"...on Amazon it's easy, look for the one with a 293 minute running time)."
Thanks, I might just have to pick up the extended version. In the case of MASADA the mini-series was really worth the extra time over the feature length movie version.
The differences in versions of Das Boot are pretty much just character development, as you move to longer versions you get to know more characters better. Because they specifically designed it to be both the "short" movie (hard to call 2 1/2 hours short) and the long mini-series the movie wasn't really a cut job like other things that have been reduced, but the longer one is more satisfying.