Lost among the ruckus slam-bang CGI of “Transformers” and the CGI cuisine of “Ratatouille” was the fact that Werner Herzog’s “Rescue Dawn”, a true-life Vietnam War movie, was one of the best reviewed films of 2007. The film scored an impressive 87% “fresh” reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, with 47 critics giving the film high marks, while only 7 dissenting. Our very own Brian Holcomb gave the film a glowing review (read it here), and heaped praise on Christian Bale’s performance. In fact, almost every critic was unanimous in praising Bale’s work as real-life German-American fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, an immigrant who embodied the best ideals of America.

“Rescue Dawn” tells the real-life story of U.S. fighter pilot Dieter Dengler (Bale), a German-American shot down and captured in Laos during the Vietnam War. Dengler organized a death-defying escape for a small band of POWs, including Duane Martin (Steven Zahn).

The film follows a young Dieter from Germany to America, then as an adult to Vietnam, a Laotian prison camp, and then his harrowing journey through the jungles in search of escape.

“Rescue Dawn” is in theaters now.