Thirteen Lives (2022)

[Morrigan2575]

This was a very good movie. The diving scenes were intense.  I was on the edge of my seat for most of the movie, even though I knew the ending. 

I had no idea it was a Ron Howard film.

I'm amazed at how much I've liked Collin Farrell in his later roles, he's grown as a actor.

Viggo will always be Aragorn but, he is a good in every roll.

The young diver in this was Bouc from Brannah's Poirot films, he was really good in this as well.

So much of the media focused on the divers, I didn't know the other story the farmers and volunteers who kept those boys alive by diverting the water down the mountain so it didn't flood the cave.

[Rickster]

I didn’t recognize Colin Farrell until halfway through the movie.

In general, I liked it, but I did think it suffered dramatically from knowing how it would end, and it was hard to inject many twists along the way. It was quite a shock though to discover how they got the kids out, which I think had not been revealed at the time.

I think it also would have benefited the movie by showing more of the kids in the cave, how they got trapped and how they dealt with it. I get why Howard went a different way on this, but I would have done it different,y.

[Morrigan2575]

23 minutes ago, Rickster said:

It was quite a shock though to discover how they got the kids out, which I think had not been revealed at the time.

Yeah, I was shocked at that as well, it was the first I heard of it.

23 minutes ago, Rickster said:

think it also would have benefited the movie by showing more of the kids in the cave, how they got trapped and how they dealt with it.

Agreed. I was thinking of The 33 which pretty much had 3 stories going on, the trapped miners, the families and, the rescue efforts. 

[DanaK]

I really enjoyed this even though I was one of many who followed the real life events closely as they were happening and I watched at least 2 of the documentaries on this. I knew about how they drugged the boys before this to get them out so little of what the movie showed surprised me (though I didn't realize how much the boys were restrained), but it still managed to be suspenseful and emotional (and I watched it twice). I think they did a really good job showing the chaos and difficulty of the situation and the tension between the Thai Seals and the cave divers. It really was a miracle that they got all the boys and coach out alive given how dangerous and difficult the situation was. I liked that the movie didn't solely focus on the cave divers, but also included stuff on various Thai, including the Thai SEALS, the boys and their parents, and the poor governor who was directing things (and would have been the fall guy if things went wrong)

[DanaK]

For those who want to watch at least some of the documentaries on the event, there's 2 major ones, called "The Cave" from 2019, and "The Rescue" from 2021 by National Geographic

[raven]

I also followed this when it was happening.   I couldn't believe it when they got all of the boys out.

I thought this movie was very good and I also liked the emphasis on all of the rescue efforts and support; the farmers who unhesitatingly gave up their crops, etc..    The doctor and the Thai seals who stayed with the boys throughout the ordeal were amazing as well - they knew they could die in there.  One diver already had.

Even after the dive was done, the boy had to be floated until the stretcher he was on could be roped up and out of the cave.  I didn't know any of that and the fact that nothing went really wrong during the three day rescue of the 13, when so many things could have, is a testament to the skill and determination of those involved.

I've seen "The Rescue" which was very good.  For those who haven't, it's told from the POV of the UK divers and Dr. Harris (Australia), the diver who devised the drug cocktail for the boys.    I thought it was very good, very suspenseful, even though I knew how it ended.  I had heard that the boys were drugged but did not know all of the details.   There were four engineers, I believe, that the divers had to dive out early on (this movie depicts one) and all four panicked during what was a relatively short dive.  No criticism from me, I would have panicked as well.  I found the technical aspects of the dive fascinating as well as the personalities of those who cave dive as a hobby.  I liked that the movies didn't shy away from portraying some of the divers as prickly.

I've read criticisms that we don't have the boys' POV - the Thai Film Board controls all of the rights to the boys' stories.   We will hear from the boys in the upcoming Netflix docuseries mentioned in the article.

[MissT]

I saw it Friday on Prime Video.  It was very good.  Again, as some of you stated, even though I knew the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat.  Anything Ron Howard does is great!

[Conotocarious]

I’ve seen the documentaries, read the books written by Harris and Stanton, listened to all the podcasts. This movie was excellent. Some stuff was changed (the boys’ names, for one) and the last day of the rescue was made a little more suspenseful (it did not take place during a rainstorm like depicted here…..the monsoons basically hit right after the rescue was done and completely flooded everything). But it was still an incredibly accurate account.

[MJ Frog]

On 8/6/2022 at 10:23 PM, Rickster said:

I think it also would have benefited the movie by showing more of the kids in the cave, how they got trapped and how they dealt with it.

I believe the chief reason for this is that they didn't have the rights to the boys' stories. An upcoming limited series on Netflix covers things much more from their point of view, presumably because they do have the story rights.

Edited to say that Raven beat me to it.

Edited August 8, 2022 by MJ Frog
I need to read ahead.

[MaggieG]

Watched this over the weekend. Liked it a lot! Even though we knew they would all get out safely, I did think it was still pretty suspenseful. I also had no idea that the boys were drugged but it made sense. The dive to get out of the cave was 6 hours, plus add to the fact that they had been stuck in there for over 2 weeks, plus they're not divers, plus all the tight spaces. It would have been way more dangerous doing that with them awake. 

One part that made me tear up was when John and Rick first found the boys, the coach goes to John and starts apologizing profusely that he lead the boys there and that he hopes the parents don't blame him. The boys then start yelling "no, we love Coach, he's been helping us!" I can't imagine being stuck in there was easy but it was so moving that they didn't want the coach to take the blame. I also liked that the coach was helping them get through it with meditation. 

I also teared up when the farmers agreed to sacrifice their crops. 

[Conotocarious]

One change they made that I thought was sort of interesting was they said the coach came out after all the boys. That wasn’t how it happened in reality. Stanton was a little surprised that the coach asked to be taken out before several of the boys (I think on the third day though). He did a fantastic job with them and it wasn’t his fault the rains came early but I wonder if they made that change because it didn’t reflect that well on him and they wanted to avoid criticism of the coach.

In reality, the final boy out was named Mark and he was the smallest and had to wear that pink mask. That was all accurate. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Conotocarious
nope, his name actually was Mark. LOL!

[Morrigan2575]

Interesting.  I now want to watch the documentary and maybe even read the books.

[Conotocarious]

Here is a conversation with Dr. Harris you’d really enjoy. He also wrote a book, which I read called Against All Odds. I’d recommend this one and especially Rick Stanton’s Aquanaut, in which he discusses all his other cave rescues interspersed with this main story. They are excellent.

[Conotocarious]

Ok, after going back and rereading the rescue it does appear Howard accurately depicted the third day, right downs to the rain starting and then one of the pumps failing right before the last SEAL got out. I had totally forgotten this and assumed he added it in for dramatic impact. It does appear he really didn’t change anything for dramatic impact (unless coach Ek coming out after the boys counts as drama, he actually elected to go out first on that third day).

One of the most incredible true stories I’ve ever heard of.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Conotocarious

[Raja]

On 8/7/2022 at 10:41 PM, MJ Frog said:

I believe the chief reason for this is that they didn't have the rights to the boys' stories. An upcoming limited series on Netflix covers things much more from their point of view, presumably because they do have the story rights.

Edited to say that Raven beat me to it.

Two episodes into the NetFlix series Thai Cave Rescue and the focus the main focus is on the fütbol team, the leadership of Coach Eak and the Governor.  With some insight on a lower ranked Park Ranger first on the scene and put into greater authority by the Governor and an intern in the National Weather Service who raised the alarm, if too late for the team, over the objections of her boss who wanted to go watch the World Cup, . The third hour's preview says the engineer on the mountain gets introduced 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Raja