On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 8/34 |
Dan Krovich |
Bale does the weight loss thing again with fine results. |
| 10/33 |
John Seal |
Terrific docudrama from our greatest living filmmaker |
| 17/46 |
Les Winan |
Despite Herzog's somewhat clumsy direction, it's a compelling film made great by Bale's performance. |
| 72/214 |
Max Braden |
Tim Robbins had the right whimsy for a prisoner in Shawshank - Bale is a little too upbeat here, but Zahn is very good. |
When he is not off performing Chuck Norris-like feats such as waving off insignificant bullets or eating his own shoe, Werner Herzog makes movies. In recent years he has been focusing on making documentaries such as the critically acclaimed, award-winning Grizzly Man, but his resume also includes several well-renowned fictionalized films including Fitzcarraldo (where he and Klaus Kinski literally dragged a boat over a mountain) and his masterpiece Aguirre: The Wrath of God. With Rescue Dawn, the German director comes full-circle with a dramatized film based on his own documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly.
The documentary was released in 1997 and was about Dieter Dengler, a German-American pilot who was shot down over Laos and captured during the Vietnam War. But he made a miraculous escape and the movie documents his troubled life years later.
Rescue Dawn will focus on the exhilarating Vietnam P.O.W. aspect of Dengler's story. Christian Bale, who has elevated himself near the A-list recently with such work as Batman Begins and The Prestige, plays the lead role and Steve Zahn is one of his fellow prisoners. Together, along with a couple other prisoners, the men attempt a death-defying escape. The movie has all the right elements to make a great story. While Herzog's cerebral films don't tend to raise any eyebrows from the bean counters in Hollywood, with Bale's name and a potential for some great adventure/action, this one might be different. (Michael Bentley/BOP)
Vital statistics for Rescue Dawn |
| Main Cast |
Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Marshall Bell, |
| Supporting Cast |
François Chau, Jeremy Davies, Craig Gellis, GQ, Zach Grenier, Pat Healy, Toby Huss, Bonnie Z. Hutchinson, Evan Jones, Abhijati 'Meuk' Jusakul, Tony B. King, Garrett D. Melich, Kriangsak Ming-olo, Yuttana Muenwaja, Teerawat Mulvilai, Somkuan 'Kuan' Siroon, Chorn Solyda, Saichia Wongwiroj |
| Director |
Werner Herzog |
| Screenwriter |
Werner Herzog |
| Distributor |
MGM |
| Trailer |
Click Here for Trailer
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| Official Site |
http://www.gibraltarfilms.com/projects/rescuedawn/ |
| Rating |
PG-13 |
| Screen Count |
5 |
| Awards |
Awards page for Rescue Dawn
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Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
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