Rescue Dawn seems like another film in an already explored genre. However, this one has been made by German director Werner Herzog, and is a fictionalisation of his documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. But is that enough to set it aside from the array of films set around the Vietnam War? So far, there have been concerns about the film, with its release being continually pushed back (thought this is mostly due to the film’s crew not being paid), so are the bad omens prophetic?

The film follows Dieter, a German who became a citizen of the United States, and dedicated his life to becoming a pilot. And the Vietnam War provides the perfect opportunity to do so. Almost ignorant of the danger, Dieter flies out on a secret mission to bomb the Ho Chi Min trail, but ends up being shot down over Laos. He is taken by the Army of North Vietnam and placed in a makeshift POW camp along with several Americans and objectors to the war. As Dieter’s body becomes decimated from neglect, his mind remains strong as he hatches a plan to escape.

With Rescue Dawn, I watched it expecting it to say very little about the Vietnam was that hasn’t already been said. Apocalypse Now shows the political and philosophical insanity, The Deer Hunter opens the emotional wounds that never heal, Full Metal Jacket portrays the draining of humanity from soldiers, etc. And while Rescue Dawn didn’t leave me astounded, it did find its own corner in the genre. I have yet to see a Vietnam war film that portrays the utter poverty of the captors. We see the prisoners slowly starving, getting less and less food, but only because the Vietnamese soldiers have nothing for themselves, living off lumps of rice until they get relieved. Plus the sense of time as the prisoners while their time away is painstakingly detailed, much more so than the prison scenes in The Deer Hunter.

Of course, the main draw of the film is Christian Bale. And fans will not be disappointed, for he gives yet another convincing performance, both emotionally and physically. Once again he seems to have lost a dangerous amount of weight in order to look the part. I’m more than ever certain that Bale will become the new De Niro or Pacino, churning out memorable performances of iconic figures to come. Steve Zahn provides strong support as the weak Duane, and does Jeremy Davis as the deranged Gene. Also, Lost fans may spot someone of note.

Werner Herzog is known for being a kind of outsider. He makes strange films about strange people. Which is why it’s so strange that Rescue Dawn is seeing a July 4th release. The film’s distributors must have seen the film as some sort of assertion of American patriotism. And here’s where the film will spark debate. The film opens with a gentle scene of planes flying above the jungle dropping bombs in gentle slow-motion. While many may see this as the glorification of such destruction and thus the endorsement of the USA’s assault on the country, it can equally be seen in a more abstract manner. Herzog is fascinated by nature and beauty stemming out of unlikely scenes, and perhaps the film’s opening is a representation of Dieter’s ambition, an insight into the wonder that he saw and what prompted him to fly. [SPOILER ALERT, KIND OF] Likewise, does the ending, which can be construed in as an uplifting one, suggest that Diet’s faith in his country keeps him going? The melodramatic music certainly doesn’t help. Then again, Herzog can also seen to be subverting this (Diet’s “big speech” about steak), or maybe just portraying not a country, not a sense of national identity, but rather a more intimate sense of identity and joy within a close-knitted group, that of his fellow pilots. [END OF KIND OF SPOILERS] Either way, the ending does ring a little hollow, and is by far the weakest part of the film.

Without doubt Rescue Dawn will be Herzog’s most widely appreciated film, and he certainly seems back on track with last year’s powerful documentary Grizzly Man. However, fans of Herzog may feel that the director has toned down some of his idiosyncrasies in order to be more commercial. It’s a compromise I feel works, as Rescue Dawn is a mostly worthy experience, and may act as the perfect antidote to those noisy Transformers.