Rescue Dawn

A Disappointing Derivative Effort, 1 March 2009

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom


I am a fan of war movies in general,Vietnam War Movies in particular, and Herzog as a Director, with "Fitzcarraldo" still one of the most astonishing pieces of film making I have ever seen.So this film should have been an obvious one for me to enjoy, but it wasn't.The production values, unsurprisingly, are excellent, and Christian Bale takes the lead role well, but as an entity it failed for me.

Despite the efforts of Bale,as pilot Dietar Dengler, the running time of 126 minutes feels long.The pre-capture scenes on the aircrtaft carrier, and the post rescue scenes have the Patriotic,jingoistic feel of "Bat21" or "Mising in Action", which is fine, but the tone sits ill at ease with the more reflective mood of the time in the jungle.

The UK 12 certification gives Herzog little room for manoeuvre in showing the interrogation, torture and captivity of Dengler and others in a realistic light.Unsurprisingly the film lifts in scenes which contain only the beautiful jungle, and an escaping Dengler, where survival and rescue are paramount.But the long sequences wear thin and without the bravado of the "Bat21/MIA" ideology to sustain the momentum it starts to run a little flat.

Wholly overlooked is the sheer bravery and fortitude of the Laotian people, thrown into a secret war that was not of their choice.The Laotian/NVA characters are largely cyphers with no substance, which is a shame.A noble hunter AND quarry always increases the dramatic possibilities.

In summary this story tries to pander to too many tastes, and ends up short in all genres.it is not gung ho enough for the "USA Defender of Right" brigade,it is too sanitised for the "Vietnam sceptic" lobby.the beginning and end will irritate the hell out of the "Herzog purist" fans

and genre specific afficianados will struggle to get satisfaction form the incomplete elements of the several genres contained.

A good looking, but unsatisfying effort