful architect Helmut is tired of the recession giving no jobs, he gets the idea of robbing a bank. He recruits members of his golf club that are not paying their fees.

Release Date:1976-12-07

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Hans in Luck

When Hans wakes up one morning, he realizes that he is longer than his bed, his feet sticking out over the edge of the bed. The young man remembers his happy childhood. Hans knows it's time to leave home.

Release Date:1976-10-05

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Die Stadt im Tal

Release Date:1975-01-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Stellenweise Glatteis

Release Date:1975-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Pinned to the Ground

Two young oil salesmen from Hamburg, who are tasked with buying oil from the Middle East as cheaply as possible for their company, get caught up in a clash between a local gang of drug smugglers and the police. Each stage of this dangerous adventure could earn them either twenty years in prison or liquidation by the gang. The appearance of a beautiful, somewhat enigmatic woman adds to the allure. Two middle-class existences in a foreign country, confronted with the rude methods of the police and criminal elements, form the field of tension in this adventure story, which was produced with an international cast.

Release Date:1974-10-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

One or the Other of Us

Psychological thriller that focuses on the intense conflict between a university professor and a blackmailer.

Release Date:1974-04-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:9

Van der Valk and the Rich

Dutch police officer Van der Valk is pulled away for a private investigation for a friend of the chief of police to find the missing junior manager. When he gets to know his woman, he is fascinated by the thought of running away with her.

Release Date:1973-12-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Smog

Every day they clean the dirty windows of their cars from the filthy film that has formed overnight. Measuring stations call a low smog warning. But one day a soccer player collapses on the pitch with breathlessness.

Release Date:1973-04-15

Department:Writing

Job:Author

Vote Count:6

I Will Kill You, Wolf

A young woman takes the train to Berlin. She wants to kill her friend Wolf, a theater actor. When the woman meets him, he tells her about his weird wife.

Release Date:1971-04-05

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Scene of the Crime

Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss, crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.

Release Date:1970-11-29

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:6

Vote Count:110

Ich Nicht

Release Date:1969-03-01

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

The Cuckoo Years

Experimental fiction film about young people taking on different creative tasks.

Release Date:1967-11-07

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Der Findling

Release Date:1967-06-10

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Der Eine - der Andere

One man interacts with an invisible orchestra, another one is stuck in a bin.

Release Date:1967-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Goldene Kamera Verleihung

Release Date:1966-01-25

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:2

Stadt auf Stelzen

Directorial debut of Wolfgang Petersen

Release Date:1965-12-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Grimme-Preis-Verleihung

Release Date:1964-01-16

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Bambi Awards

The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.

Release Date:1948-01-01

Character:Self

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:1