Wolfgang Petersen: Das Boot director dies aged 81

Wolfgang Petersen, a German director who worked on movies including Das Boot, Air Force One, and Outbreak, passed away at the age of 81.

A spokesman said Petersen passed away on Friday in Los Angeles from pancreatic cancer.

Over the course of a five-decade career, Petersen worked with actors including Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt.

Being directed by Petersen, according to Glenn Close, who co-starred with Harrison Ford in the movie Air Force One, “remains a treasured memory.”

She stated of the action thriller about a group of terrorists who kidnap the US President’s plane: “Even though the script was exhilarating and really dramatic, I remember a lot of laughs, especially in the sequences around the large table in the War Room.”

Petersen, who was born in Emden in 1941, had two Oscar nominations for the World War Two submarine drama Das Boot, which marked his first significant commercial triumph.

He received an Academy Award nomination for best director for the 1981 film, which was based on the same-named novel about the Battle of the Atlantic.

An enduring classic, In the Line of Fire (watch it again.) For a generation, Hollywood action was revolutionised by Das Boot. Troy, Air Force One, and Enemy Mine are all fantastic films. The children’s fantasy adventure The NeverEnding Story, which Petersen directed, was released in 1984.

Alan Zilberman, a different film and theatre reviewer, added: “Although Wolfgang Petersen produced several fantastic thrillers, such as In the Line of Fire and Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story will always hold a special place in my heart.” A kid’s movie has never been more powerful. In might, rest. “

Working with Eastwood and John Malkovich in the assassination thriller In The Line of Fire, Petersen made his Hollywood debut in the 1990s.

Later, he helmed the pandemic-themed movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman.

In the twenty-first century, the German collaborated with George Clooney on Troy and with Brad Pitt on The Perfect Storm. At his Los Angeles home, the late filmmaker passed away while Maria, his wife of 50 years, held him.