My former film teacher, Robert T. Eberwein, who happens to be one of the greatest living film scholars you haven't heard of, often lamented in class that the prevalence of CGI in film today greatly interrupts the viewing experience. Even the best CGI money can buy will force the audience to come out of the moment and think, wow, that was some good special effects. There's hardly a way to see a film these days that doesn't bring about such a momentary, if not several momentary interruptions of either "Wow" or "Dear God,that looked terrible. Who the hell got paid for that crap?"

Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing a film with no computerized effects that isn't either an indie-film family drama or boy-meets-girl but isn't-ready-for-commitment so will-they-stay-together type thing. After months of constant release date changes, Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn was released. It was a priority viewing primarily due to the presence of the great Christian Bale, but also because I am finally being clued into the ways of Werner Herzog. Bale's natural performance, bizarre accent and all, is magic. In a brief synopsis, the film sounds like another prison break/war film. An Air Force pilot is shot down on his first mission during the Vietnam War, and is interned in a Viet Cong run prison camp. Even if you learn that this particular tale is based on actual events, so what? What war film isn't?

Perhaps it peeks your interest a smidge more when you learn that the main character, Dieter Dengler, is a German-born American whose village was bombed by the U.S. during World War II, and as his hometown was being laid to waste all he could think about were the amazing fighter planes and how he needed to fly. Dengler doesn't operate like everybody else. It becomes increasingly clear as the film progresses that this human being thrives on the elusive emotion of unabashedly pure hope. The feeling of hope in Rescue Dawn feels unique because Dengler isn't constantly compelled to explain his gut instinct. It's just a given for him. Unlike his fellow captives, it would never even occur to him to just give in and sit around for two-plus years. He is immediately formulating an escape plan, utterly undeterred by warnings of death by the hands of the Viet Cong or the perilous jungle. Perhaps it's easy for me to say from the comfort of a theater seat, but Dengler's determination and resilience was infectious and it was almost difficult to understand why the other POWs were so hesitant. The lack of doubt and fear is why Dengler lived to tell his tale.

A lack of doubt and fear must also be the reason why Christian Bale lived to discuss this film in interviews. Werner Herzog clearly does not make sure to provide trailers and craft service tables for his actors. "Dedication" is only one of the words that stuck out in my mind as I watched Bale hang upside down with an ant's nest tied to his face while an angry guard spun him around in dizzying circles. He is dragged on his ass through dirt, and barefoot 98% of the time. Steve Zahn never warmed my heart more than as the scruffy-bearded, under-fed Duane, whom Dieter makes a point to look out for. He just looks so exhaustedly pathetic and small. Jeremy Davies gives the performance of his career as Eugene, a man who has passed his brink. His skeletal frame rivals that of Bale's in The Machinist.

There is no studio lot in all of Hollywood that could capture the unpredictability of a true jungle, and it shows onscreen as you watch these startlingly malnourished men plunging desperately through the Vietnamese landscape (though apparently this was filmed in Thailand). The oppressive amount of foliage, large insects, rivers suddenly shifting into waterfalls, monsoon season; it's just another day in Laos, baby. These examples onscreen prove that no computer whiz can ever truly match the intensity of reality. No blue screen can beat hauling a camera crew up a mountain, period.