Trailer
Plot summary
Lieutenant Dieter Dengler, a German-born pilot in the U.S. Navy's squadron VA-145, is shot down over Laos in February 1966 during a combat mission. He survives the crash and is captured by the Pathet Lao. The province governor offers leniency in return for signing a document that condemns America. He refuses, and he is tortured before being taken to a camp for prisoners of war. There he meets captives who have been held for years, among them Gene DeBruin, Duane W. Martin, Y. C. To and Phisit Intharathat. The men are weak from hunger and filthy conditions, and the guards abuse them. Dengler immediately plans an escape, but the others give the idea only grudging support, and Gene opposes it.
Cast
- Kriangsak Ming-oloas Jumbo
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rescue Dawn (2006)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Before Christian Bale was cast as Dieter Dengler, Matt Damon was initially considered for the role but turned it down.
- Because weight gain is faster than weight loss, the film was shot in reverse so that Christian Bale could regain his weight over the course of the shoot after the actors playing prisoners spent months losing weight.
- Rescue Dawn includes the first major use of digital visual effects in Werner Herzog's career, with the shots of Dengler's flight created digitally, though the crash is live action.
- The real Dieter Dengler spoke English with a heavy German accent, which was reduced to almost zero in Christian Bale's portrayal.
- The film depicts six prisoners in Dengler's camp, but in real life there were seven; Herzog said seven characters were difficult to write and six was more manageable.
- Jerry DeBruin, brother of prisoner Gene DeBruin, created a website critical of Herzog and the film, claiming characters and events were falsely portrayed; Phisit Intharathat, the only survivor of Dengler's group besides Dengler, also stated the film contains inaccuracies.
- Herzog said Gene DeBruin acted heroically while imprisoned and would likely have written the character differently, but he did not know this until the film was finished.
- In real life, Dengler and other POWs targeted July 4 for their mass escape after overhearing guards in mid-June planning to kill them because a drought had caused a severe shortage of food and water.
