Rescue Dawn

A fictional revision of one of Herzog’s most astounding documentaries (Little Dieter Needs to Fly), Rescue Dawn grafts the “ecstatic truth” aesthetic of the fiercely original Herzog with big-studio funding and some risk-taking Hollywood actors, including Christian Bale and Jeremy Davies. Bale stars as a German immigrant–turned–American fighter pilot who’s shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War, held as a POW, and tortured repeatedly. This being Herzog, it’s the struggle against nature—in the form of the Southeast Asian jungle—that’s foregrounded. “Less so Herzog selling out,” noted the New Yorker, “than Hollywood buying in.”