Das Boot — Films That Suggest There is No God

Gist: A group of young German soldiers in WW II man a submarine and attempt to disrupt Allie supply lines before making their way safely back home.

Supposed Godlessness: The soldiers, lead by a grizzled veteran commander, encounter incredibly daunting obstacles and damages en route to their return. SPOILER ALERT! Against all odds, they make it back to safe harbor, but literally as they are returning to a hero’s welcome, a squadron of Allied planes bomb the hell out of them and the cheering crowd, leaving many of the just-saved crew dead and bleeding.

Counter Argument: Technically, these are Nazis we’re talking about (though filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen takes pains to show the sailors having little or no belief in “Der Fuhrer”), so them getting bombed at the end should be a good thing. Only it isn’t, because we’ve just spent about four hours getting to know them as individuals and not some nameless, savage enemy.

Conclusion: Hard to call this one, though from a German perspective, you could make the argument, as many have before, that if there is a God, he has a wicked sense of humor.