Rescue Dawn
Encyclopedia
Rescue Dawn is a 2007 war
drama film directed by Werner Herzog
, based on an adapted screenplay written from his acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly
. The film stars Christian Bale
, and is based on the true story of a German-American pilot named Dieter Dengler
, who is shot down and captured by villagers sympathetic to the Pathet Lao
during an American military campaign in the Vietnam War
. Veteran actors Steve Zahn
, Jeremy Davies
, Pat Healy and Toby Huss
also star in principal roles. The film project, which had initially come together during 2004, began shooting in Thailand
in August 2005. Executive producers for the film comprised, Freddy Braidy, Jimmy De Brabant, Michael Dounaev and Gerald Green among others. Rescue Dawn explores subjects such as war, human torture and captivity.
A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, Gibraltar Films and Thema Production. It was commercially distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrically in the U.S., and by Pathé Distribution, Hopscotch Films and Central Film GmbH in foreign markets. In home media format, the film was distributed by MGM Home Entertainment. It 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. The film score was written by German
composer Klaus Badelt
, after previously working with Herzog in his 2001 film Invincible
. The soundtrack was released on June 26, 2007, while the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film were released on November 20.
Following its premiere in theaters nationwide in the United States on July 27, the film grossed $5,490,423 in domestic ticket receipts. It earned an additional $1,686,720 in business through international release to top out at a combined $7,177,143 in gross revenue. The film was technically considered a financial failure due to its $10 million budget costs. Alternatively though, the film recouped its losses and saw some popularity in the video rental market grossing $24,747,717 in DVD sales. Preceding its theatrical run, the film was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. Following its cinematic release, the film was nominated for multiple awards, including a Golden Satellite Award and an Independent Spirit Award. It also won an award from the San Diego Film Critics Society
for actor Christian Bale in the category of Body of Work.
(Christian Bale), a U.S. Navy
pilot in squadron VA-145, is shot down in his A-1 Skyraider
over Laos in February 1966, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to be pursued, and ultimately captured, by a local militia of the Pathet Lao
. Dengler is given the chance for leniency by the Province Governor (François Chau) if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. He is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military soldiers and pilots, such as Gene DeBruin
(Jeremy Davies) and Duane W. Martin
(Steve Zahn), some of whom have been captive for years. Dengler begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow combatants, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture from the camp guards.
Eventually, all the prisoners agree to escape, only Dengler and Martin follow through with the plan as the others disappear and are not seen again in the film. Dengler and Martin try to reach the Mekong River to cross over into Thailand, but Martin is killed by a mob of angry villagers. Eventually, Dengler 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, where he is received as a hero by the entire crew.
Director Herzog's fascination with the cruelties of man and nature interested him in the 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly
about Dengler's experiences in captivity. He chose to revisit the story in a cinematic theatrical version with Christian Bale portraying Dengler. Compared to Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn understates the suffering of the prisoners, including omitting some of the worst torture experienced by Dengler. Herzog did not want to glorify the prisoners' woes, as the film is rated PG-13.
. 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. The film includes the first major occurrence of digital visual effects
in Herzog's career. Because very few authentic A-1 Skyraider
s remained flightworthy at the time of the production, the shots of Dengler's flight while airborne were created digitally. The crash itself, however, was produced practically.
In 2009, producers Gerald and Patricia Green were charged with making corrupt payments to Thai officials to secure lucrative film contracts between 2002 and 2006, including their contracts for Rescue Dawn. Their case went to trial on August 4, 2009, and was one of the first cases in the entertainment industry tried under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
. They were later convicted of nine counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and seven counts of money laundering, and sentenced to six months in prison.
label on June 26, 2007. It features classical musical songs composed with the considerable use of the cello and piano musical instruments. The score for the film was orchestrated by Klaus Badelt
. Original songs written by musical artists Ernst Reijseger
, Patty Hill, Craig Eastman, and Jack Shaindlin among others, were used in-between dialogue shots throughout the film. Peter Austin edited the film's music.
Track listing:
The film depicts six prisoners in the camp, while in real life there were seven. Herzog says that he found the scripting to be difficult with seven characters, and that six was a more manageable number. 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. 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 film, 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.
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. In real life, Dengler spoke English with a German accent. For this film, Bale (who himself normally speaks with a Welsh accent) spoke with an American accent.
reported that 90% of 156 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7.5 out of 10. At Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 77 based on 36 reviews. Various critics included the film on their lists for the top 10 best films of the year; such as V.A. Musetto of the New York Post
, who called it one of the best films of 2007.
Kirk Honeycutt, writing in The Hollywood Reporter
, said actor Bale's performance was "most complex and compelling". He praised the director Herzog for his use of "lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful music score" which brought to life the "story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms." Roger Ebert
in the Chicago Sun-Times
called it "perhaps the most believable that Herzog has made." while exclaiming, "There is nothing in it we cannot, or do not, believe. I was almost prepared to compare it to the classic storytelling of John Huston
when I realized it had crucial Herzogian differences." In the San Francisco Chronicle
, Walter Addiego wrote that the film was "an old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie that becomes much more because of writer-director Werner Herzog's admiration for the remarkable true story of its protagonist, Dieter Dengler." He thought the director "found an actor capable of conveying the Herzog-ian hero — wounded, a holy fool, a crackpot, a dreamer of outsized dreams — in everyone." Scott Bowles of USA Today
, said the film was "cold and unforgiving and chilling to behold". He declared: "War stories don't get much more harrowing or detached than Rescue Dawn, and that's both blessing and curse for the Werner Herzog film." The film however, was not without its detractors. Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail
, felt that, "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". Left equally unimpressed was Paula Nechak of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, who called the film "a noble effort that can't quite make itself unique in a saturated genre". She added, director Herzog "already has covered much of the tropical terrain of his long-delayed action film in his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly." Alternatively, J. Hoberman of The Village Voice
, said the film "rivals Apocalypto
as a jungle marathon, has all this and more." He also noted, "Bale even looks authentically starved (as in The Machinist
). But seeing Dengler's adventure staged hardly seems more real than hearing his account—although, as conventionally framed and lit as it is, Rescue Dawn is the closest thing to a 'real' movie that Herzog has ever made."
Writing for The New York Times
, Matt Zoller Seitz said the "story’s basis in fact doesn’t inoculate it against charges of predictability. Klaus Badelt’s score can be intrusively emphatic. And the triumphant ending — in which Dengler is welcomed back to his carrier with applause and speeches — is disappointingly conventional." Overall though, he did commend the film exclaiming "Rescue Dawn is a marvel: a satisfying genre picture that challenges the viewer’s expectations." James Berardinelli
writing for ReelViews, called the film "a solid effort from Herzog that fans of the genre should actively seek out." and noted that "Herzog understood when he made Little Dieter Needs to Fly that the ex-pilot's story would make an excellent feature. It's surprising it has taken him so long to make that movie." Berardinelli also commented how "Christian Bale continues to amaze with his ability and range. He may be the most versatile under-40 performer today. No role seems to be beyond him, and he has worked with some of the best directors of his era". Describing some pitfalls, Elizabeth Weitzman of the NY Daily News said there was "an odd emotional disconnect leading up to the climactic escape, which can be traced directly to the performances." Weitzman however was quick to admit that "Herzog builds suspense from the start, and the movie is shot spectacularly." But ultimately, she disappointedly said, "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."
Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
, stated that Rescue Dawn was an "an original addition to the war film canon. It's an instant classic of the form, a portrait of courage and sacrifice at their most stirring, but subversively resisting cant and cliche." She believed that "such a masterful depiction of American heroism and can-do spirit has been created by a German art film director known for considerably darker visions of obsession is an irony Herzog no doubt finds delicious." She also emphasized how "There's a sense of austerity underlying Rescue Dawn, all the more admirable for being so rare in Hollywood storytelling." Similarly, David Ansen
wrote in Newsweek
that "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." However, in the Chicago Tribune
, Michael Phillips was not moved by the storytelling. He described his negativity saying "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." Critic Leonard Maltin
though, wrote that Rescue Dawn was a "Gripping reworking of Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly". He overly praised the film calling it "An edge-of-your-seat POW story".
and the Golden Satellite Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Actor in a Drama. The film garnered a win for actor Christian Bale from the San Diego Film Critics Society
in the category of Body of Work.
soundily beat its competition during that weekend opening in first place with $74,036,787. The film's revenue dropped by 66% in its second week of release, earning $560,903. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 18th place not challenging a top ten position. The film went on to top out domestically at $5,490,423 in total ticket sales through an 17-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $1,686,720 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $7,177,143. For 2007 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 178.
widescreen
edition of the film was released on DVD
in the United States on November 20, 2007. Special features for the DVD include; Commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; The Making of a True Story featurette: Unfinished Business - Telling Dieter's Story, Strength of Character, War Stories, What Would Dieter Do?; 3 deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; and a Still photo gallery.
The widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray Disc
version of the film was also released on November 20, 2007. Special features include, Commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill - Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Werner Herzog and Norman Hill; The making of a true story multi-part documentary; Honoring the brave interactive memorial; Preparing for survival featurette - before the dawn mission secrets trivia track; Photo gallery; and the Theatrical trailer in high definition format. According to the website The Numbers, estimates on DVD sales revenue in the U.S. totalled $24,747,717.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
drama film directed by Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
, based on an adapted screenplay written from his acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a 1997 documentary film made for German television, written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. The film was released to DVD in 1998 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
. The film stars Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
, and is based on the true story of a German-American pilot named Dieter Dengler
Dieter Dengler
Dieter Dengler was a United States Navy Naval aviator during the Vietnam War. He was one of the two survivors , out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S...
, who is shot down and captured by villagers sympathetic to the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
during an American military campaign in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Veteran actors Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
, Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies (actor)
Jeremy Davies is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying the interpreter Cpl. Timothy E. Upham in the film Saving Private Ryan and the physicist Daniel Faraday on the television series Lost. He most recently appeared in the FX series, Justified, as Dickie Bennett.-Early...
, Pat Healy and Toby Huss
Toby Huss
Toby Edward Huss is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Artie, the Strongest Man in the World on the cult hit Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, for his voice-over work on the long running animated series King of the Hill, and for his role as Felix 'Stumpy'...
also star in principal roles. The film project, which had initially come together during 2004, began shooting in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
in August 2005. Executive producers for the film comprised, Freddy Braidy, Jimmy De Brabant, Michael Dounaev and Gerald Green among others. Rescue Dawn explores subjects such as war, human torture and captivity.
A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, Gibraltar Films and Thema Production. It was commercially distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrically in the U.S., and by Pathé Distribution, Hopscotch Films and Central Film GmbH in foreign markets. In home media format, the film was distributed by MGM Home Entertainment. It was originally scheduled to be released by MGM in December 2006, but was held back for limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
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. The film score was written by German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
composer Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
, after previously working with Herzog in his 2001 film Invincible
Invincible (2001 film)
Invincible is a 2001 drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog. The film stars Tim Roth, Jouko Ahola, Anna Gourari, and Max Raabe. The film tells the story of a Jewish strongman in Germany...
. The soundtrack was released on June 26, 2007, while the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film were released on November 20.
Following its premiere in theaters nationwide in the United States on July 27, the film grossed $5,490,423 in domestic ticket receipts. It earned an additional $1,686,720 in business through international release to top out at a combined $7,177,143 in gross revenue. The film was technically considered a financial failure due to its $10 million budget costs. Alternatively though, the film recouped its losses and saw some popularity in the video rental market grossing $24,747,717 in DVD sales. Preceding its theatrical run, the film was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. Following its cinematic release, the film was nominated for multiple awards, including a Golden Satellite Award and an Independent Spirit Award. It also won an award from the San Diego Film Critics Society
San Diego Film Critics Society
The San Diego Film Critics Society is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications.Each year the SDFCS meets to vote on their San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for films released in the same calendar year....
for actor Christian Bale in the category of Body of Work.
Plot
Dieter DenglerDieter Dengler
Dieter Dengler was a United States Navy Naval aviator during the Vietnam War. He was one of the two survivors , out of seven, to escape from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run, and was the first captured U.S...
(Christian Bale), a U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
pilot in squadron VA-145, is shot down in his A-1 Skyraider
A-1 Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after a French World War I fighter...
over Laos in February 1966, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to be pursued, and ultimately captured, by a local militia of the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
. Dengler is given the chance for leniency by the Province Governor (François Chau) if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. He is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military soldiers and pilots, such as Gene DeBruin
Eugene DeBruin
Eugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
(Jeremy Davies) and Duane W. Martin
Duane W. Martin
Duane Whitney Martin was an American Air Force officer and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.Martin was assigned to Detachment 1 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron , based at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On September 20, 1965, Captain Thomas J. Curtis, Martin,...
(Steve Zahn), some of whom have been captive for years. Dengler begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow combatants, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture from the camp guards.
Eventually, all the prisoners agree to escape, only Dengler and Martin follow through with the plan as the others disappear and are not seen again in the film. Dengler and Martin try to reach the Mekong River to cross over into Thailand, but Martin is killed by a mob of angry villagers. Eventually, Dengler 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, where he is received as a hero by the entire crew.
Development
Rescue Dawn is based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, the charismatic pilot who was shot down in Laos while on a covert attack mission flying for the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. A few months after being captured in 1966, Dengler and other POWs who were being held captive targeted July 4 for their mass escape. The prisoners had overheard the guards in mid-June planning to kill all of them and return to their villages because a drought had caused a severe shortage of food and water. The POWs decided they could not wait any longer to make their escape. Dengler and fellow POW Duane W. Martin made their eventual run from their prisoner camp into dense jungle. Martin was killed by an enraged Laotian villager but Dengler was able to continue on. Two rescue helicopters were scrambled to rescue Dengler, dropping a cable down to the human figure they spotted below. They winched him on board. Fearful that he could be a Viet Cong suicide bomber the crew pinned the man to the helicopter deck and searched him. His backpack turned out to contain only a half-eaten snake. Dengler, exhausted by his ordeal whispered: "I am an American pilot. Please take me home."Director Herzog's fascination with the cruelties of man and nature interested him in the 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a 1997 documentary film made for German television, written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. The film was released to DVD in 1998 by Anchor Bay.-Summary:...
about Dengler's experiences in captivity. He chose to revisit the story in a cinematic theatrical version with Christian Bale portraying Dengler. Compared to Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn understates the suffering of the prisoners, including omitting some of the worst torture experienced by Dengler. Herzog did not want to glorify the prisoners' woes, as the film is rated PG-13.
Filming
The film was shot in 44 days in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. 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. The film includes the first major occurrence of digital visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
in Herzog's career. Because very few authentic A-1 Skyraider
A-1 Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after a French World War I fighter...
s remained flightworthy at the time of the production, the shots of Dengler's flight while airborne were created digitally. The crash itself, however, was produced practically.
In 2009, producers Gerald and Patricia Green were charged with making corrupt payments to Thai officials to secure lucrative film contracts between 2002 and 2006, including their contracts for Rescue Dawn. Their case went to trial on August 4, 2009, and was one of the first cases in the entertainment industry tried under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions, one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials.- Provisions and scope...
. They were later convicted of nine counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and seven counts of money laundering, and sentenced to six months in prison.
Music and soundtrack
The original motion picture soundtrack for Rescue Dawn, was released by the Milan RecordsMilan Records
Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases....
label on June 26, 2007. It features classical musical songs composed with the considerable use of the cello and piano musical instruments. The score for the film was orchestrated by Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
. Original songs written by musical artists Ernst Reijseger
Ernst Reijseger
ERNST REIJSEGER Cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger plays the cello from the age of seven and began as a performing cellist and improviser in 1969. From that time on he developed his own musical vocabulary...
, Patty Hill, Craig Eastman, and Jack Shaindlin among others, were used in-between dialogue shots throughout the film. Peter Austin edited the film's music.
Track listing:
Historical accuracy
Eugene DeBruin
Eugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
(portrayed by Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies (actor)
Jeremy Davies is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying the interpreter Cpl. Timothy E. Upham in the film Saving Private Ryan and the physicist Daniel Faraday on the television series Lost. He most recently appeared in the FX series, Justified, as Dickie Bennett.-Early...
), has created a website critical of Herzog and the film, claiming that several characters and events have been falsely portrayed. On the same website, Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat
Pisidhi Indradat is a Thai civilian who worked as a "kicker" with Air America during the Vietnam War. His job was to kick the pallets of food and supplies down the plane to aid the refugees of the war....
, 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 film, 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.
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. In real life, Dengler spoke English with a German accent. For this film, Bale (who himself normally speaks with a Welsh accent) spoke with an American accent.
Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received almost exclusively positive reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 90% of 156 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7.5 out of 10. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 77 based on 36 reviews. Various critics included the film on their lists for the top 10 best films of the year; such as V.A. Musetto of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, who called it one of the best films of 2007.
| "In Rescue Dawn, filmed in the jungles of Thailand, there is never the slightest doubt we are in the jungle. No movie stars creeping behind potted shrubbery on a back lot. The screen always looks wet and green, and the actors push through the choking vegetation with difficulty. We can almost smell the rot and humidity." |
| —Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times |
Kirk Honeycutt, writing in The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, said actor Bale's performance was "most complex and compelling". He praised the director Herzog for his use of "lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful music score" which brought to life the "story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
called it "perhaps the most believable that Herzog has made." while exclaiming, "There is nothing in it we cannot, or do not, believe. I was almost prepared to compare it to the classic storytelling of John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
when I realized it had crucial Herzogian differences." In the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Walter Addiego wrote that the film was "an old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie that becomes much more because of writer-director Werner Herzog's admiration for the remarkable true story of its protagonist, Dieter Dengler." He thought the director "found an actor capable of conveying the Herzog-ian hero — wounded, a holy fool, a crackpot, a dreamer of outsized dreams — in everyone." Scott Bowles of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, said the film was "cold and unforgiving and chilling to behold". He declared: "War stories don't get much more harrowing or detached than Rescue Dawn, and that's both blessing and curse for the Werner Herzog film." The film however, was not without its detractors. Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, felt that, "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". Left equally unimpressed was Paula Nechak of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, who called the film "a noble effort that can't quite make itself unique in a saturated genre". She added, director Herzog "already has covered much of the tropical terrain of his long-delayed action film in his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly." Alternatively, J. Hoberman of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, said the film "rivals Apocalypto
Apocalypto
Apocalypto is a 2006 American epic action-adventure film directed by Mel Gibson. Set in Yucatan, Mexico, during the declining period of the Maya civilization, Apocalypto depicts the journey of a Mesoamerican tribesman who must escape human sacrifice and rescue his family after the capture and...
as a jungle marathon, has all this and more." He also noted, "Bale even looks authentically starved (as in The Machinist
The Machinist
The Machinist is a 2004 English-language Spanish psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Scott Kosar....
). But seeing Dengler's adventure staged hardly seems more real than hearing his account—although, as conventionally framed and lit as it is, Rescue Dawn is the closest thing to a 'real' movie that Herzog has ever made."
Writing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Matt Zoller Seitz said the "story’s basis in fact doesn’t inoculate it against charges of predictability. Klaus Badelt’s score can be intrusively emphatic. And the triumphant ending — in which Dengler is welcomed back to his carrier with applause and speeches — is disappointingly conventional." Overall though, he did commend the film exclaiming "Rescue Dawn is a marvel: a satisfying genre picture that challenges the viewer’s expectations." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
writing for ReelViews, called the film "a solid effort from Herzog that fans of the genre should actively seek out." and noted that "Herzog understood when he made Little Dieter Needs to Fly that the ex-pilot's story would make an excellent feature. It's surprising it has taken him so long to make that movie." Berardinelli also commented how "Christian Bale continues to amaze with his ability and range. He may be the most versatile under-40 performer today. No role seems to be beyond him, and he has worked with some of the best directors of his era". Describing some pitfalls, Elizabeth Weitzman of the NY Daily News said there was "an odd emotional disconnect leading up to the climactic escape, which can be traced directly to the performances." Weitzman however was quick to admit that "Herzog builds suspense from the start, and the movie is shot spectacularly." But ultimately, she disappointedly said, "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."
| "In a story that begs for some introspection and understanding of what is going on inside its lead character, this Dieter has only the Tom Cruise cockiness that made Top Gun Top Gun Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie... such an iconic experience for filmgoers in the '80s. But by now we've seen the formulaic pattern again and again in summer blockbusters ..." |
| —Paula Nechak, writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, stated that Rescue Dawn was an "an original addition to the war film canon. It's an instant classic of the form, a portrait of courage and sacrifice at their most stirring, but subversively resisting cant and cliche." She believed that "such a masterful depiction of American heroism and can-do spirit has been created by a German art film director known for considerably darker visions of obsession is an irony Herzog no doubt finds delicious." She also emphasized how "There's a sense of austerity underlying Rescue Dawn, all the more admirable for being so rare in Hollywood storytelling." Similarly, David Ansen
David Ansen
David Ansen is a reviewer and senior editor for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He came to Newsweek after several years as the chief film critic at Boston's The Real Paper...
wrote in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
that "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." However, in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, Michael Phillips was not moved by the storytelling. He described his negativity saying "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." Critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
though, wrote that Rescue Dawn was a "Gripping reworking of Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly". He overly praised the film calling it "An edge-of-your-seat POW story".
Accolades
The film won and was nominated for several awards in 2007. Among awards it was nominated for, were from the Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
and the Golden Satellite Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Actor in a Drama. The film garnered a win for actor Christian Bale from the San Diego Film Critics Society
San Diego Film Critics Society
The San Diego Film Critics Society is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications.Each year the SDFCS meets to vote on their San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for films released in the same calendar year....
in the category of Body of Work.
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on July 4, 2007 in limited release throughout the U.S.. During its limited opening weekend, the film grossed $110,326 in business showing at 6 locations. Its official wide release was screened in theaters on July 24, 2007. Opening in a distant 11th place, the film earned $1,650,282 showing at 500 cinemas. The film The Simpsons MovieThe Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
soundily beat its competition during that weekend opening in first place with $74,036,787. The film's revenue dropped by 66% in its second week of release, earning $560,903. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 18th place not challenging a top ten position. The film went on to top out domestically at $5,490,423 in total ticket sales through an 17-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $1,686,720 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $7,177,143. For 2007 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 178.
Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 CodeDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
edition of the film was released on DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
in the United States on November 20, 2007. Special features for the DVD include; Commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; The Making of a True Story featurette: Unfinished Business - Telling Dieter's Story, Strength of Character, War Stories, What Would Dieter Do?; 3 deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill; and a Still photo gallery.
The widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
version of the film was also released on November 20, 2007. Special features include, Commentary by director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill - Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Werner Herzog and Norman Hill; The making of a true story multi-part documentary; Honoring the brave interactive memorial; Preparing for survival featurette - before the dawn mission secrets trivia track; Photo gallery; and the Theatrical trailer in high definition format. According to the website The Numbers, estimates on DVD sales revenue in the U.S. totalled $24,747,717.