Rescue Dawn

Werner Herzog revisits the true story of American helicopter pilot Dieter Dengler and his ordeal as a prisoner of war in Vietnam (which he previously told in the documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly") in this primal war drama. Christian Bale stars as the apolitical flier Dengler, who seems to have made a devil's bargain to make his flying dreams come true: He bombs villages and civilian huts and flies illegal missions to Laos. The film opens on the slow-motion footage of bombs dropping on jungle villages, aesthetic beauty made from indifferent destruction. Herzog doesn't talk politics but they hang over the film -- Dengler's prison camp torture can't help but be seen in the light of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo -- while the escape drama is pure Herzog. The wilds of the jungle are neither cruel nor kind, merely indifferent to man, and all the more dangerous for it. Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies co-star as fellow POWs. Features commentary by director Herzog, the documentary "The Making of a True Story," three deleted scenes, and a stills gallery.