i saw Rescue Dawn and enjoyed it. it’s probably one of the most conventional movies Werner Herzog has made as far as the story structure goes, but it still had his touch all over it like his weird sense of humor, lots of madmen (both the violent and the ‘good intentions’ kind), intensely intimidating (and breathtaking) scenes of the jungle/wildlife and strange but endearing bonds born out of the most dire and anomalous circumstances. i was a little scared when i read the examiner review and they mentioned Rambo in it, which I guess i can see cause it’s about Dieter Dengler. Dengler was the subject of Herzog’s documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Rescue Dawn is Herzog’s dramatized film about Dengler’s experience in 1966 in Laos. He escaped a POW camp deep in the dense nowhere of the jungle after his plane got shot down and his story of surviving is nothing short of a miracle. any fictionalized movie based on his experience during the Viet Nam war inherantly has “suspense” and “action-adventure” built into it. So yeah, it has elements of a popcorn flick and it had some flaws, but it’s not like Herzog is having an identity crisis or anything. Christian Bale plays Dengler like the subject of any Herzog movie: a guy with unreal optimism so stubborn and unwavering that it’s dangerous and borders on delusional. However unlike a lot of Herzog’s movies, this personality trait (or disorder depending on your take) ends up working out to the subject’s advantage. Although the title of the movie can’t help but remind me of Red Dawn, it isn’t pro-patriotism or gross heroism schmaltz like the trailer makes it out to be at all. the killing of ‘the enemy’ isn’t done in a macho celebratory light but rather out of complete paranoid desperation. god the trailer is garbage though. i guess they have to entice the broader audience with that kind of teaser. It’s just a good dramatic story that would (and did) make a decent and satisfying movie. what can I say though, I’m a total sucker for “man vs. nature” stories and read Lord of the Flies 4 times in 7th grade and The Most Dangerous Game like 1000.