Somehow his story, reenacted in the feature film, fails to catch fire in the way it does in the documentary. It looks oddly conventional, even flat.

| Aug 23, 2018

While Zahn and Davies offer amazing performances, Bale's starring turn often falls flat. Herzog doesn't give him much to work with: The writer-director is reluctant to allow his hero any flaws, even fear and despair, on his harrowing journey.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 13, 2018

Unlike a traditional Hollywood movie, Rescue Dawn follows the pacing and irony of real life. It is far from predictable and far from formulaic.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 28, 2014

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

The jungle has been very good to Werner Herzog.

| Apr 28, 2011

| Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 9, 2011

Werner Herzog isn't interested in patriotism as product placement, like other directors might be. Though uncommonly somber, "Dawn" is still an engrossing prison-break film. It's not "The Great Escape." It's "The Sheer, Dumb Luck Escape."

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 17, 2010

Dumps traditional war movie bravado in favor of a subtler touch, and softens the blow of an unspeakable ordeal by shooting it amidst a series of jarringly beautiful and poetic canvases.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Jun 9, 2010

Bale's lack of ambiguity points to the biggest limitation of a film that makes the grade as an adventure yarn by ignoring the most disturbing implications of its story.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 23, 2009

Not the typical Chuck Norris movie, but just as rancid in its own "edgy" pretentious manner.

| Apr 9, 2009

Rescue Dawn may not feel much like a Herzog movie, but it's a gripping real-life thriller.

| Oct 18, 2008

Rescue Dawn wouldn't be half the film it is if it were not for the stellar performances by Bale and Zahn.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 23, 2008

At first glance, "Rescue Dawn" might seem like Herzog gone Hollywood, but it's still very much the man's work. Herzog has his cake and eats it too.

| Apr 18, 2008

Complex and multi-faceted, Herzog has made a film with the skin of an action movie and the heart of a rhythmic, reflective poem

| Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 28, 2008

The most un-Herzog-like Werner Herzog film you're likely to see, this based-on-fact Vietnam War drama is very classy if rather standard stuff. But it is considerably enlivened by the always engaging presence of Christian Bale.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 22, 2008

Emocionante como aventura e como exemplo da força do espírito humano, comprova o talento inquestionável de Herzog, um dos diretores contemporâneos mais importantes e surpreendentes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2007

What we miss is the real Herzogian touch that can translate tales of derringdo into something more than mere adventure and stir the soul as well as the heart and mind.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 23, 2007

An effective, unassuming and old-fashioned action adventure which is - perhaps a little faute de mieux - probably the best film of the week.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 23, 2007

The only problem with director Werner Herzog's well-paced film is that it seems to have little point beyond admiring Dengler's tenacity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 23, 2007