Rescue DawnMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 77 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Walter Addiego

    An old-fashioned prisoner-of-war movie that becomes much more because of writer-director Werner Herzog's admiration for the remarkable true story of its protagonist, Dieter Dengler. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Out of a harrowing story set in a foreign thicket, Herzog has found American beauty. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    That such a masterful depiction of American heroism and can-do spirit has been created by a German art film director known for considerably darker visions of obsession is an irony Herzog no doubt finds delicious. Read full review

  • 90
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    Aside from a riveting adventure story that Herzog tells in all of its terrifying, stripped-down simplicity, Rescue Dawn is a fascinating study of human particularity. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The movie is, indeed, perhaps the most believable that Herzog has made. For a director who gravitates toward the extremes of human behavior, this film involves extreme behavior, yes, but behavior forced by the circumstances. Read full review

  • 88
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    The question remains: Why would Herzog want to dramatize what he has already captured as nonfiction? To better control the material, I think, and to bring it in line with his own obsessions. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety |

    As far as establishing a sense of period goes, Herzog cleaves to a refreshing less-is-more philosophy. This may be the first Vietnam-set film in history not to feature a bar of Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones or indeed any other rock music on its soundtrack. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times |

    For the most part, Rescue Dawn is a marvel: a satisfying genre picture that challenges the viewer's expectations. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today |

    This is all about escape. And as prison-break movies go, Rescue ranks among the best. Read full review

View more reviews for Rescue Dawn on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Intense POW film explores torture, survival.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this intense POW film isn't for younger viewers. The sometimes-bloody action (which is both heroic and not-so-heroic) is filtered through complicated historical and political contexts that aren't exactly kid friendly. Also, the prison camp abuse scenes are visceral and potentially upsetting, with violence that's both physical (beating, dragging, shooting, machete attacks) and psychological. Starving prisoners look extremely thin and weak; they also eat live maggots and a snake (these scenes are explicit). Characters smoke cigarettes, and there's some language, including "s--t."
  • Families can talk about the impact of the movie's violent torture scenes. Which abuses are worse -- the physical ones or the psychological ones? Why? What is the effect of showing the violence from the victims' point of view? What statement is the movie making about prisoner abuse -- no matter who the prisoners or the captors are? How are the captors in this movie characterized? Is what they're doing different from what characters like Jack Bauer do to suspected terrorists on shows like 24? How?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Prisoners argue, then collaborate to escape; captors are brutal and cruel.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: The film opens with discussion of the Vietnam War's start. Early images include bombs dropping and exploding from pilots' perspective. Dieter's plane goes down, and he falls through trees, resulting in minor (but a bit bloody) injuries. In prison camp, abuse includes beating, kicking, tying up, dragging behind vehicles, hanging upside down (including a disturbing POV shot), tying a hornets' nest to a victim's neck, shooting near the head (ears ringing effect on soundtrack), chaining to planks, and starving (prisoners become alarmingly thin). Escape involves shooting, fighting, and knifing, resulting in bloody corpses. Brutal violence includes machete attack (bloody splatter on witness' face, decapitated body visible), and leads to an unnerving hallucination/ghost.
  • sex false0 Sex: Brief suggestive talk ("nice ass for a sailor").
  • language false3 Language: Military men's language includes repeated uses of "s--t," plus occasional uses of "goddamn" and "son of a bitch."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Frequent cigarette smoking by pilots, prisoners, and guards.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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