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Rescue Dawn
MGM


7.2

based on 36 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 46 votes
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sequences of intense war violence and torture

Starring Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, François Chau, Jeremy Davies, Craig Gellis, Zach Grenier, GQ, and Pat Healy

Based on the true story of an American pilot, Dieter Dengler is shot down during a top-secret mission. Taken hostage, he endures unimaginable conditions at the hands of cruel captors in a makeshift POW camp. Dengler's iron will to survive guides him and fellow prisoners in a meticulously planned, death-defying escape, only to discover the harsh realities of an unforgiving jungle beyond the camps walls. (MGM)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Adventure \| Drama \| War
WRITTEN BY:	Werner Herzog
DIRECTED BY:	Werner Herzog
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 20, 2007 Theatrical: July 4, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	126 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

New York Post Kyle Smith

What a sweet collision is Rescue Dawn: the American psycho meets the German kook.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

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.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Out of a harrowing story set in a foreign thicket, Herzog has found American beauty.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

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.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Aside from a riveting adventure story that Herzog tells in all of its terrifying, stripped-down simplicity, Rescue Dawn is a fascinating study of human particularity.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Herzog outdoes himself with Rescue Dawn, making his most popularly accessible film yet and proving at the same time that he is among the most daring of all filmmakers and capable -- like his characters -- of almost anything.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Bale is extraordinary, grinning like a kid, displaying wily intelligence, sinewy resolve and spirit - and a bit of craziness, too.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is, indeed, perhaps the most believable that Herzog has made. For a director who gravitates toward the extremes of human behavior, this film involves extreme behavior, yes, but behavior forced by the circumstances.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The question remains: Why would Herzog want to dramatize what he has already captured as nonfiction? To better control the material, I think, and to bring it in line with his own obsessions.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

This is filmmaking that's as rousing as it is strange.

TV Guide Ken Fox

To better capture the extremity of Dengler's ordeal, Bale once again underwent the kind of dramatic weight loss that shocked audiences of "The Machinist," but he's downright plump next to the emaciated Davies, who looks like Charles Manson in the end stages of a hunger strike.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Staff (Not credited)

Their bond lends this more or less conventional POW escape film resounding emotional depth.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The scenes between Dengler and Duane, between a force of nature and a force of reason, are the real heart of the film.

Variety Leslie Felperin

As far as establishing a sense of period goes, Herzog cleaves to a refreshing less-is-more philosophy. This may be the first Vietnam-set film in history not to feature a bar of Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones or indeed any other rock music on its soundtrack.

Time Richard Corliss

Rescue Dawn is a tale of heroism untainted by political skepticism. In an age when U.S. soldiers are seen as villains or victims, the movie offers a GI who bravely, or madly, simply refuses to die.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

But like much of Herzog's work, it's essentially apolitical, focusing on a man at war with his environment -- and no one plunges into the foliage like he does.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

You can't watch this exciting movie without rooting for little Dieter, but decoding the lessons of his ambiguous story will take a lot longer.

Newsweek David Ansen

As taut and exciting as many edge-of-your-seat Hollywood escape movies.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Christian Bale continues to amaze with his ability and range.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Although nothing beats seeing and hearing the real story, Herzog has done a fairly compelling job of blending staged action with docudrama authenticity.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Christian Bale loves to suffer on-screen. Werner Herzog loves to make people suffer on-screen. Rescue Dawn is proof they were made for each other.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

There's never any question how Rescue Dawn will end, but as conventional and straightforward as the movie is, it's easy to understand why Herzog was driven to tell this story twice.

Film Threat Matthew Sorrento

In Bale, Herzog has found a talent who transcends the challenges of a brutal shoot. "Rescue" reveals new capabilities for an actor who's already proven himself in other intense and ever-focused performances.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

For the most part, Rescue Dawn is a marvel: a satisfying genre picture that challenges the viewer’s expectations.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The film, Rescue Dawn, is so good it makes you wish that Herzog had gone Hollywood earlier in his career. His pet theme is here: man tested against nature, his sanity more precarious than his body.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

There is honor, boldness, and grip in the new movie, but other directors can deliver those. Werner Herzog is the last great hallucinator in cinema, so why break the spell?

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Rescue Dawn is the closest thing to a "real" movie that Herzog has ever made. The lone conquistador has joined the club. Rescue Dawn is a Rambo movie without the Man (who, if I remember my Rambology, was himself of German descent).

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The canniness of Bale’s performance (which may be the best of his young but brilliant career) is that he plays Dengler as a fundamentally kind and simple yet rather ingenious man.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

There is a great movie in Werner Herzog's Vietnam saga, Rescue Dawn. Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes long.

USA Today Scott Bowles

This is all about escape. And as prison-break movies go, Rescue ranks among the best.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

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.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

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.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

Herzog’s planted rather too firmly in his discomfort zone, but Bale once again confirms himself as one of our most intense, committed and watchable actors.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Herzog's drive to bring Dengler's story to a wide audience might have paradoxically caused him to do what he seems normally to abhor: compromise.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

It's a well-acted but rote and strictly by the book "war movie."

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

JP C gave it a9:
An amazing movy with no special effects or grandiosity. It looks real and intens, as if you were risquing your life every second in the shoe of Bale, whose performance is impressive. I can't help thinking he should have won an Oscar !!! I don't put a 10 only because the first 20 minutes have no interest.

o.w. d gave it a10:
Werner Herzog does an incredible job bringing home the reality of jungle war, torture and escape against all odds. Gripping movie and well done by Bale as well.

Azar A. gave it an8:
One of the better movies based on the Vietnam war. This movie perfectly depicts the horrors of not only war, but also horrors of becoming a POW. Acting is almost top notch, no need to go Shakespeare on this one as it is about the reality of war, and in a situations like this, different people behave differently; so is the case in the characters in this movie. I enjoyed it a lot. Great film.

Dan C. gave it a5:
What a strange film. The tone was just off from the first moment. The dialogue is amazingly wooden in many pars. The viewing experience left me quite perplexed. I can't recommend it.

P Daddy gave it a5:
Not a great film; not a particularly bad one. Feels too long and scripted. But that said, respect to the real life guy who managed to escape.

Peter J. gave it a7:
A very good film indeed. The ending was a bit silly, which is why I only gave it a 7...

Michael M. gave it a9:
As someone who's life was strongly influenced by the Vietnam war I was thrilled to see a non-polemic story set in the period. Bale was excellent as was the supporting cast. The VC were painted as real people not as either villains or as simple victims. Taught, competent, spare and compelling.

Rescue Dawn MGM

Rescue Dawn
MGM