If you’re looking to watch something intense, gripping and genuinely underrated based on a true story, this war film deserves to jump straight to the top of your list. Often overshadowed by bigger Vietnam War films, the 2006 war drama tells the real-life survival story of Dieter Dengler, a German-American US Navy pilot shot down and captured during the Vietnam War. Christian Bale takes on the role, and many fans argue it’s one of the very best performances of his career.

Directed by Werner Herzog, the film is set during a dangerous military mission over Laos, and follows Dengler after his aircraft is shot down. While he survives the crash, he then gets captured by villagers aligned with the Pathet Lao and thrown into a brutal prisoner-of-war camp deep in the jungle.

What follows is a harrowing test of endurance, as Dengler and his fellow prisoners face starvation, illness and relentless cruelty while quietly plotting a near-impossible escape.

The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads: “Director Werner Herzog has once again made a compelling tale of man versus nature, and Christian Bale completely immerses himself in the role of fighter pilot (and prisoner of war) Dieter Dengler.”

Bale is joined by Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, and Toby Huss, whose performances add emotional weight and dark humour to an otherwise punishing story. Both Bale and Zahn were also nominated for several awards for their performances.

Before working on the film, Herzog released the 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, which explored Dengler’s life in his own words.

Nearly a decade later, Herzog returned to the story in dramatic form, filming Rescue Dawn on location in Thailand, and was shot in the jungles outside of Chiang Mai near the Myanmar border.

One fan wrote on Rotten Tomatoes: “The acting is on-point in this incredible tale of human survival.”

Another fan called the film “a true hidden gem” and said it’s “absolutely fantastic.”

Someone else added: “This movie isn’t easy to watch because of the realism and brutality in it but it’s that and Christian Bale’s incredible performance that makes Rescue Dawn a movie that can’t be missed.”

Another viewer wrote: “Bale delivers one of his best performances in this survivor tale that is both realistic and heartbreaking. Herzog directs with such sensitivity that when something happened it seemed totally right. Grim but true tale and has really high tension in some scenes. Its build up of characters is hard to match.”