Rescue Dawn
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
What critics thought
Rescue Dawn earned broadly strong notices, with most critics praising Bale's physically committed performance and Herzog's tactile, unglamorous feel for jungle survival. The real disagreements ran along a fault line between those who saw the Hollywood genre framework as a productive tension and those who felt it flattened the material, with several critics specifically calling out the triumphant ending as too conventional, the pacing as overlong, or the prisoner dialogue as fitfully unnatural.
“The strangely hybrid result, half Herzog and half Hollywood, plays like its own battleground. Sometimes, the tension is fascinatingly productive; other times, all we get is the worst of both worlds”
Rick Groen·The Globe and Mail
“There is a great movie in Werner Herzog's Vietnam saga, Rescue Dawn. Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes too long. Although the rest of this based-on-truth adventure is woven with powerful moments, only toward the end will it hold you completely in its grip.”
Elizabeth Weitzman·NY Daily News
“Rescue Dawn is Herzog's first English-language screenplay, and this is part of its problem: The hushed conversations between prisoners sound only fitfully idiomatic. Also – crucially – Herzog can't find a way to make his own big finish feel authentic, even if things did happen roughly this way.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“Rescue Dawn is a Werner Herzog movie (and a true story), and though it's as taut and exciting as many edge-of-your-seat Hollywood escape movies, there's a mania about Dieter that sets him apart, a wild-eyed bravado that suggests the line between bravery and complete lunacy is a thin one.”
David Ansen·Newsweek
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- none
- Profanity
- moderate
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Adventure, Biography, War
Cast & Crew
Werner HerzogDirector
Christian BaleDieter Dengler
Steve ZahnDuane
Toby HussSpook
François ChauProvince Governor
Marshall BellAdmiral
Jeremy DaviesGene
Pat HealyNorman
James Aaron OliverJet Pilot
Saichia WongwirotLao Guard
Brad CarrU.S. Navy Pilot
Teerawat MulvilaiLittle Hitler
Klaus BadeltComposer
Peter ZeitlingerCinematographyRescue Dawn
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
What critics thought
Rescue Dawn earned broadly strong notices, with most critics praising Bale's physically committed performance and Herzog's tactile, unglamorous feel for jungle survival. The real disagreements ran along a fault line between those who saw the Hollywood genre framework as a productive tension and those who felt it flattened the material, with several critics specifically calling out the triumphant ending as too conventional, the pacing as overlong, or the prisoner dialogue as fitfully unnatural.
“The strangely hybrid result, half Herzog and half Hollywood, plays like its own battleground. Sometimes, the tension is fascinatingly productive; other times, all we get is the worst of both worlds”
Rick Groen·The Globe and Mail
“There is a great movie in Werner Herzog's Vietnam saga, Rescue Dawn. Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes too long. Although the rest of this based-on-truth adventure is woven with powerful moments, only toward the end will it hold you completely in its grip.”
Elizabeth Weitzman·NY Daily News
“Rescue Dawn is Herzog's first English-language screenplay, and this is part of its problem: The hushed conversations between prisoners sound only fitfully idiomatic. Also – crucially – Herzog can't find a way to make his own big finish feel authentic, even if things did happen roughly this way.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“Rescue Dawn is a Werner Herzog movie (and a true story), and though it's as taut and exciting as many edge-of-your-seat Hollywood escape movies, there's a mania about Dieter that sets him apart, a wild-eyed bravado that suggests the line between bravery and complete lunacy is a thin one.”
David Ansen·Newsweek
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- none
- Profanity
- moderate
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Adventure, Biography, War
Cast & Crew
Werner HerzogDirectorChristian BaleDieter DenglerSteve ZahnDuaneToby HussSpookFrançois ChauProvince GovernorMarshall BellAdmiralJeremy DaviesGenePat HealyNormanJames Aaron OliverJet PilotSaichia WongwirotLao GuardBrad CarrU.S. Navy PilotTeerawat MulvilaiLittle HitlerKlaus BadeltComposerPeter ZeitlingerCinematography