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Rescue Dawn is a 2007 movie starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. It is written and directed by Werner Herzog, based on the director's acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly. NBA all-star Elton Brand is the film's producer through his production company Gibraltar Entertainment, which he co-owns with partner Steve Marlton. The film was produced in association with Thema Production. The project, which had been coming together in fits and starts during 2004, began shooting in Thailand in mid-August 2005.
The film is based on the true story of German-born Dieter Dengler, who dreamed of being a pilot and eventually made his way to the United States, where he joined the Navy during the Vietnam War era. He became a pilot and was shot down over Laos and captured. Eventually he organized an escape with a small band of captives. Bale plays Dengler, and Zahn plays Duane Martin, a fellow POW.
The film was originally scheduled to be released by MGM in December 2006, but was held back for limited release in the United States at some point in 2007. The film had a nationwide release on July 27, 2007, after a limited release in NY/Toronto/LA on July 4. The film is rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense war violence and torture.
Rescue Dawn has been positively received by critics and viewers. On metacritic.com the film has a score of 78 (generally favorable reviews) out of 100. It has received a strong 88% approval rating (100 out of 113 reviews positive) from critics on rottentomatoes.com. On the same site it has an 89% approval rating which it has received from users. The film received a B+ from critics and a B from users on Yahoo.com. It has a score of 8.3/10 on the Internet Movie Database. On the other hand, Matt Cale of Ruthless Reviews, who generally praises the director's work, called it "one of the worst movies of 2006."
On its opening week Rescue Dawn grossed $1,304,464 opening at #19. It opened in only 57 theatres. Next week it grossed $1,650,282, higher than its first week takings. This was due to the fact the film now had opened in 500 theatres. It even rose to the 11th spot in the US box office. It has so far grossed $4,218,459 in the US.Wikipedia |
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