Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale: DVD Cover
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Rescue Dawn Director: Werner Herzog Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies

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  • DVD Release Date: 11/20/2007
  • Original Release: 2006
  • Rating: Rated PG13
  • Sales Rank: 15,152

Viewer Rating: (3 ratings)

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  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
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Scenes

Features

Commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; The Making of a True Story featurette: Unfinished Business - Telling Dieter's Story, Strength of Character, War Stories, What Would Dieter Do?; 3 deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; Still photo gallery

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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Rescue Dawn
1. Main Titles/Bombing Raids [2:56]
2. Briefing [5:04]
3. First Mission [3:53]
4. Evasive Action [2:18]
5. Rescue Helicopter [5:42]
6. Brazen Courage [4:39]
7. Sign This [3:16]
8. On Display [2:29]
9. The Stockade [7:19]
10. Reality Check [2:28]
11. The Nail [5:35]
12. Sadistic Guards [4:07]
13. A Need to Fly [6:59]
14. Happy Birthday! [3:08]
15. Just a Game [5:02]
16. Independence Day [3:51]
17. Good Protein [5:36]
18. Change in Plans [2:13]
19. The Escape [5:44]
20. No Backup [2:56]
21. Monsoon [3:26]
22. Down River [2:04]
23. Leeches [4:00]
24. Anguish [4:16]
25. Comforting Duane [1:57]
26. Signal Fire [2:11]
27. Village Encounter [1:58]
28. Survival Mode [4:06]
29. Dieter's Rescue [4:15]
30. Black Ops [4:15]
31. Shipmate Reunion [3:15]
32. End Titles [3:59]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog returns to direct his first feature since 2001's Invincible with this dramatic action film inspired by his own 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly and detailing the escape efforts of a German-American pilot who was taken as a prisoner-of-war after being shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. When U.S. fighter pilot Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) escaped death after being shot down over one of the most intense front lines in the Vietnam War, his troubles were only beginning. Subsequently taken captive by the enemy and forced to endure a harrowing stint in a Vietnamese prison camp, Dengler and his fellow captives stage a death-defying escape that would later inspire one of Germany's most accomplished directors to capture the remarkable tale on camera. Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

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November 23, 2007: So speaks Dieter Dengler when asked for comment at the end of his journey of jungle captivity in Laos. RESCUE DAWN is as much about the courage and fortitude of a captured soldier during wartime as it is about a true incident. From the inherent optimism of pilot Dieter Dengler (played with commitment and finesse by Christian Bale) the story transcends biopic and offers lessons for life in general the human spirit can be indefatigable. Writer/director Werner Herzog has expanded his 1997 documentary about Dieter Dengler and in doing so he has provided us entry into the psyches of soldiers captured by the enemy and the extraordinarily trying conditions in which they survive. The optimistic and eager Dengler is sent on a classified mission to bomb certain targets in Laos in 1965 with his fellow pilots including his best friend Spook (Toby Huss). Denlger is shot down and captured, interrogated, tortured, and placed in a prison with fellow inmates Duane (Steve Zahn in a career changing superb performance), Gene (the emaciated and excellent Jeremy Davies), Phisit (Abhijati 'Meuk' Jusakul), and Procet (Lek Chaiyan Chunsuttiwat). The living conditions are deplorable: the men are starved, chained together making even the possibility of caring for bodily functions negligible, and the moral is low. Dengler changes that using his ingenuity and immediately plans for escape. Duane aids Dengler but Gene fears the consequences of an aborted escape attempt. Yet with Dengler's expertise and cunning the escape into the jungle is planned and is essentially successful - until the other enemy (the jungle) reduces the forces to one. As Dengler is rescued he is left with the ghosts of his fellow inmates, a factor that will haunt him and alter his life after rescue. Christian Bale's performance is near perfect as are the performances by Zahn and Davies. The film feels too long at times but that also suggests that director Herzog wants the audience to understand the mental deterioration and stagnant time cycle that cripples prisoners of war. The atmosphere of the prison camp is presented well and if the ending of the film becomes a bit too 'Hollywood', after the 2 hours of prison confinement that is somewhat of a relief. RESCUE DAWN is a powerful film with some of the best acting of the year's crop and certainly deserves the attention of a wide audience. Grady Harp