FILM · 2006 · USA
Rescue Dawn
31 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (31)
- #001
The film was shot in reverse continuity so that Christian Bale, who had worked hard to lose weight for the role, would appear at his skinniest first and could then regain the weight during the shoot, working backwards in time so that once Bale returned to his average weight he would film his scenes as Dengler before the capture.
- #002
Dieter Dengler was actually captured twice in real life, not once. The scene in which he is captured while drinking water from a river is based on his second capture.
- #003
As a show of solidarity, while many of the actors lost weight for their roles, the director also lost nearly 30 kilos.
- #004
These are real maggots that Christian Bale ate.
- #005
Apart from 'Walkie Talkie', a fictional creation of the director, all the guards in the prisoner-of-war camp were based on real figures from Dieter Dengler's story.
- #006
Christian Bale lost 55 kilos for his role.
- #007
Steve Zahn lost 40 kilos for his role.
- #008
Jeremy Davies lost 33 kilos for his role.
- #009
Stunt performer Chris Carnel burned his face in a scene depicting Dengler's plane crash.
- #010
To show how powerless a man would feel upon capture, the director insisted that while in captivity everyone who was right-handed use predominantly their left hand, and everyone who was left-handed use their right. In some scenes this confused Bale a great deal, but the director assured him that everyone was confused.
- #011
Shortly after the crash, Dengler takes what appear to be sweet potatoes from an abandoned hut. In real life these turned out to be opium poppy pods. In a scene with Bale as Dengler, he realised this had been filmed but was cut before release.
- #012
After being sent back to his ship by Navy SEALS (not by his fellow pilots, as shown), Dengler had such severe nightmares that he had to be strapped to his bunk, and was later placed in a cockpit filled with pillows, where he felt safe.
- #013
With roughly 5.5 million dollars in the United States, it was Werner Herzog's highest-grossing film to date (as of March 2008), since his films were generally shown in American art houses.
- #014
Dengler actually carried an old (West) German passport and had planned to wear civilian clothes under his flight suit so that, if shot down, he could pose as a German journalist. This caused something of an international incident when he was captured, leading his captors to claim that German forces were involved in the conflict. Herzog changed this to an American passport in the film to keep the narrative from derailing, though this raises the question of why Dengler would carry a current US passport on a secret mission.
- #015
The plane crash scene is the only scene in which Christian Bale was replaced by a stunt performer.
- #016
It is based on the true story of US Navy aviator Dieter Dengler being shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War.
- #017
When he initially signalled a plane, the aircraft did not fire on him but dropped flares. After Duane's death he returned to the abandoned village and took the white parachute from one of the flares. When he was finally rescued, he was spotted when the spotter plane saw the fluttering motion of the flare parachute.
- #018
According to Steve Zahn, there were no trailers on set for the cast and crew.
- #019
There were a total of 7 prisoners of war in the POW camp where Dieter Dengler was held. For storytelling purposes this number was reduced to 6. This is explained in Werner Herzog's commentary.
- #020
It was shot in 44 days, including different locations and stunt scenes.
- #021
Outside Dieter's cockpit there is a decal of a boy flying with an umbrella. It is a reference to the German children's book story of flying Robert, who dared to go out into the storm despite his parents' warnings. The storm carries him away and he is never found again.
- #022
Dengler stayed in the army for another year, was promoted to lieutenant and received jet training. Several years later, while on a pilot's leave with TWA, he returned to Laos, where he was treated as a celebrity, and visited the prisoner-of-war camp. He discovered that during his escape he had accidentally turned toward a point about a mile and a half from the camp.
- #023
It is adapted from Werner Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997).
- #024
Much later in life, unfortunately, "Dieter Dengler was diagnosed with the incurable neurological disorder ALS [Lou Gehrig's Disease] and on February 7, 2001, he rolled his wheelchair into a fire station driveway and shot himself. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. An exemplary honor guard was present at the funeral and Navy F-14 Tomcats flew overhead."
- #025
The first cut ran nearly 3 hours.
- #026
Matt Damon was the first choice for the lead role, but the offer was ultimately declined and Christian Bale was cast instead.
- #027
In the film, Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) speaks with an American accent. In real life, Dengler spoke English fluently but with a German accent.
- #028
Near the beginning, Dieter says: "Tell him not to try so hard to die for his country, but instead to let the son of a bitch on the other side die for him." This is reminiscent of Patton's words to his troops: "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
- #029
The film was independently financed. According to Werner Herzog, most of the financing was provided by basketball player Elton Brand. This film is Brand's first producer credit.
- #030
Dieter Dengler once appeared as a contestant on Hollywood Squares.
- #031
When Dieter meets the other prisoners, there is a small misunderstanding as the last one says the name Procet. Dieter replies "OK," but then Gene explains that his name is Procet. This is because "Procet" closely resembles "Prosit!," which means "Cheers" in German. Perhaps this happened in real life (since Dieter Dengler was German), or it was deliberately introduced by Werner Herzog, who is also German.
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