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Cert:

Cat.no: P923501000

Running time: 120 minutes

Year: 2006

Pressing: 2008

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 20 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Languages: English

Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired

Widescreen: 1.85:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: £19.99

Extras: Audio commentary, The Making of a True Story, Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary, Stills Gallery, Theatrical Trailer, Other Releases

Vote and comment on this film:

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Director:

Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, The White Diamond, The Wild Blue Yonder)

Producers:

Elton Brand, Harry Knapp and Steve Marlton

Screenplay:

Werner Herzog

Music:

Klaus Badelt

Cast :

Dieter Dengler: Christian Bale
Duane: Steve Zahn
Gene: Jeremy Davies
YC: Galen Yuen
Phisit: Abhijati 'Muek' Jusakul
Procet: Chaiyan 'Lek' Chunsuttiwat
Little Hitler: Teerawat 'Ka-Ge' Mulvilai
Crazy Horse: Yuttana Muenwaja
Jumbo: Kriangsak Ming-olo
Spook: Toby Huss
Norman: Pat Healy
Farkas: Gregory J. Qaiyum

Based on a true story, Rescue Dawn tells of what happened to US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale), who was making classified bombing raids on Laos in 1965, which was a signal for the Vietnam war stepping up a gear into a long-running situation.

Amongst 3 other pilots, Dengler had to crash-land after his plane was shot in the air and once you're in the dense jungle, how the hell are rescue choppers going to find you?

He refuses to sign a document that condems the US government - which it is claimed would effectively be his ticket out of there as it would secure his release within the next couple of weeks, and as such his attempt at survival at the hands of his captors is a tough one, starting with being tied to the floor outside while he's left overnight to shit his pants (his words) to being dragged through the street, by the feet with those being bound and tied to the back of a boar, and also to nearly being drowned.

Following this, he is thrown into a POW camp alongside two Americans, Gene DeBruin (Jeremy Davies), Duane Martin (Steve Zahn), Chinese prisoner YC (Galen Yuen) and Thais Procet (Chaiyan 'Lek' Chunsuttiwat) and Phisit (Abhijati 'Muek' Jusakul), the latter two who are an amalgamation of three Thai men in reality, as can be seen from Dengler's Wikipedia profile, which also links through to those of Duane's and one of the Thai men, but don't read those out before seeing this film otherwise you'll know precisely what happens as they dream of being free, which won't be easy by a long stretch because even if they make it out of the camp, there's nothing but jungle outside and with the searing heat above them, they reckon they won't last any longer than two days without water and the monsoon season is a long time away and their relationship with the guards is a far from harmonious one.

The film features mostly very hushed conversations (for reasons that will become obvious) which are impossible to hear all the time so it's necessary to have the subtitles on - which I don't mind, but there is a reason for them being required.

Rescue Dawn is a great slow-burner, and as you see that the characters' experiences are often as gross as hell, overall, it's a fantastic piece of filmmaking and Christian Bale proves himself to be one of the finest actors of his generation. The rest of the cast are similarly fantastic.

The 1.85:1 widescreen frame is used brilliantly throughout, conveying the starkness of the camp as well as the feeling of being hemmed in, and also the lack of hope about their future prospects. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is mainly used for ambience but now and again their perfectly-honed use of gunfire and aircraft sounds. It would be nice if the dialogue was more clear all the time, as this isn't a film you can watch while you're a bit tired *and* without the subtitles.

The extras are as follows:

• The Making of a True Story (53:58): I didn't know until seeing that this the director had previously made a short film in 1997 entitled, Little Dieter Needs To Fly, and so it's only natural that he would go on to make a long-form documentary about the film and the man.

  With interviews from the cast, crew and Werner Herzog, a segment on the music in the film and other stories about the making of the film, this near-hour-long piece is as fascinating as the film itself.

• Deleted Scenes (11:08): There are seven scenes here, presented in letterbox format, each with optional commentary from director Werner Herzog and interviewer Norman Hill.

  Of these, I would've kept in scenes 2-4, but I can see why they would want to trim for reasons of timing as without them the film overall is not impinged. That said, I would put back scene 6 for definite, even if it is rather stomach-churning, but it marks a pivotal moment.

• Stills Gallery: Does exactly what it says on the tin with 153 of them. However, it would be preferable if the pics were in chronological order.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:06): Presented in letterbox 1.85:1.

• Other Releases (9:27): Trailers for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Be Kind Rewind, The Darjeeling Limited and Shine a Light which is the Rolling Stones tour movie. All of these look well worth a watch, and I know the third one is already. Click here for the review of The Darjeeling Limited.

• Audio commentary: A feature-length track from Werner Herzog and Norman Hill.

The film contains 20 chapters, which isn't too bad for a 2-hour film, subtitles are available in English for the hearing-impaired and the main menu is animated as well as being scored with a looped piece of music from the film. Each of the sub-menus also feature the same music which is a bit of overkill as I'd have left that in just for the main one, otherwise you come across it too much when flicking through the menus.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2008.

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

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