I remember first hearing about this project a while ago, and at the time the only information I had that Christian Bale was the star and that the story was strangely reminiscent of a Werner Herzog documentary that I had watched a couple of years ago called Little Dieter Needs to Fly. It concerned a Vietnam vet that was taken back to the jungle to recount his experiences as a P.O.W. and was a powerful and moving picture.

I found out much later that Rescue Dawn was also a Herzog movie, and that the content of the film was based on the very documentary I had recognized. I am a fan of Herzog's work (everyone should be), and I was looking forward to seeing this picture even though I had my reservations.

I'm not the type of person to question one of the world's great artists when he creates something, but I just didn't see the point in making Rescue Dawn. There was no way Herzog was going to make a film that was as or more effective than his original, so what is he thinking? Are there bits of untold story that didn't make the print on Little Dieter? I don't think that these snippets would be worth creating an entire film for. Perhaps it is a cash grab from Herzog (who is not at all known for doing such a thing). He has a good story sitting there for free, why not utilize it?

What I feared about this movie came true. Rescue Dawn is a weak rendition that doesn't on any level reach the power of his documentary. The situation just doesn't seem as horrible as Dengler described it. It's far more pleasant than it has any right to be. There are many things talked about in the original film that didn't make to the light of day in the acted version. Even the joy and triumph of Little Dieter is missing here, and that may be the biggest sacrifice that Herzog made.

And I'm still giving it a cautious recommendation. If you haven't seen the documentary (which you probably haven't) then my issues will not be the same as yours. Without them in the way Rescue Dawn is not at all a bad picture. Dieter Dengler is just such an interesting character to watch on screen. Despite being in a situation of certain death, he manages to smile and look optimistically upon the world and Christian Bale does a wonderful job of capturing his (almost insane) spirit and charisma. With a better script Rescue Dawn could have been a great film, but as it stands it is merely decent. That is why I'm disappointed.

It is being theorized that with Herzog starting pre-production on his Bad Lieutenant remake with Nicholas Cage, that he may be going a hair senile. Abel Ferrera was disgusted when he heard the news. When asked about this, Herzog merely told reporters that he wasn't aware of the original film and that he didn't know who Ferrera was. Whether or not any of that was true, remaking Bad Lieutenant is a bad idea and casting Nick Cage in Harvey Keitel's role is even worse. I'd buy into the idea that Herzog's mind is slipping, and I would use Rescue Dawn as furthering evidence in this direction.