# Das Boot remake? Seriously? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105 "2015-08-17T19:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/61 "2015-08-19T02:47:25Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > All kidding aside, Hollywood surely respects the earlier work too much to do that. > > > > By which I mean Brad Pitt has to be second-in-command to George Clooney, who squares off against U-boat commander Andy Garcia for the love of Julia Roberts. > > All filmed in the Mediterranean Sea! > > Has anyone got Spielberg’s number? We’ll call it _1943_ You call it whatever you want; I’ll call it _Ocean’s 1943_. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/62 "2015-08-21T02:37:23Z")
I’m seeing a tacky teenage psychological suspense time waster: Das Boot Camp ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/63 "2015-08-21T14:17:30Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Wouldn’t it be sad if there were no good new ideas circulating, and the remakes and reboots were the best ideas currently around? > > And this is possible from an investor’s POV. At least there is a history to look at, one that you can use to justify investing in a remake rather than a shot intonew territory. That’s something I don’t understand; how can a 30/40/50-year old, successful production be ‘guaranteed’ to be a success today? The audience has changed, viewing habits have changed, technology has changed, possibly even the potential audience’s perception of the historical event has also changed. Plus you’re going up against a previously successful production which must add to the pressure in the film-making process. How does a new director, who must have the previous version in his/her subconscious, make the new movie ‘their own’ with an original take on the story? You also have the rest of the cast and crew who must be wondering how their efforts are going rate against the previous production. I suppose this happens a lot in theatre, with famous plays being remade again and again, but originality in a movie is what draws audiences’ and critics’ praise, whereas a rehash often does the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/64 "2015-08-21T14:40:44Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > That’s something I don’t understand; how can a 30/40/50-year old, successful production be ‘guaranteed’ to be a success today? The audience has changed, viewing habits have changed, technology has changed, possibly even the potential audience’s perception of the historical event has also changed. > > Plus you’re going up against a previously successful production which must add to the pressure in the film-making process. How does a new director, who must have the previous version in his/her subconscious, make the new movie ‘their own’ with an original take on the story? You also have the rest of the cast and crew who must be wondering how their efforts are going rate against the previous production. > > I suppose this happens a lot in theatre, with famous plays being remade again and again, but originality in a movie is what draws audiences’ and critics’ praise, whereas a rehash often does the opposite. It’s _something_ as opposed to _nothing_. I don’t know the stats, whether remakes historically do better than original plots and characters, but at least the remakes give an illusion of history to make a judgement on. And who knows, perhaps there IS actual data that suggests a remake is a safer investment. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/65 "2015-08-21T14:46:35Z")
I can see a re-make; it would resonate with trends today: -we need a black member of the crew (maybe Morgan Freeman)? -a female SS officer (to keep an eye on the subversive captain) -a Jewish guy to run the “Enigma” coding machine -he is actually a soviet spy -the boat sinks after being rammed by an american destroyer, but the black, Jew, and woman survive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/66 "2015-08-21T15:36:55Z")
That’s ridiculous. The black guy _never_ survives. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/67 "2015-08-21T16:59:35Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I can see a re-make; it would resonate with trends today: > -we need a black member of the crew (maybe Morgan Freeman)? > -a female SS officer (to keep an eye on the subversive captain) > -a Jewish guy to run the “Enigma” coding machine -he is actually a soviet spy > -the boat sinks after being rammed by an american destroyer, but the black, Jew, and woman survive. How could you forget: the captain and the female SS officer had/have something going on, but by the end of the movie, they fall in love/he kills her. Possibly both. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/68 "2015-08-21T17:32:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Who exactly is forcing you to see the remake? > > And how does it have any effect whatsoever on the original? Does the original suddenly vanish once a new film is made? An original is devalued by cheap copying just as much as a fine craftsman making exquisite furniture or jewellery or weapons would be devalued by having 25 other makers churning out lesser fashioned knock-offs in exactly the same style along the same street. To continue with furniture, whether one likes it oneself or not, the late Louis XV’s personal tastes would not be invalidated by precise copies, [\*\* _The king loved_\*\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Decorative_styles_during_the_Reign_of_Louis_XVI_%281774%E2%80%9391%29)\* pastel colors and exotically colored woods. During his reign was the golden age of French furniture, craftsmanship, refinement, curves, asymmetry, branches, flowers, shells, monkeys, dolphins, latticework, cherubs, and wreaths.\* but the effect would be cheapened, and be rather precious, when republicanized into white plastics on mass machine-wrought wood-like substance, traced with real gold™ with pink coral detailing as translated into a modern Florida bungalow; however pure the owner’s intentions. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/69 "2015-08-21T23:15:59Z")
If they can get Captain Koons from “Pulp Fiction” to command the sub, they could use Nancy Sinatra’s hit song in the background and call it: “‘Das Boot’ was made for Walken.” (Of course it’s awful.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/70 "2015-08-22T00:37:34Z")
They’ve remade _Casablanca_ in the past, at least twice that I can think of, for TV in the 1950s and … 1970s? Maybe about 1980. Laughable productions that did not tarnish the original. And don’t forget the shot-by-shot remake of _Psycho_, which almost immediately descended into obscurity. EDIT: Looked it up. For _Casablanca_, that was 1955 and 1983, with David Soul of _Starsky and Hutch_ fame playing Rick Blaine in the latter! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/71 "2015-08-22T03:22:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > They’ve remade _Casablanca_ in the past, at least twice that I can think of, for TV in the 1950s and … 1970s? Maybe about 1980. Laughable productions that did not tarnish the original. And don’t forget the shot-by-shot remake of _Psycho_, which almost immediately descended into obscurity. > > EDIT: Looked it up. For _Casablanca_, that was 1955 and 1983, with David Soul of _Starsky and Hutch_ fame playing Rick Blaine in the latter! They’ve also “remade” Casablanca as a vehicle for Pam Anderson, _Barb Wire_, and a cheap-assed sci fi called _Overdrawn at the Memory Bank_\*. And yet the original survives and thrives. \*Yes, OD@tMB also borrows heavily from the Varley story of the same name. As does Total Recall.But I digress. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/72 "2015-08-22T07:01:47Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > If they can get Captain Koons from “Pulp Fiction” to command the sub, they could use Nancy Sinatra’s hit song in the background and call it: > > “‘Das Boot’ was made for Walken.” > > (Of course it’s awful.) Man, getting his watch out to countdown torpedo running times will be awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/73 "2015-08-22T09:00:00Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > If they can get Captain Koons from “Pulp Fiction” to command the sub, they could use Nancy Sinatra’s hit song in the background and call it: > > “‘Das Boot’ was made for Walken.” Brilliant! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/74 "2015-08-23T00:21:44Z")
It’s not pronounced “boot”! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/75 "2015-08-23T00:37:53Z")
In the silence of the deep you could hear a pun drop. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/76 "2015-08-23T00:39:47Z")
There are many movies in desperate need of a remake; this is not one of them. If, and IF, however, this is a very \*good \*remake - well then, it would reintroduce a great film to a modern audience that doesn’t even know the original, so it would be good. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/77 "2015-08-23T02:59:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > They’ve remade _Casablanca_ in the past, at least twice that I can think of, for TV in the 1950s and … 1970s? Maybe about 1980. Laughable productions that did not tarnish the original. And don’t forget the shot-by-shot remake of _Psycho_, which almost immediately descended into obscurity. > > EDIT: Looked it up. For _Casablanca_, that was 1955 and 1983, with David Soul of _Starsky and Hutch_ fame playing Rick Blaine in the latter! I forgot about Van Sant’s **Psycho** remake. I found that one strange because, as you point out, it is a virtual duplicate of the original. Including framing of actors, the most obvious one being the close up of the PI walking toward the camera saying “Let’s all talk about Miriam” As for **Casablanca** , I didn’t even know there were any remakes. I will keep it that way. I haven’t ruled out seeing it, but I seriously doubt I will. The only thing that might make me go is if it gets great reviews and people describe it as a “must see on the big screen to appreciate” experience. I never saw the original **Das Boot** on the big screen, and I regret that I never will. I am hoping that since the same company that owns the original is doing the remake, that they will want to do it justice. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/78 "2015-08-23T03:06:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It’s not pronounced “boot”! :mad: Here, this will explain it: > **[Humour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humour)** > > Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion. > People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or... > **[Pun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pun)** > > A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic, homographic, metonymic, or figurative language. A pun differs from a malapropism in that a malapropism is an incorrect variation on a correct expression, while a pun involves expressions with multiple (correct or fairly r 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/79 "2015-08-23T03:10:43Z")
Dagnabbit! It’s not “boot”! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105/80 "2015-08-23T03:16:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Dagnabbit! It’s not “boot”! :mad: \*Yosemite \*Sam!!! We missed you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/das-boot-remake-seriously/728105.md?page=5)