Gibraltar's "Rescue" poster

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I've seen the initial one-sheet poster for Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn, which will screen at the Toronto Film Festival, and it's close to awful. It's not Herzog's doing but the film's producers, Gibraltar Films (or perhaps its distributor, Conquistador Worldwide Media), and it's utter mediocrity. The decision to allow the poster be dominated by Christian Bale's fleshy, overfed, clean-shaven face sends exactly the wrong message.

Bale's puss is overbearing and the concept has no soul, no texture, no implication of poetry -- nothing that suggests that the movie being sold is a Werner Herzog creation, which is as close of a guarantee of something layered and profound as you can find anywhere.

In fact, the poster says nothing except for the fact that Bale (represented with a photo that has nothing to do with how he looks in the film) is the star. It looks precisely like the kind of Cannes market screening poster/trade ad that a low-life distributor looking to cash in on Bale's Batman popularity would throw together in a state of huckster desperation. There's a coarse mentality at work here -- you can smell it 100 yards off.

Rescue Dawn is an "action drama" (i.e., the producers wish it would simply be that) costarring Bale and Steve Zahn. Based on Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, it's about German-born Dieter Dengler, a German-born U.S. military pilot who was shot down over Vietnam/Laos in '65 and captured and then escaped from a jungle prison camp and eventually made it back to safety.

Here, apparently, is a black-and-white shot of Herzog speaking with Marlton -- the hulking sumo wrestler-type gentleman with the black toupee/wig in the black sunglasses standing to the right. It's a photo taken from the Gibraltar Films website.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 23, 2006 at 10:05 AM

comment #1

tholl-yung says ...

Any one of the production stills on their website would make a better poster. I needs to get me into marketing. I don't recognize Bale in the poster or find him the least bit sexy, which he is.

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 10:57 AM

comment #2

FunkDaddy J says ...

My first thought was Sean Astin. Talk about sexy.

Posted by FunkDaddy J at August 23, 2006 11:31 AM

comment #3

tholl-yung says ...

Check out this tatoo on his ankle. Grrrr. That's as sexy as he gets for me.

http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/graphics/elvishtatoo.jpg

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 11:41 AM

comment #4

actionman says ...

I agree...lame ass poster for a probable masterpiece. Werner Herzog has NEVER made anything less than a 3.5 star film (most of his are 4 out of 4) and I doubt this will be any exception. The simple fact that this is a feature version of his stunning doc Little Dieter Needs to Fly makes it a complete must see. Little Dieter is one of the most amazing docs ever made (as good as Grizzly Man I think) and that guy's story is just simply incredible. I met Herzog last year at a Grizzly Man dvd release event and he told me that his plan for Resuce Dawn was to make a film "more intense that Aguirre...more intense than Fitzcarraldo..." Now, whether that statement is in fact a reality, the idea that HE thinks Rescue is on par with those two magical pieces of cinema is enough to make me cry. I suggest that anyone with even a remote love for film should track down every single one of Herzog's movies (most u can get at Netflix, some are still unavail in the US) and watch 'em. He's one of the best filmmakers ever. End of rant.

Posted by actionman at August 23, 2006 11:44 AM

comment #5

NYCBusybody says ...

God, this is the gayest talkback ever.

I resent the demeaning, image-obsessed, fascistic homosexual undertones of the above posts, and can only hope that social justice, equality, and non-sexist portrayals of oppressed men can win out in the end.

Posted by NYCBusybody at August 23, 2006 11:50 AM

comment #6

MathewM says ...

Which is better... A cheesy but marketable movie poster that might put a few more butts into the seats or an off-putting poster that better represents the film. From a business stand point you go with the butts in the seats. Herzog fans will show up no matter what but it's the mainstream that you want to grab ahold of. Bottom line: use Bale's current movie star power to make more money so that Herzog can continue making films. Most movie posters nowadays suck from an artistic stand point so there's really no arguement worth making.

Posted by MathewM at August 23, 2006 11:57 AM

comment #7

Colin says ...

I think that Invincible was an interesting failure, but a failure nonetheless. It just didn't quite have the energy of Herzog's other films, and it really started to drag in the latter half of its 133 minute running time. That said, I would give and A or an A- to about every other Herzog film I've seen (although I'd probably give Wheel of Time a B+), and I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

Posted by Colin at August 23, 2006 11:58 AM

comment #8

tholl-yung says ...

You met Herzog and he spoke to you? His accent alone would obliterate anything he said and send me aloft. He's straight and so am I, and I'm definitely not above oppressing men.

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 12:02 PM

comment #9

Dixon Steele says ...

T.H.,

Are you a woman?

Posted by Dixon Steele at August 23, 2006 12:06 PM

comment #10

NYCBusybody says ...

Oh! I just assumed T.H. was a man, apologies if you're not.

Posted by NYCBusybody at August 23, 2006 12:08 PM

comment #11

tholl-yung says ...

NYCBB, you're a good guy, but you sound a little frightened of women.

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 12:27 PM

comment #12

NYCBusybody says ...

Nonsense! A scurrilous accusation! I won't have it!

Posted by NYCBusybody at August 23, 2006 12:32 PM

comment #13

jeffmcm says ...

I love Herzog, but have you people seen Heart of Glass? Lord, that was tedious.

This poster is clearly based on The Aviator. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it until now.

Posted by jeffmcm at August 23, 2006 12:55 PM

comment #14

tholl-yung says ...

J-mc, you surprise yourself? You know that's a sign of mental illness don't you? Why would they want to rip off The Aviator? They just had Bale come in to have some shots taken and this is what he looked like at the time, and then an imaginitiveless designer came up with this and somehow it got approved. Yuk, when there's so many good graphics and advertising people out there. Shame on them.

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 1:47 PM

comment #15

L.B. says ...

God, imaginitiveless people get under my skin.

Posted by L.B. at August 23, 2006 4:46 PM

comment #16

tholl-yung says ...

Just compared the 2 posters, Aviator and Rescue Dawn. Man, if imitation is flattery, they got a lot of work to do, The Aviator poster is beautiful -- have a look:

http://www.impawards.com/2004/aviator.html

Posted by tholl-yung at August 23, 2006 6:52 PM

comment #17

Ross says ...

I agree, awful poster... should be a great film though based on the Little Dieter story, an incredible true story. I reviewed the Herzog documentary here: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/truth/archives/2006/02/i_recently_watc.php

Posted by Ross at August 24, 2006 9:27 AM

comment #18