Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Escape from Laos1998
Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Escape from Laos (1998)
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Critic Reviews for Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Escape from Laos
All Critics (14) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (1) | DVD (5)
Werner Herzog's remarkable docu tells with sharp observation and witty humor the heroic tale of the imprisonment and escape of Dieter Dengler, a native German who became an American pilot in the Vietnam War; Dengler exudes plenty of charisma.
Little Dieter -- just slightly out of the realm of the ordinary -- but not enough to stand among the remarkable, mystical works that Herzog has delivered in the past.

Herzog starts with a balding middle-aged man driving down a country lane in a convertible, and listens, questions and shapes, until the life experience of Dieter Dengler becomes unforgettable.
As often happens in Mr. Herzog's haunting documentaries, the most interesting figure seems to be the one behind the camera.

A stunning tale of survival.
A summation of the director's work in so many ways that one is tempted to point the neophyte to it ahead of better-known Herzogs.
Audience Reviews for Little Dieter Needs to Fly: Escape from Laos
An absolute must-see for those who liked Rescue Dawn as it tells the same story - but right from the mouth of Dengler. It's shocking to hear what he went through. It's also a Herzog documentary and therefore obviously brilliant.
Super Reviewer
Very insightful doc as Dieter Dengler retells his story of being a POW during Vietnam.
Super Reviewer
A documentary about a pilot's survival against the odds after being shot down in the Vietnam War. Dieter Dengler's origins in war-torn Germany and his subsequent embrace of the American Dream make his story all the more fascinating. I was worried it was going to turn a bit self-indulgent when Dengler started re-enacting his ordeal in the jungle, but it managed not to. Though he looks remarkably fit and well here, Dengler died of motor neurone disease only four years after this film.
Super Reviewer
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