Search - NOVA - Hitler's Lost Sub on DVD

GRIM STORY OF THE U-869

Capt. Lou Costello | Asia | 04/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This two hour DVD traces the history of submersibles through WWII and details the dramatic U-Boat campaign off the US.

It follows the story of wreck divers Ritchie Kohler and John Chatterton as they spend years identifying the wreck of a German U-Boat they were put onto by Capt. Bill Nagle of the dive boat "Seeker". Three divers, including a father and son team, were lost in this quest.

It travels from archives in the US to Germany where poignant stories of the U-869's crew are revealed.

A nice tour takes the viewer through a Type 9 U-Boat in a museum. The video also has some amazing high quality underwater footage taken by veteran wreck diver Bill Delmonico. This footage of the U-869 in spectacularly clear water conditions was shot long before the submarine wreck was actually identified. Strangely, Mr. Delmonico does not receive an artist's credit for this work.

As a wreck diver and charter boat skipper who has dived on U-Boat and other submarine wrecks for many years this video was doubly interesting to me. It should fascinate any diver or historian. Really does bring out enough stuff to scare you.

It is a must have companion to Robert Kurson's superb "Shadow Divers" and Bernie Chowdhury's sad account of the fate of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, "The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths". The Wreck Hunters: Dive to the Wreck of the USS Bass"

WOW! IT FEELS GREAT TO HAVE BEEN WRONG!

Heather L. Parisi | St. Augustine, FL USA | 10/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was not feeling up to doing anything, so I put this DVD on since I had not seen it. I expected a morbid dive into the past and some U-boat trivia. I can now say it feels great to have been wrong. What a sensational film!

Instead of a slow, tedious film about a slow, tedious journey to uncover what U-Boat was actually down there off the coast of New Jersey in 230 feet of water, I experienced a time capsule that contrasted present time and people against events which occurred over a half century ago. It was a unique look at the "then and now" in detail.

We would see the divers in the present struggle through a six-year odyssey to find some form of identification for the mystery U-boat and, almost simultaneously, we were seeing why and how this submarine might have gotten here, though history said it did not belong there. In the end, the historical records and I were both wrong. The German naval archives believed and, in fact, insisted that U-869 had been sunk off the coast of Gibraltar so I believed I was in for a two hour snooze. I guess sometimes it can feel great to be wrong."

Hitler's lost sub

Robert A. Marshall | Tamarac , FL. | 02/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was in the process of reading the Shadow Divers and came accrosed the Nova DVD "Hitler's Lost Sub". This is an excellent account of the book version of the story. It was very informative to view, almost as being there, the persise story of the book I was reading, on film. How, Why and Where the Nazi War effort came so close to our homeland and what could have happened. The book is more detailed, but to actually see the side by side comparison of reading the story was very fasinating and enjoyable."

Astounding

Alan Sturgess | 02/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The accolades 'remarkable'. 'superb', 'astounding' etc. are so easily over-used, but in the case of this film, they all apply.

This really is a documentary of the highest standard. The details are historically accurate; the commentary is informative and lacks all the traces of 'gung-ho' or exaggeration that can so easily affect documentaries about dangerous exploration. The structure of the film is near perfect .... starting with the existence of a mystery U-Boat sunk over 200 feet beneath the waves off the eastern coast of America. As the genuinely exciting (and tragic) story of the dive is told, the entire history of modern submarine warfare is covered right up to May 1945. This goes back to the first boats such as 'the Turtle' and then moves forward through WW1 and WW2 and even includes film of the Walter and Type 21 U-Boats.

Everything is stitched together seamlessly and, by the end of the film, includes some really emotionally-charged scenes and interviews with relatives of those who died on the boat, or those who sailed in U-Boats during the war.

The standard of filming is first class. This includes the use of excellent archive film, simulated events and effective animation.

I cannot praise this film too highly. If you pair it with, say, 'Das Boot', you will gain a truly incredible insight into the realities of the submarine war - and the bravery of both the submariners and the diving team who uncovered the story of this mystery boat."