Christian Bale makes friends and enemies alike in a sparsely-populated den of POWs at the onset of the Vietnam war. Undergoing another major transformation for the role, Bale lost a ton of weight to sell his emaciation, but as he's decked out in a big, baggy flight suit for the duration it's often difficult to see his worsening condition.
There's a strange mood that lingers around the fringes of this one, something to take us out of the moment. Maybe it's Bale's weirdly sunny disposition: even when he's being drug at gunpoint through the streets of a rough jungle village, he's smiling politely at the dumbstruck townsfolk. It could be the simple, businesslike way the prisoners plot and execute their escape, which seems far too easy. Even the relationships between the captives, carried out via hushed tones and late-night chats amongst shackles, have a floaty, dreamlike quality about them that doesn't seem to fit the seemingly-horrible situation.
As a picture it lacks conviction: that one moment for the audience to stand up and cheer, or to feel a sense of genuine tension about the cast's impending doom. I often felt removed from the action, as if I were reflecting upon it after the fact and glossing over the more grisly everyday challenges. It's nicely shot, with a genuine appreciation for the area's unique terrain and the helpless fury of its residents at a looming US intervention, but the story itself never moved me like I felt it should.
Christian Bake proving once again why he is one of this generations most talented actors :clap_tone1:
Poor acting and childish scenes. Script looks like its made by a teeneger.
Inspired by true events, Rescue Dawn is a harrowing tale of survival. The story follows Navy pilot Dieter Dengler who’s shot down in Laos during the Vietnam War and is imprisoned in a Viet Cong internment camp until he and his fellow POWs attempt a daring escape. Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, and Jeremy Davies all give incredible performances. And, writer/director Werner Herzog does an impressive job at bringing a gritty realism to the film. However, the pacing is kind of slow, and the narrative is weak and hard to follow at times. Yet despite its problems, Rescue Dawn delivers a compelling tale of heroism.
This was amazing. The colors and direction made it feel like the movie was even shot in 1965. This is at the least in the top 3 bales for me between this dark Knight and American hustle. Wait what about the fighter?! Damn this guy is in some good movies. Let's give it up for Steve Zahn too. Wish he had more roles like this. Or like saving silverman. That's great too. Much more a conventional film than I'm used to by werner herzog but still had some of his touches.
Another great performance from Christian Bale, but Steve Zahn and (especially) Jeremy Davies stole the show.
Shout by app103VIP 5BlockedParent2020-11-25T08:48:08Z
I have no idea what the actor's name is, but the same guy seen in this movie, as the villager with the long hair, sunglasses and white shirt, who takes the pilot prisoner near the beginning of the movie, also has starred in a few awesome epic bug spray commercials from Thailand, most notably as a bad-ass cockroach. It's all I kept thinking about while watching this movie, in every scene he appeared in. I kept seeing him as the giant cockroach, in my head.:D