Rescue Dawn (2007/Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture: B+/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: B-/C+ Film: B-
Christian
Bale is Dieter Dengler, who goes on a secret mission in Laos during the Vietnam
fiasco in the early part of the conflict (circa 1965) but is shot down and
lands up in a prisoner of war camp in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn. The first
narrative film by Herzog in a while is one of his better ones in a while and
though it has its problems and lapses, the suspense and tale of Dengler’s
dilemma.
The
pacing from Herzog’s screenplay is not bad, but besides muddled moments, has an
ending so abrupt that it almost ruins the film.
However, Bale is ambitiously good as usual and Steve Zahn turns in one
of his best performances in a while.
Much of the film is in the shadow of a similar sequence in Michael
Cimino’s superior The Deer Hunter
(1978) but that does not stop this from being both interesting and watchable.
It only
did so well theatrically, but word of mouth and Bale’s star power will
hopefully find it the larger audience it deserves. It helps that both home video versions are
good for their respective formats.
The 1080p
AVC @ 34 MBPS 1.85 X 1 image is color rich, solid, has good detail, depth and
except for a minor move by Director of Photography Peter Zeitlinger to have it
look a little like the past and convey the dust and dirty of the jungle in
subtle ways, you’ll be impressed by the overall performance. The anamorphically enhanced standard DVD
version may not be able to compete, but it looks good for that format and is
still good considering HD is here. The
DTS HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is far better than that of the
standard Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD, but both show how good the soundmaster
is on this film. Despite its low budget,
the recording is good and Klaus Badelt’s score is a plus. The combination, especially on Blu-ray,
delivers.
Extras
include audio commentary track by Herzog & interviewer Norman Hill, trailers,
deleted scenes with more optional Herzog commentary, The Making of The True Story, plus Blu-ray exclusive Preparing for Survival featurette and Honoring The Brave: Interactive Memorial
and trivia track.
There was
an interesting side discussion of note about this film and what a Vietnam
picture really was or meant. Even in
isolation and without getting into the politics of that mess, it still is a
film from that genre and anyone who says “that is not the way it was” is both
missing the point of this film and trying to put some kind of formulaic
expectations and ideas on these films that are cheap and pretentious. There are enough great Vietnam films (Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse
Now, Deathdream) that not every
film has to be trying to make the big statement about the conflict to be a good
installment about stories in it.
- Nicholas Sheffo
