Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray] by Werner Herzog at DVD Hills.com

Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]

Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]
by Werner Herzog

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Blu-ray details

Actor: Christian Bale, Jeremy Davies, Steve Zahn
Director: Werner Herzog
Brand: Sony
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2007-11-20
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM

Blu-ray Reviews of Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray Review: Decent, but Bale's wooden acting derails it. Plus, it's not the true tale.
Summary: 3 Stars

3.1 stars

Bale is fine as stoic figures like Batman, but when asked to show real emotional depth, as here, he comes up empty. Even his American accent fails at times; it's not hard to hear that this is not his native dialect, which takes away a lot of the realism. All told, I was rather disappointed with this movie. I like some of Herzog's work, especially Aguirre, but something about this one just didn't move me. True story or not, it felt forced and far too film-like.

I kept thinking about Papillon, and how touching that movie was, and how I just wasn't feeling much for any of these characters. It gets better as it goes, but the opening seemed very staged and fake, especially the scene where Spook is cracking wise about the training films. He wasn't very funny, but everyone kept laughing their phony laughs, and it detracted from any sense of reality. It also felt like Herzog didn't really know how to make the ship life seem authentic; he's much better directing a couple guys in the jungle than a group of people in normal life. Maybe that's because he knows this isn't really a true story.

A little research reveals Herzog's dishonest and self-serving lies about Eugene Debruin's actions in the camp, and Dengler's feats in general. Herzog makes Gene look like a villain and an idiot, while those who were there say it was just the opposite; Dengler did very little of what he's given credit for here: engineering the breakout, etc. But of course this is Werner's second movie about his little hero Dengler, whom he seems to think will bring credit to all Germans if Herzog can just make up enough lies about his "heroic" actions. Instead, it just makes me respect Herzog less, as a director and a German (I enjoy German culture in general, so spare me the polemics). If you really love this film, do some research and see what the real story is. It ain't what we're fed here.

It looks good on blu-ray, and my favorite thing about the movie was the excellent score, which heightened the proceedings immensely. But I had to agree with my girlfriend when she said, "This just isn't that interesting." Somehow, this exciting "true" tale felt like a Hollywood film in many of the worst ways, especially the occasional weirdly jingoistic moments.

Not bad, but ultimately merely decent. Not to mention phony.

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Description of Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]

RESCUE DAWN - Blu-Ray Movie

In the tradition of The Great Escape and The Deer Hunter, Rescue Dawn is Werner Herzog's take on the pulse-pounding POW genre. Unlike most such efforts, however, his isn't just based on a true story, it's a remake of his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. German-born Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale, who first made his mark in Steven Spielberg?s prison camp drama Empire of the Sun) has longed to pilot a plane since he was a boy. When he joins the Navy during the Vietnam War, he gets his wish. Then he's shot down over Laos. Though he survives, Dengler is captured by the Pathet Lao. Through his internment, he meets Duane Martin (Steve Zahn in his finest performance), with whom he becomes fast friends. While Dengler is arrogant and resourceful, Martin is patient and humble. With Dengler's assistance, the prisoners escape, but the untamed wilderness turns out to be just as dangerous (cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger ably captures its cruel beauty). Those who've seen Little Dieter know how this tale ends. Suffice to say, Herzog's reenactment makes for rousing entertainment. If the film has a flaw, it's that the rah-rah finale plays like something from out of a mainstream sports movie. That quibble aside, the actors, including Jeremy Davies as a delusional campmate and Toby Huss as a fellow flyer, are aces. And Herzog, who's been concentrating on nonfiction, like Grizzly Man, proves he can direct a Hollywood-style action epic with the best of 'em. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Rescue Dawn [Blu-ray]