Rescue dawn

[Guest markkyle66]

I was doing a little reading today and came across this movie which comes out on the 4th. https://youtube.com/watch?v=03e56cVXajY Looks promising... and somewhat accurate. It has skyraiders so I guess that makes up for any possible shortcommings! Thought I'd share it with those interested

[pawnman]

Christian Bale is a great actor, and so is Steve Zahn (often overlooked because he takes so many zany side-kick roles).

The movie is based on DIETER DENGLER.

What would be really cool is a movie about Bravo-20, the British SAS team that walked into Iraq from Syria...it would be pretty depressing though, only had one survivor after they were compromised by a kid herding goats.

[JeepGuyC17]

There was a Bravo Two Zero movie that came out a few years ago. It was straight to video, but was really good and, like you said, somewhat depressing. Sean Bean plays Andy McNab. Good flick.

[Mambo]

What would be really cool is a movie about Bravo-20, the British SAS team that walked into Iraq from Syria...it would be pretty depressing though, only had one survivor after they were compromised by a kid herding goats.

They walked into Syria from Iraq...5 of the 8 survived.

Bravo Two Zero

[aceart]

Looks like a good movie, what with the rest of the crop out there we could use one. I did notice a little flub on one of the movie posters. The image of the pilot reaching up towards a couple of helicopters... the top one looks an awful lot like a Blackhawk,

[pawnman]

Looks like a good movie, what with the rest of the crop out there we could use one. I did notice a little flub on one of the movie posters. The image of the pilot reaching up towards a couple of helicopters... the top one looks an awful lot like a Blackhawk,

You haven't heard about the time machine Kennedy had built as part of the space program?

[Guest Gumps]

I think someone made the reference already, but this movie is based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, the book is Escape from Laos and is one of the best I have ever read. Incredible story, well worth the $9.69 on Amazon.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Gumps

[Guest Johann]

I think someone made the reference already, but this movie is based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, the book is Escape from Laos and is one of the best I have ever read. Incredible story, well worth the $9.69 on Amazon.

+1 Read it many, many moons ago.

There's also a documentary movie from 1998 (also by Werner Herzog) that starred Dieter Dengler called "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" (which is referenced in Rescue Dawn). The movie looks pretty good, as its Dieter talking about his experiences.

Interesting side-note Dengler was squadron-mates (VA-145) with the MIA (LCDR John Tunnel) on my bracelet and he was returned to the USS Ranger just after Tunnel went in. I had always meant to get a hold of Dieter and talk to him about Tunnel (Dieter lived about 1.5 hrs from me), but unfortunately I recently found out Dieter died back in 2001. Bummer. RIP Dieter...

Edited July 28, 2007 by Johann

[Guest Fogo]

Saw it the day after I finished SERE last weekend. Wasn't sure I needed more of that topic at the time; but some buddies were going and wanted to see it.

Thought it was pretty good. I don't his story in depth so I can't vouch for how "real" it was. Always sobering and inspiring to see those stories though.

[pawnman]

I thought the movie was pretty good. Could have used a little more coherence, I thought...there seemed to be a lot of jumping from scene to scene, with little holding them together.

[Guest HercengTN]

Thread revival

Watched the movie today. Turned it off after 1 hour. It was almost humorous how uneducated they portrayed the prisoners. Maybe it got better after 1 hour but I never made it that far. I am in no way disrespecting the POWs this movie was about. Has anyone else seen the movie? Agree/Disagree?

[pawnman]

Thread revival

Watched the movie today. Turned it off after 1 hour. It was almost humorous how uneducated they portrayed

the prisoners. Maybe it got better after 1 hour but I never made it that far. I am in no way disrespecting the

POWs this movie was about. Has anyone else seen the movie? Agree/Disagree?

They didn't seem uneducated, they seemed naive...which is forgivable, considering how early this was in the conflict. They all thought it would be a few days of bombing, the commies would go home, and they'd be let go.

I am curious if the Air America dude portrayed in the movie really was that big a BF'er in real life, or if they felt they needed to write in some extra conflict. I also found it interesting that the Navy dude (Christian Bale) seemed to be the only one who remembered his SERE training.

[Guest Scribe]

They walked into Syria from Iraq...5 of the 8 survived.

Bravo Two Zero

Only one of them made it into Syria after being on the run. That was Chris Ryan (not his real name). His story is told in The One that Got Away that is a book and a made for TV film. It is a good read after you finish the book Bravo Two Zero by the team lead (Andy McNab (not his real name either), which slightly differs on details but was written by the team leader who was captured and recounts their treatment at hand of Iraqis. The successful exfiltration by Chris Ryan beat the WWII record of the SAS and lead to a BBC three part series called Hunting Chris Ryan in which he tries to conduct a mission in different climates/locales while experienced trackers hunt him down. That series has made it onto American Cable as of late.

Due to discrepancies of accounts by McNab and Ryan, two follow-on books are out that try to establish the real story by interviewing Iraqis as well as survivors. The Real Bravo Two Zero and Soldier Five attempt to resolve the discrepancies between the earlier books.

Edited December 26, 2007 by Scribe

[Gas Man]

Thread revival

Watched the movie today. Turned it off after 1 hour. It was almost humorous how uneducated they portrayed the prisoners. Maybe it got better after 1 hour but I never made it that far. I am in no way disrespecting the POWs this movie was about. Has anyone else seen the movie? Agree/Disagree?

I don't know what your talking about. I have read "Little Dieter...." and I think this is an accurate portrayal. As was stated earlier, I think that due to the early point of the war these guys had no idea what was going to happen to them, or could happen to them. I will agree that this isn't the most action packed movie I've ever seen, but seems to be true to life.

[Guest HercengTN]

Fair enough. I didnt say anything about accurate portrayal. I am not familiar with the Dieter story. I was just curious if most liked or disliked the movie.

[herkbum]

Only one of them made it into Syria after being on the run. That was Chris Ryan (not his real name). His story is told in The One that Got Away that is a book and a made for TV film. It is a good read after you finish the book Bravo Two Zero by the team lead (Andy McNab (not his real name either), which slightly differs on details but was written by the team leader who was captured and recounts their treatment at hand of Iraqis. The successful exfiltration by Chris Ryan beat the WWII record of the SAS and lead to a BBC three part series called Hunting Chris Ryan in which he tries to conduct a mission in different climates/locales while experienced trackers hunt him down. That series has made it onto American Cable as of late.

Due to discrepancies of accounts by McNab and Ryan, two follow-on books are out that try to establish the real story by interviewing Iraqis as well as survivors. The Real Bravo Two Zero and Soldier Five attempt to resolve the discrepancies between the earlier books.

The American series is called "Special Forces: Manhunt". Comes on The Military Channel.

[Mark1]

Terrible movie, and horrendously offensive to the real life characters, I'm sure. I suppose it would have been entertaining as a fictional story but as a portrayal of real life events that it insinuates it is, it's pure garbage.

First off, the real life prison camp housed 7 POWs, not 6 as in the movie. Dengler was not some superhero mastermind carrying the other prisoners on his back as in the movie. The other prisoners had already escaped the camp once only to be recaptured and had the new escape plan (depicted in the movie) formulated before Dengler was even brought to the camp. During the escape the movie shows everyone abandoning Dengler to execute the plan on his own with no support. No such thing occurred and it's blatant character assassination of the other prisoners for the sake of creating a dramatic scene and making a hero out of Dengler. Then following the escape Eugene is portrayed as going insane (moreso than normal) and just wanders off into the jungle for no reason with no explanation of where he went or why. In real life he left the group to return to the 7th POW (inexplicably not portrayed) who was too sick to participate in the escape. His conscious wouldn't let him leave his friend behind and he payed for that with his life only to be portrayed as a raving lunatic in this movie. Duane was killed in real life after intentionally compromising himself to villagers in the hope of securing food for himself and Dengler...the villagers hacked him to death for his efforts. In the movie Duane is killed in a scene where he and Dengler accidentally run into a villiager, with no mention of Duane's sacrifice.

Those are just a few of the many ridiculous inaccuracies. Werner Herzog took some theatrical liberties and in the process slandered everyone among the group with the exception of Dengler in order to create a heroic figure. The sad part is that the true story is BY FAR more interesting and impressive than Herzog's adaptation and he could have easily created an accurate movie with just as much impact. Worst of all, at the end of the movie there is a summary of Dengler's post-POW life with absolutely no mention of any of the other's fates, including Pisidhi who ultimately also survived, as if they didn't matter at all. The movie made me sick.

And Herzog is free and clear because "any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, are unintentional." What a coincidence that he unintentionally chose the name "Pisidhi Indradat" out of the blue to star in a his movie as a fictional character. What an ass.

Sadly most people will come away from the movie believing it was an accurate portrayal.

[Toro]

Terrible movie, and horrendously offensive to the real life characters, I'm sure. I suppose it would have been entertaining as a fictional story but as a portrayal of real life events that it insinuates it is, it's pure garbage.

Waitta minute - you mean Hollywood glamorized a story and f***ed it all up? Say it ain't so!

That's great insight, Mark, puts the movie in a new light.

Where'd you get the info from? Just curious since it was previously mentioned that the portrayal was accurate.

[Guest Bender]

Great question.

Didn't know of the story...

Research revealed ALOT...

Were is this "knowing" coming from exactly?

I don't doubt Mark's info, but it's beyond the publlic info...at leaast that I could find quickly.

BENDY

[Mark1]

My information comes from Dengler's book "Escape from Laos". There were two survivors of this and their stories cross-checked. They didn't make it out together so they couldn't have gotten their stories straight ahead of time. I have no reason to believe that any of their independent stories are untrue or exaggerated. I can't imagine that Herzog has any sources other than the publicly available first hand accounts, so the parts of the movie that differ from the real life accounts must be creations of his own mind to "improve" the drama of the story. For the portion of the escape that Dengler and Duane were alone together the only source of info is Dengler's recount of the story, and it doesn't match with the movie.

I did find this video on youtube:

Dengler himself in a 2000 interview. His comments contradict two of the main themes in the movie: That Dengler masterminded the whole thing, and that the other prisoners were monkey's on Dengler's back.

I can't speak for "Little Dieter Needs to Fly", but it's by Herzog, and the movie was adapted from it, so I would imagine it's half truths also.