Growing up in the wake of World War II, talented German director Wolfgang Petersen developed a passion for all things American and by the age of 11 had decided that making movies (to his mind an essentially American art form) was what he wanted to do with his life. Initially drawn to the films of John Ford for their clear presentation of good and evil (in contrast to the messy Europe of the day), he went on to immerse himself in the directors of the French Nouvelle Vague, especially Francois Truffaut, whom he cites as his most important influence, though he is quick to add "there's nothing German, or even particularly European about my films." (Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1993) After beginning as an actor and director in Hamburg theater during the 1960s, he enrolled in film school and shortly after graduating made his directorial debut for German TV with "I Will Kill You, Wolf" (1970). He also helmed six 100 minute TV dramas, all with separate stories and casts, for a series of thrillers entitled "Tatort/Scene of the Crime" that greatly enhanced his reputation.
Petersen moved to features with "One of Us Two" (1973), the story of a student who blackmails one of his professors. It, like his next picture, the controversial homosexual love story "Consequences" (1977), starred Jurgen Prochnow, an actor with whom he had worked on "Tatort". After shooting the chess thriller "Black and White Like Night and Day" (1978), he reunited with Prochnow as the "old man" of "Das Boot" (1981), at the time the most expensive German film ever made (about $12 million). Based on war correspondent Lothar-Guenther Buchheim's bestseller, it authentically recreated a single mission aboard a German U-boat during World War II while remaining faithful to the anti-war point-of-view of the book. With the odds stacked against them, the crew descends to the depths, taking the audience on a suspense-filled ride to the bottom of the ocean that culminates in a surprise ending back at their port of origin. "Das Boot" won international acclaim and (surprisingly for a subtitled film) was a hit in the USA where it earned Petersen Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
After the success of "Das Boot,” Petersen moved toward Hollywood filmmaking with the German-American co-production of a charming Capra-style fairy tale "The Neverending Story" (1984), dubbed by some critics as "the never-ending movie.” Carrying a price tag of $27 million, his first English-language picture became the highest grosser in German box office history and would be the director's most successful "Hollywood" film for nearly a decade. Neither his sci-fi adventure "Enemy Mine" (1985) nor his Hitchcockian thriller "Shattered" (1991) scored well with critics and audiences, but Petersen rebounded with the taut, suspenseful "In the Line of Fire" (1993), which pitted Clint Eastwood's aging Secret Service Man against John Malkovich's bitter CIA operative-turned-would-be presidential assassin. His status boosted by its $100 million-plus gross, he followed with "Outbreak" (1995), a thriller about the race to stop the spread of a deadly virus. Despite a fine star turn by Dustin Hoffman and support from the likes of Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, "Outbreak" fell far short commercially of the mark set by "In the Line of Fire.”
Returning to the film that made him, Petersen supervised the director's cut of "Das Boot,” re-released to critical acclaim in 1997. Drawing on the additional footage available from the five-hour epic made simultaneously for German TV, he expanded the 128 minutes of the original US release to his definitive feature-length of 210 minutes. Later that year, he teamed with box-office champ Harrison Ford as a US President unafraid to fight in order to wrest "Air Force One" (1997) away from the Kazakhstani terrorists who have hijacked the plane. The summer blockbuster reunited him with old friend Prochnow in a silent cameo as a fascist general captured by commandos during the prologue and reinforced Petersen's box office clout by taking in more than $170 million domestically. It was then back to the sea to recreate "The Perfect Storm" (2000), the best-selling nonfiction work by Sebastian Junger that told the story of a doomed fishing vessel caught in a storm of unmatched ferocity. The digital effects of Industrial Light & Magic notwithstanding, critics remained divided regarding the film's merits, many pointing the finger at the unsympathetic lead character played by George Clooney. While some felt the vessel faced rough weather in recouping its $140 million budget, the film's opening week grosses of more than $40 million seemed to indicate otherwise.
For his next project, Petersen wanted to tackle “Batman vs. Superman,” but difficulties getting the project off the ground hampered the director. So instead Petersen pulled the levers at Warner Bros. to make “Troy” (2004), a stripped-down telling of Homer’s “Iliad” sans Greek gods or any Achilles-Patroclus homoerotic themes. What was left of screenwriter David Benioff’s story was the heroic—and severely truncated—siege on the famed Spartan city by a jealous Agamemnon (Brian Cox) who launches 1000 ships after Paris (Orlando Bloom) makes off with the beautiful Helen (Diana Kruger), wife of King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). As Troy is besieged by the thousands of blood-hungry Greeks, demigod Achilles (Brad Pitt) has a personal score to settle with Prince Hector (Eric Bana). Though Benioff’s script was purchased for a mere $150,000, the budget for “Troy” ballooned close to $200 million thanks in part to a company move from Morocco to Mexico because of the war in Iraq—a bad omen that portended more difficulties to come. After finding a lovely stretch of beach to film the Greek invasion, Petersen and his crew were forced to carefully remove thousands of endangered cacti. Meanwhile, the tabloids had a bit of fun as well, photographing Pitt talking on his cell phone while wearing skirt and breastplate. The film opened to mediocre reviews at best, but managed to pull over $400 million worldwide—plenty to recoup its bountiful budget.
Two years later, Petersen was back with his next film, “Poseidon” (2006), a remake of the campy disaster flick, “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972). Much like the original, “Poseidon” depicted a small but determined group of passengers trying to escape an ocean liner after a massive tidal wave capsizes the ship. With the benefit of computer generated visual effects, Petersen was able to show the wave bearing down on the doomed ship—an advantage over the original which instead relied on the audience’s imagination. But inside the ship during the big moment, Petersen opted for live action special effects, including hundreds of tons of water pumped onto the set—much to the dismay of stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Emmy Rossum who endured hours of being soaking wet. Cast and crew members were ill for a majority of the shoot because of shared germs and bacteria in the water, while injuries managed to plague the set—Lucas suffered a torn muscle in his thumb, prompting doctors to reconnect the tissue in surgery. Those who worked with Petersen hoped that the pain and suffering will have paid off, as “Poseidon” was anticipated to be a major blockbuster in summer 2006.