Herzog, Bale avoid easy answers in 'Rescue Dawn'

Ten years ago, Werner Herzog made the documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly," in which the notorious director brought Vietnam veteran Dieter Dengler back to that country to re-create his experiences after he was shot down over Laos and held captive before escaping through the jungle.

Herzog obviously liked the survival tale enough that he remade the story as the feature "Rescue Dawn," (Fox, 2007, R) with Christian Bale as Dengler and miles of impenetrable foliage as his principal co-star. It's the closest to mainstream that Herzog has gotten, but even so he avoids most of the sentimental traps set out for him. Herzog doesn't believe in manipulating emotions when the facts do the work for him, and with Bale wasting away before our eyes at his method best, "Rescue Dawn" concludes on an inspiring, apolitical note that will stick with you a lot longer than the average war flick manages. And as always, the commentary is worth hearing, if only for Herzog's soothing voice.

also new this week

"Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" (Paramount, 1991, R): Francis Ford Coppola started production on "Apocalypse Now" at the peak of his creative powers, having just come off "The Conversation" and both "Godfather" films. He ended production a shell of a man, following a nervous breakdown and countless other problems. Coppola's wife, Eleanor, was there with a camera, capturing everything that went wrong, and decades later she turned the footage over the George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr to craft one of the most compelling documentaries ever made. Controversially, neither Bahr nor Hickenlooper were invited to participate in this long-anticipated DVD release, which means any number of juicy anecdotes will go

further unheard.

"Live Free or Die Hard" (Fox, 2007, PG-13): In a recent episode of "The Office," Steve Carell's daft character Michael Scott dissects the problems with "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth film in the "Die Hard" series. In the first film, he recalls, Bruce Willis is just any everyday Joe in over his head. By this latest installment, he's duking it out on the wing of an airplane. What the critique fails to recognize is that this time the filmmakers are in on the joke, at least implicitly. "Live Free or Die Hard" is so silly that the only way to enjoy it is to assume it was made that way on purpose. A surprise extra is a casual conversation between Willis and Kevin Smith.

"Hairspray" (New Line, 2007, PG): Following in the awkward footsteps of "The Producers," "Hairspray" is the odd film based on a hit Broadway production based on a film. Needless to say, this musical has a lot more in common with the stage version than with John Waters' cultish original, but it's mildly subversive, in its own way. After all, Waters is still best known as a proud purveyor of filth, and seeing a work of his transformed into a mainstream crowd-pleaser is almost surreal. The supplements are pretty lame, but considering the movie itself is so over the top, maybe in this case less is more.