10 Most Important War Films Ever Made

An early hit for The Perfect Storm director Wolfgang Peterson, 1981's Das Boot earned six Academy Award nominations for its tense and tragic story of a doomed U-boat crew.

What makes the film stand out amongst the storied history of war movies was its unapologetic humanization of Nazi soldiers on film, as well as its groundbreaking production techniques.

Set entirely in the cramped environs of a small submarine, this lengthy epic is an intimate and involving portrait of the men aboard and the lives they lead prior to the war which eventually transforms into a thrilling and nightmarishly brutal tale.

Claustrophobic in the extreme, the film's clever framing and camerawork leaves the viewer trapped inside the U-boat with its crew, forcing the viewer to sympathise with the villains and acknowledge the humanity of the faceless, forgotten grunts slaughtered in every conflict.