Cave Rescue (2022) User Reviews

Better watch the National Geographic documentary instead...

[imseeg · 5/10 · 7 August 2022]

The last count is FOUR. Four movies about the same subject released close together. And this one is even worse than the Ron Howard movie. Better watch the one and only truly riveting version and that is the documentary from National Geographic called "The Rescue". All these other movies just do not do real justice to this real life drama.

Mind you, this is not a bad movie, not at all, but why watch something inferior when a much better version is readily available?

Low budget version

[ronnchinn · 4/10 · 14 August 2022]

Low budget production of the Thai cave rescue, The Ron Howard movie much better but the numerous documentaries out are actually better than the movie version.

Was this movie truly necessary?...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 28 August 2022]

I was familiar with the events that took place back in Thailand with the boys trapped in the cave, but I didn't know that they opted to cash in on this event and make a movie out of it. So as I stumbled upon the 2022 drama "Cave Rescue" from writers Katrina Grose, Don Linder and Tom Waller, I opted to sit down and watch the movie.

Sure, "Cave Rescue" is a watchable movie, and it is actually an adequately enough watchable movie. However, knowing the result of the actual rescue situation, then "Cave Rescue" was somewhat of a redundant movie, as you already know the outcome of the story.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but they did put on good enough performances for a movie of this type.

I am sure that there is an audience out there for a movie based on real life events such as "Cave Rescue". However, I just found the movie somewhat unnecessary. And while I managed to sit through the entire movie, then I can in all honesty say that this movie is not something I will ever return to watch a second time. The movie just simply doesn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Cave Rescue" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Yet another one

[maumanga · 4/10 · 9 August 2022]

The original documentary was all we needed about this rescue. Don't get me wrong, its nice to know people are trying to tell this story around, but... just last week I've also watched Ron Howard's version of the same rescue.

Was this just a ripoff, like The Asylum tends to do with blockbuster movies?

I particulary do not recommend this one, specially after watching Ron Howard's high-budget version.

Aint it exactly the same as 13 lives ?????

[lassebonielsen1978 · 5/10 · 9 September 2022]

Why do i see this when i have just watched 13 lives wich was fantastic by the way. By telling from this trailer id rather watch 13 lives , BUT gain i havent watched this and no tend to.

Why do i see this when i have just watched 13 lives wich was fantastic by the way. By telling from this trailer id rather watch 13 lives , BUT gain i havent watched this and no tend to.

Why do i see this when i have just watched 13 lives wich was fantastic by the way. By telling from this trailer id rather watch 13 lives , BUT gain i havent watched this and no tend to.

Why do i see this when i have just watched 13 lives wich was fantastic by the way. By telling from this trailer id rather watch 13 lives , BUT gain i havent watched this and no tend to.

How does this version compare to Thirteen Lives? Read on!

[trinaboice · 7/10 · 21 August 2022]

IN A NUTSHELL: Four separate movies been released almost simultaneously about this story. It's a fascinating story because it's true. A boys' soccer team was trapped in the Tham Luang cave by rising floodwaters in Thailand in 2018. There's Cave Rescue by Tom Waller and Lionsgate, Ron Howard's Thirteen Lives on Amazon Prime, a National Geographic documentary called The Rescue that was nominated for an Oscar, and a Netflix limited series called Thai Cave Rescue. More than 5000 people from 17 countries participated in the real-life rescue.

THINGS I LIKED: In all of them, we get to travel to beautiful Thailand.

Thirteen Lives gives us time to get to know some of the rescuers a little bit better.

It's fun to see the food, homes, and religious culture illustrated in all of them.

In all of the films, we get to learn and watch various rescue techniques that were used to try to save the boys.

We get to see how the world came together to rescue the boys.

While Thirteen Lives was a big Hollywood production with elaborate sets and soundstages, Cave Rescue was actually filmed in Thailand near the actual locations where the events occurred. Rescue diver Jim Warny plays himself in that version.

I adore Viggo Mortensen, so that persuaded me to favor the Thirteen Lives version by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard. Viggo Mortensen speaks multiple languages, and apparently, he's also a fix-it guy, volunteering to fix equipment rather than wait for the crew. Also in that movie are Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton. They all speak with accents and are absolutely fantastic.

It's fun to hear Thai being spoken. We also hear Chinese and English. In Cave Rescue, we also hear French and Spanish.

Ron Howard's film utilized over a thousand people to portray all of the action!

Even though we know the outcome of the story (if you paid attention to the news when this was happening in real life), all movies do a good job of building tension and suspense.

In both Thirteen Lives and Cave Rescue, we're shown a map of the cave and a time counter that tells us where the divers are and how much time has passed since the rescue operations began.

The cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom in Thirteen Lives does an excellent job of making us hold our breath and gasp for air. In reality, the water would have been extremely muddy with terrible visibility.

Many of the actors in the movie Cave Rescue were the people in real life who experienced the ordeal.

So much for superheroes...these rescue workers are the real deal.

There's a super sweet scene in Thirteen Lives that really touched me. It's when two of the divers first found the boys. The first thing the boys said was "Thank you." They were so humble and affirmed that they loved their coach, even though he felt terrible for getting the boys into dangerous trouble. They explained that the coach taught them how to meditate and be calm. I just wanted to hug the boys and was so emotional watching these films!

The boys went so long without food, which is possible, so I wondered how they were getting water. For a split second in the movie Thirteen Lives, we see one of the young boys opening his mouth to get drips of water from the cave wall. Wow.

At the end of Cave Rescue, we get to see video footage of the real people who experienced the events.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: In both Thirteen Lives and Cave Rescue, we don't get to see how the boys got stuck in the cave. Instead, we see the boys wander near a cave and then, suddenly, rescue workers are seen swarming the area. We don't get to see how the boys survived for so long.

In Cave Rescue, a lot more Thai is spoken, often without subtitles. There are also a lot of title cards that you have to read that let you know what's going on. You have to read fast because they don't stay on the screen very long. I also felt like some details were missing in this version that made it harder to understand what was going on than in Thirteen Lives.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: There is a lot of reading text in all four movies.

Boys are in a dangerous situation.

Talk of death Someone drowns.

In Cave Rescue, there is an F-bomb.

THEMES: Humanity The value of life Teamwork Thinking outside the box Hope Family Innocence Mother Nature Heroism.

Read this !

[Tmeverett69 · 7/10 · 23 August 2022]

This movie is EXACTLY the same story as another movie called "Thirteen Lives" which is free to watch on Amazon. It is a really good movie but if you're going to watch it, why pay for it when you can watch it for free.

Though not as good, worth watching together with Thirteen Lives

[kuikuiehu · 8/10 · 21 August 2022]

It's not fair to judge this movie poorly simply because it is on the same subject as another movie which came out about the same time (hardly the first time this has happened eg: Deep Impact and Armageddon). However, it would be impossible to not compare them either and there is some enjoyment in doing so. I do think Thirteen Lives is a better movie with a better flow and a better script. I would say better acting, but I actually find the acting pretty even when taking into account that the bad acting in this movie isn't from professional actors but rather the real people involved (that's not to say all the real people had bad line deliveries, some pulled it off quite well such as the diver whom they chose to focus on). Cave Rescue doesn't do as well with showing the danger and complexity of the rescue as Thirteen Lives, but it does still portray that in it's own way and includes details about the rescue that Thirteen Lives does not: the murkiness of the water, the amount of divers from around the world also helping out such as the Chinese diving instructor who was one of the last people out of the cave with one of the American army volunteers when the cave began to rapidly fill again (Thirteen Lives ignores this and shows only Thai Seals outside the divers focused on in the National Geographic documentary). Though Thirteen Lives talks about the world-wide impact, Cave Rescue shows it better. This movie also shows more of the boys and their coach in the cave, and how the coach helped them. Both depict the death of Thai Navy Seal Saman with respect, though in different ways. Thirteen Lives shows (rather than just tell) that he had diving experience and successfully made it through the cave before his death, and depicts a plausible scenario for how he drowned. Cave Rescue shows him volunteering and then the discovery of his body. Thirteen Lives depicts the effect of his death amongst the Thai Navy Seals, whereas Cave Rescue shows some of the funeral, news footage and the impact this may have had on those whose family was also volunteering.

So, though this movie isn't as well put together ( and the one I rented on amazon did not have subtitles for the Thai and other languages spoken outside of my own for some reason), it is worth watching.

There are many worthwhile documentaries on this, but a movie is a slightly different experience. Documentaries provide information, but movies do more to make the audience feel more involved. I understand feeling tired of multiple movies and/or documentaries coming out at about the same time on the same subject, but that is not the movie's fault. It happens for often very natural reasons (for this it's a big event that affected everyone, and which actually ended happily! Who wouldn't want to make a movie about that?).

Interesting Story

[stevendbeard · 6/10 · 11 August 2022]

I saw Cave Rescue.

From what I can understand, this is the 4th movie-or documentary-in the last 3 years that has been made about this incident. The Cave in 2019, The Rescue in in 2021 & 13 Lives in 2022-by Ron Howard-were the first 3. In case you are unfamiliar with the story, in 2018, a soccer team consisting of 12 teens-ages 11 to 16-and their 25 year old coach were trapped in a massive cave situated in Thailand when a monsoon hit, flooding them in. They were trapped for 10 days before they could even be reached but it took longer-2 weeks total-before they could get anyone out. They could bring them supplies and food but not much else. With the red tape of getting permission from government officials to help in the first place and the logistics of getting them out alive-it took 5 hour dives just to reach them-makes up the majority of the story. There were international highly trained divers wanting to help anyway they could and some of the people that were actually there are playing themselves in the movie. It's an interesting story but I think 4 movies in 3 years is a little much.

It's rated PG-13 for language and has a running time of 1 hour & 39 minutes.

It's not one that I would buy on DVD but if you are interested, it would be alright as a rental.

A film highlighting the Best in Humanity

[artfulldodger-57977 · 9/10 · 6 August 2022]

Amazing to see how People from around Thailand and even the rest of the world came together, overcame their reservations about others and in the end formed lasting relationships.

Absolutely brilliant

[damian5000 · 10/10 · 9 August 2022]

Not sure where the low score came from but this is an amazing true story film. There is always a fine line between telling the true story and adjusting it so that it remains theatrical and engaging for 2 hours. This movie straddles that line perfectly. This is real life hero s*** folks. Step back and ask yourself what did you do today? And then take a look at this film and see how life is done. This is the essence of humanity. People from all over the world came together to rescue these kids. One diver lost his life. I loved the variance in languages from Chinese to Thai to English which highlighted how the world came together with interpreters and against all odds rescued these boys... 14 days they were in there and the workers didn't even know if they were alive. Simply incredible story.