rescue dawn

THE FLICK: Inspired by the true story of American pilot Dieter Dengler’s capture and eventual escape from a North Vietnamese prison camp during the early years of the war, there was probably no better choice to direct the screen adaptation than Werner Herzog. After all, the man had already let Dengler tell the story himself in the riveting documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly. And Herzog’s penchant for shooting under exceedingly uncomfortable jungle conditions (proven in Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, The Wrath of God) set up some high expectations for the director’s first foray into traditional narrative filmmaking in quite some time. And there is much to praise about this survival story, namely the acting by stars Christian Bale, Jeremy Davies and especially Steve Zahn - who performs a complete career transformation as the soft-spoken Duane Martin - along with the smothering rain forest locations, so thick with suffocating greenery you can’t imagine how they squeezed a camera between the branches and vines. But overall Rescue Dawn is surprisingly bereft of the usual Herzog touches, following a predictable prison-movie structure that communicates only half the drama and emotion found in the original documentary. Shot down only a half-hour into his first mission, Dengler is corralled by a Viet Cong posse and tossed in with four other prisoners whose spirits have already been all but broken after almost two years in captivity. Dengler’s raw optimism and determination are at odds with his defeated comrades, who fear leaving the camp almost as much as they hate staying. But eventually they decide to fight, prepping themselves for a dangerous escape and even more daunting trek through the jungle to freedom. The Rambo-effect means audiences probably won’t be surprised by the mistreatment of the prisoners. From rotten food to the daily threat of execution, despite the fact his story is true, Dengler and his fellow prisoners aren’t suffering from anything we haven’t seen before. But the performances by Bale, Zahn and Davies (who comes off as a deathly gaunt version of Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now) freshen things up while the traditional Great Escape structure keeps you guessing where, when and how they’ll pull things off. However, Herzog reigns in his experimental side to the film’s detriment. The director has become a hero to the Hollywood set in recent years, so it’s too bad his offbeat sensibilities weren’t allowed to seep deeper into the story. Once could argue that Herzog is remaking the film for the second time, since the documentary featured several sequences of Dieter recreating his experiences to much greater effect. Here, Herzog seems somewhat handcuffed by the three-act structure, never allowing the film to explore the interesting tributaries of human nature by which his best work is defined. Call it cinematic irony, Rescue Dawn is an accomplished return to traditional filmmaking by a director who’s made a career out of avoiding that very same label. THE FEATURES: Although you probably wouldn’t choose it over demo discs like Spiderman 3 or Casino Royale, Rescue Dawn is actually a stellar example of hi-def done right. Everything from the colors to the blacks to the sound mix is absolutely stunning. The jungle environment is rendered in such brilliant resolution you can almost reach out and touch the deep green foliage and feel the oppressive heat. Special features include a Herzog commentary (as usual, a non-stop affair that provides a good balance of fact and conjecture), deleted scenes, a 50-minute Making Of. There are also a few hi-def exclusives, including the Interactive Memorial (which allows you to view segments of the Vietnam wall), Preparing for Survival featurette and Mission Secrets text-track that runs concurrently with the film. Overall, a very nicely stocked disc.