Rescue Dawn

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Rescue Dawn
Directed by Werner Herzog
Produced by Elton Brand
Steve Marlton
Written by Werner Herzog
Starring Christian Bale
Steve Zahn
Jeremy Davies
Music by Klaus Badelt
Cinematography Peter Zeitlinger
Editing by Joe Bini
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Running time 126 minutes
Language English
Budget $10,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Rescue Dawn is a 2007 film starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. It is written and directed by Werner Herzog, based on the director's acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly. NBA all-star Elton Brand is the film's producer through his production company Gibraltar Entertainment, which he co-owns with partner Steve Marlton. The film was produced in association with Thema Production. The project, which had been coming together in fits and starts during 2004, began shooting in Thailand in mid-August 2005.

The film is based on the true story of German-born Dieter Dengler, who dreamed of being a pilot and eventually made his way to the United States, where he joined the Navy during the Vietnam War era. He became a pilot and was shot down over Laos and captured. Eventually he organized an escape with a small band of captives.

The film was originally scheduled to be released by MGM in December 2006, but was held back for limited release in the United States at some point in 2007. The film had a nationwide release on July 27, 2007, after a limited release in New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles on July 4. Rescue Dawn was released in the United Kingdom by Pathe International. The movie was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in November 2007. The film is rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense war violence and torture. The soundtrack was released on June 26, 2007 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 20.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Dieter Dengler, a U.S. Navy pilot, is shot down over Laos in 1965, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to become pursued and ultimately captured by a local militia sympathetic to the Viet Cong. Dieter is given the chance for mercy if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. Instead, he is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military members and Air America pilots, some of whom have been captive for years. Dieter begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow captives, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture from the camp guards.

Eventually, all the prisoners rise up and escape, but they take separate routes through the jungle. Dieter and fellow captive Duane try to reach the Mekong River to cross over into Thailand. The pair are attacked and Duane is beheaded. Eventually, Dieter is rescued by an American helicopter but sequestered in a hospital due to the top secret nature of his mission. He is covertly taken back to his ship by his shipmates, where he is received as a hero by the entire crew.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

The film was shot in 44 days in Thailand. In preparation for the roles, the actors playing the prisoners spent several months losing weight. Since weight gain is accomplished more quickly than weight loss, the film was shot in reverse, with Bale fully regaining his weight during the course of the shoot.[1]

The film includes the first major occurrence of digital visual effects in Herzog's career. Because very few authentic A-1 Skyraiders remained flightworthy at the time of the production, the shots of Dieter's flight while airborne were created digitally. The crash itself, however, was produced practically.[2]

[edit] Response

Rescue Dawn has been positively received by critics. On metacritic.com the film has a score of 78 (generally favorable reviews) out of 100. It has received a strong 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received a B+ from critics on Yahoo!. V.A. Musetto of the New York Post named it the 5th best film of 2007.[3] It has a score of 7.8/10 on the Internet Movie Database.

The film initially opened in 6 theaters and grossed $110,326, making it #28 for the weekend. It went into wide release the weekend of July 27, 2007, and grossed $1,650,282 in 500 theaters, to reach 11th spot in the US box office. As of May 6, 2008, it has grossed $5,490,423 in the US and $1,547,463 internationally, for total theatrical receipts of $7,037,886.[4]

[edit] Historical accuracy

The film depicts 6 prisoners in the camp, while in real life there were 7. Herzog says that he found the scripting to be difficult with seven characters, and that six was a more manageable number.[2] All the guards in the camp were based directly on men from Dieter Dengler's story except for 'Walkie Talkie' who is a fictional creation of the director.

Jerry DeBruin, brother of Gene DeBruin (portrayed by Jeremy Davies) has created a website critical of Herzog and the film, claiming that several characters and events have been falsely portrayed.[5] On the same website, Pisidhi Indradat, the other survivor of the group, has also stated that the film contains inaccuracies. The website claims that during his imprisonment, DeBruin taught his cellmates English, shared his food, and even returned after escaping to help an injured cell mate. In the movie, Dengler formulates the entire escape plan along with uncuffing the handcuffs with the nail. According to Jerry DeBruin, the prisoners waited for two weeks before telling him of the plan, which had been devised before his arrival.[5]

Herzog acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained, but Herzog was unaware of this fact until after the film had been completed. Herzog states that this narrative aspect probably would have been included had he learned it earlier.[1]

In real life, Dieter Dengler spoke English with a strong German accent. For this movie, Bale (who himself normally speaks with an English accent) altered his accent.[6]

Dieter Dengler was captured not once but twice in real life. The scene where he was captured while drinking from a river is based on his second capture.

[edit] DVD release

On November 20, 2007 the DVD was released in the US. It was also released on high definition Blu-ray disc the same day. As of May 6, 2008, The Numbers estimates its DVD sales revenue in the US to be $20,286,677 -- approximately four times what it earned theatrically.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Herzog, Werner, The Making of a True Story, documentary feature on the American DVD release of Rescue Dawn
  2. ^ a b Herzog, Werner, audio commentary track on the American DVD release of Rescue Dawn
  3. ^ Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  4. ^ Rescue Dawn Box Office Information. The Numbers. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  5. ^ a b Rescue Dawn: The Truth. Family, Friends of Gene DeBruin Critical of Herzog Film.
  6. ^ Los Angeles CityBeat - Little Dieter Flies Again
  7. ^ Rescue Dawn DVD Sales Information. The Numbers. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Werner Herzog
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s

Film Lesson 1-4 (1990) • Echoes From a Somber Empire (1990) • Jag Mandir (1991) • Scream of Stone (1991) • Lessons of Darkness (1992) • Bells from the Deep (1993) • The Transformation of the World Into Music (1994) • Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995) • Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) • The Lord and the Laden (1999) • My Best Fiend (1999)
2000s

Wings of Hope (2000) • Invincible (2001) • Pilgrimage (2001) • Ten Minutes Older (2002) • Wheel of Time (2003) • The White Diamond (2004) • Grizzly Man (2005) • The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) • Rescue Dawn (2007) • Encounters at the End of the World (2007) • The Cheese and the Worms (2008)