Rescue Dawn

johnny_ultimate

Anyway else seen this yet? Watched the DVD last night and thought it was one of the most interesting films Ive seen in a while. Mainly because it had a bizarre tone... kind of surreal... hard to pinpoint exactly what made it so weird (like There Will Be Blood) but I found it a nice change of pace. Some excellent direction from Herzog: loved the minimal use of seemingly ill-fitting music, the dark humour, the superb landscape cinematography and the quite unique way the drama unfolded (uber

such as the undramatic but disturbing decapatation of Steve Zahn's character

).

Haven't seen too much Herzog (Fitzcarraldo is still sitting beside me waiting for a watch, and only seen Grizzly Man apart from that) but thought this was a very stylised and refreshing film with some great lead performances. May not be entirely accurate to the story, but deffo worth a watch!

the_syco

+1. Truely enjoyed it when it came out in the cinemas a while back.

Coileach dearg

A really good movie this. The girlfriend rented it out the other night on DVD and I thought "great, another Vietnam movie". Papillon is one of my favourite movies of all time and the comparisons drawn in Rescue Dawn reminded me of it.

I have never been so moved/shocked by a scene in a movie as when *spoiler

Steve Zahn's character got his head chopped off*

. Haven't jumped back from the screen like that since Jaws!

The amount of weight Christian Bale and the other prisoner actors had to lose for this film was amazing. It really goes to show how much work goes into acting and after this film I had a new found appreciation for what they do.

PS: I have never been as hungry after a movie in my life!

Edit - i don't know how to add spoiler text

Duggy747

Yea, good movie. A lot of Bale's later stuff is very watchable and I found this to be very enjoyable. Gotta love that vietcong midget with no teeth.

The bit where Zahn loses his head (no pun intended ) came completely out of the blue. Had me like: "Wait.....what just happened?"

rahim

Great film. I found Bale's accent a bit strange at times, probably just me, it was only a really small thing though.
Agree about the spoiler bit everyone said, really shocked me.

Vic Vinegar

Good flick, I also found his accent a bit strange.

thought the ending was a bit overdone on the cheese

but didn't mind too much.

did Bale really eat those manky things I wonder?

it certainly looked that way and if so, you have to admire his commitment to his roles... again!

madrab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dieter_Needs_to_Fly

johnny_ultimate

mountain lips wrote: »

thought the ending was a bit overdone on the cheese

but didn't mind too much.

Yeah definitely my major gripe with the film. Kind of just felt out of place with all that had preceeded it. You never know whether to put it down to studio demands of director misjudgement (although I watched some of the deleted scenes commentary and Herzog kept pointing out he had final cut... hmm...)

But yeah, definitely reeked of the old edam. But that may have been how the story went in reality... hell if I know

L31mr0d

Liked it a lot... but I guess I was expecting something more from it. Maybe i've seen too many movies where people are held in captivity and need to break out. I think the fact it was based on a true story however made it all the more watchable.

A good movie, but no where near the top of my list of great human spirit/captivity movies

Ay Cee

Seen this last night and was very disappointed to be honest.
I thought the best thing in the film was Steve Zahn, really surprised to see him in such a role.

I don't know what I was expecting but this felt to me like somebody trying to capture Deer Hunter and not managing to do it.

Loved Jumbo though, the little guy, very weird.

I'd give it 2/5. I really wanted to see this because of Christian Bale but after 20 minutes I wanted it to be over. They could have built up to him being shot down a bit more, made it more dramatic. It was like "oh, that's it?".

Running Bing

rahim wrote: »

Great film. I found Bale's accent a bit strange at times, probably just me, it was only a really small thing though.

Well he's an american actor trying to do the accent of a German man who has spent a lot of time in America so it was bound tocome out a bit funny.


Have to say I agree its a quality film with a slightly disapointing ending.


If anyone is looking for more Herzog stuff to watch I thoroughlly recommend Aguirre: The wrath of god.

Its basically the heart of darkness/apocalypse now story (only with 16th century conquistadors) but its just tremendous.

Ay Cee

Christian Bale is British!

the whole year inn

He is Welsh actually,good movie tho

Galvasean

Really enjoyed the movie. The tone is.. odd, but in a good way.

Dont be at yourself

I did enjoy the movie, but I don't think it was particularly stand-out. Despite having a slightly off-beat vibe to it, many of the characters were very two dimensional.

It was also incredibly subdued, almost afraid to crank up any sense of tension, and I thought that this was to the film's detriment.

The ending also jarred with the rest of the film.

If anyone liked this, I can't recommend Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence enough. It stars David Bowie as a British soldier in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. It's perhaps my favourite film in the genre.

grames_bond

i really liked the movie.....but now, i am going. to eat. my rice. yup thats what im gonna do....i am going..... to eat..... my rice.

Hardrain

Il watch anything with Bale in it but on the Lost forum people are saying the guy who plays Faraday is in it acting the same as he does in Lost. I can not stand the man and he's wrecking Lost for me with his movements and voice. Is it true he's in it and acting 'Faraday'

Such a shame as Im a huge Bale fan.

Kovik

I'm an enormous Herzog fan and thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was an exercise in pure cinematic expertise. Narrative film as it should be. While I was initially a little disappointed when he settled in the US having found finance increasingly more difficult to obtain in Europe (a very legitimate complaint) this film convinced me that the man will continue to foreground his own skills and not simply churn out very orthodox works (like Truffaut began to do towards the end of his life in order to keep producing, albeit in France).

Kovik

Hardrain wrote: »

Il watch anything with Bale in it but on the Lost forum people are saying the guy who plays Faraday is in it acting the same as he does in Lost. I can not stand the man and he's wrecking Lost for me with his movements and voice. Is it true he's in it and acting 'Faraday'

Jeremy Davies acts like that in everything he's in. Does it in Wenders' Million Dollar Hotel or that terrible Solaris remake to name a couple. It's pretty much his "thing."

Kovik

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

If anyone liked this, I can't recommend Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence enough. It stars David Bowie as a British soldier in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. It's perhaps my favourite film in the genre.

I love how that film appears every Christmas late night on RTE and BBC TV in spite of having a nebulous at best relationship with anything Christmassy.

Takeshi Kitano plays a prison guard and, being a big Kitano fan, one of my favourite moments of everything ever is David Bowie looking up at him and saying in "what a funny face" in an extremely British manner.

Nagisa Oshima directed it, very competent dude. If you like penises being cut off, he's the director for you.

pirelli

grames_bond wrote: »

i really liked the movie.....but now, i am going. to eat. my rice. yup thats what im gonna do....i am going..... to eat..... my rice.

Ambrosia is the best. Made in devon. I loved that stuff. I mean loved it. The movie looks like it's good. Why is it already on DVD. I missed it in the movies.

Hardrain

Kovik wrote: »

Jeremy Davies acts like that in everything he's in. Does it in Wenders' Million Dollar Hotel or that terrible Solaris remake to name a couple. It's pretty much his "thing."

Well that's one Bale film I won't be watching.

Kovik

You shouldn't watch films for the generic actors they feature. This is Werner Herzog, and Werner Herzog is made of liquid awesome.

Hardrain

Kovik wrote: »

You shouldn't watch films for the generic actors they feature. This is Werner Herzog, and Werner Herzog is made of liquid awesome.

I agree but my hatred of Jeremy Davis is above anything you can imagine.

MagicMarker

gob_smacked wrote: »

He is Welsh actually,good movie tho

So he is Brittish then.

Placebo

bale = awesome

i loved it

BopNiblets

I liked it, Bale, Davies and Zahn were great.

However the relatives of the actual POWs didn't: http://www.rescuedawnthetruth.com