Rescue Dawn: Review By slysnide

There wasn't much to be said about this movie except for the performances of Steve Zahn & Jeremy Davies.

Based on the true story of German born Dieter Dengler, the film focuses on his plan to escape a miserable POW camp in 1965 Laos after a failed mission to bomb key targets.

Christian Bale played the guy a bit c*cky, and didn't seem all too bright about the situation that was presented to him. Hence his casually refusing to sign a defection notice provided to him by the local Province Governor (Francois Chau). Then again, Dengler only wanted to be stationed in Southeast Asia to get a taste of it's nightlife. So that's more points against his logic when things go wrong for him.

Playing the fellow POWs in the camp are Steve Zahn as Duane Martin, Dengler's most competent and trust-worthy ally. Gene Debruin played by Jeremy Davies who doesn't believe there'll be a war with Vietnam, and that they'll be released sooner than the others anticipate. And Galen Yuen as Y.C., another competent prisoner who's from the region.

The guards who've been given colorful nicknames like Jumbo (Kriangsak Ming-olo) the short cheery guy, Crazy Horse (Yuttana Muenwaja), and Little Hitler (Teerawat Mulvilai), the leader of the camp, are only wallflowers in the story, and Little Hitler was the only embellishment of the director.

It only takes roughly a slow moving thirty minutes or so to get to the camp, and then about forty plus minutes of being there which goes by agonizingly slowly. As for the trek to Thailand, that's about another thirty minutes or so, but goes by slightly faster. But the film lacks in intrigue, and the escape from the camp which is the plot of the story isn't that amazing to the point where someone would make a movie about it.

Werner Herzog had a passion for this project, and made sure that the actors really looked the part, such as Jeremy Davies who'd you'd swear had anorexia if you didn't know better. Such dedication on his part, and he plays the most interesting character in the movie. However, not much was known about him, since the real Dieter Dengler never saw him again after the incident. But I won't spoil it for you. Anyhow, the character was just so realistic in nature and performance, and I'm surprised he didn't get any oscar nods. Yeah, he was that good in the part. I'll be looking out for his other movies. But sadly, he's not the focus of the story.

Neither is Steve Zahn, who should be recognized more often for his acting talents in drama rather than just comedy. I couldn't believe it was him in the role! It was so real, and he played a great gradual drop from being sensible to slightly losing his sanity as time went on. It's too bad that he hasn't done any dramas since this film, cuz he was absolutely excellent in this. A must see for Steve Zahn fans.

However, Christian Bale leads the story and it's the story itself that's lacking severly. While you care for the other POWs, and even the cheery, gullible Jumbo, there's just not enough to keep this movie's intrigue going. I guess that's reality though, without all the Hollywood upgrades of stories like this, which is good in regards to telling it like it was.

The trek to Thailand is probably my favorite chunk of the film, which I split into three parts as mentioned above, as the elements seem to really take a toll on Dieter and Duane. Especially Duane, which is where Steve Zahn's performance shines brightest.

The visuals were jaw dropping! From the province to the camp and jungles of Thailand, this movie looked perfect! And that's cuz it was filmed on location in Thailand, and being Werner Herzog, you know he'll be getting himself, his crew, and his actors deep into the elements. The cinematography by Peter Zeitlinger captures this beautifully.

So overall, if you like slow paced, realistic dramas, then this is the film for you, but it was just lacking too much for me.