Der Seewolf

This is the best version of the Sea Wolf I have seen. There are excellent production values, believable characters and the general feeling of a major production is present throughout. It does not betray its TV origins.

Best of all is Raimund Harmstorf in the title role as Wolf Larsen. He manages to create an aura of intimidation and mystery around his character that has never been matched by other productions of Jack London's story. And, of course, there is the potato-squeezing scene.

This series made Harmstorf a star (at least in Germany), but he could never quite repeat this performance. Strangely, his natural voice was not deemed tough enough for this role at the time and so another actor was chosen to speak his character in the German dubbed version.

A great movie that shows also excellent two philosophical points of view. Social Darwinism (Wolf Larson) vs. the peaceful coexistence of individuals(Louis). A lot of different themes are mentioned.

This adaption of Jack Londons "Seewolf" is the best ever shown. The characters have been chosen very wise and Raimund Harmstorf played the role of his live.

The story depends not only on the novel "Der Seeworlf", Ulbrich, the director of the four part movie, included several other novels and short stories from Jack London (all the "historic" scenes do not take place in the original novel, they have been taken from "Joe and the pirates").

Harmstorf himself did a good job as Wolf Larson, the captain of the "Ghost" and he was identified by this role since his early suicide. He took place in other great roles such as "Der Kurier des Zaren" (Michael Strogof).

All in all, if you will ever have a look on a Seewolf-movie, try this one!

10 out of 10 - This is truly one of the best adventure movies (or mini series) ever made. The performance is so real, so gripping, so great! I've only seen it once and that was years ago, but it still had such a great impact on me. Please release it on DVD one day!

DON'T MISS IT!

I was 10 years old when this originally aired almost 40 years ago and i always loved it. This is still one of the finest hours of German (public) TV with a great script (discard the confusions about the mix of stories, i felt that it added something to the core Seawolf Story) and a strong direction. I had the chance to see it again several times and it doesn't have lost anything. None of actors came to any great fame, even R. Harmstorff remained in the shadow of his role until his death, but sometimes the whole is truly more then the sum of its parts. Wolfgang Staudte deserves special praise. It compares well even with todays best provided from HBO.