Rescue Dawn
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.
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Teerawat Mulvilai, Pat Healy
An old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie that becomes much more because of writer-director Werner Herzog's admiration for the remarkable true story of its protagonist, Dieter Dengler.
What a sweet collision is Rescue Dawn: the American psycho meets the German kook.
Out of a harrowing story set in a foreign thicket, Herzog has found American beauty.
Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances.
The movie is, indeed, perhaps the most believable that Herzog has made. For a director who gravitates toward the extremes of human behavior, this film involves extreme behavior, yes, but behavior forced by the circumstances.
Best Supporting Actor
Chlotrudis Awards (2008)
Best Supporting Male
Independent Spirit Awards (2008)
Christian Bale
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards (2007)
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Satellite Awards (2007)
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