Blood, gore, limbs flying in every direction and the ever present sense that our dear protagonist surely wont get out of this one alive is what we are used to when we think of war movies. We’ve all seen these classic war movies, in which the viewer is barraged with almost super human feats of heroism and almost equally unrealistic displays of macabre carnage. This is what I expected to see in Rescue Dawn. A film that follows the life of a pilot, Dieter Dangler, that is shot down over the skies of the South Pacific during the Vietnam War.
The odd thing is that I didn’t find anything I was expecting to see. This is no Platoon or Saving Private Ryan this film shows a remarkable true story of an exuberant passion to survive. Dangler, played by the very talented Christian Bale, is a German born U.S pilot serving in the Navy. When his plane is shot down over Laos during a secret mission he finds himself trying to escape his would be captures. He is unsuccessful and ends up in a P.O.W camp deep in the jungle. What follows next is a brutal time for Dangler; he is tortured, kept in stocks, and given nothing to eat. But all doesn’t go sour for the pilot, he meets and befriends his fellow prisoners, two of whom are Americans, Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies).
Gene isn’t really all there- he’s a Lt. Dan with legs but a bit more deranged. Convinced that his rescue is just around the corner he is content with doing nothing to free himself. Duane, on the other hand, is fragile and almost broken. Any hope that Dangler can offer him seems to inject him with new life. Dangler is not a mirror to these men in fact he is something of a foil to them. Refusing to stay put waiting for an American rescue he devises his own plan to spring the prisoners from the camp.
What is truly remarkable about this film is how Werner Herzog directed his actors and molded this story. Like I said it is a war movie but it isn’t. This old school film prefers a more humanistic approach to heroism than the super epic type we see come out of Hollywood. Herzog’s ability to develop Dangler’s character and convey that to his viewers is masterfully done. Dangler’s ever present sense of confidence never leaves him but as the story unfolds you can tell that the jungle and his attempt for rescue begins to chip away at him bit by bit, in the end leaving him an almost hollow man.
This film is truly worth watching if you want to hear and see the story of a man that goes through hell and comes out the other side a victor.