User Reviews

A classic, well-crafted, and balanced film — Thirteen Lives captures the awe of nature, the courage of humanity, and the emergence of miracles.

Film ist gut, das Ereignis wurde aber schon verfilmt und es gibt diverse Dokus darüber, deshalb konnten die Produzenten viel abschauen. Zwischendurch etwas langwierig.

Thirteen Lives is a fantastic bio-film about the actual event which we all followed those days. What makes it good is the real drama happening in the movie. Still hard to believe and process how they save those kids. Acting, tension... Everything is perfect.

I don’t think I understood a single word that Viggo was saying! LOL. Buddy was really struggling with that accent and poor Colin tried so very hard to not be Scottish, but aside from the clumsy UK British accents, this film was well done!

If you’re looking for a tense film that’s based on a true story — Look no further. Thirteen Lives has it all. The film tells the incredible story of the rescue operation that took place in 2018 in Thailand where a soccer team of young boys and their coach find themselves trapped inside the underground cave ‘Tham Luang Nang Non’. The team enter the cave and disaster strikes as a shift in wind creates exceptionally rainy conditions which form a monsoon climate and the boys suddenly find themselves trapped deep within the depths of the cave itself with no way out, other than the now flooded way that they came in. As the water continues to rise, rainfall rapidly submerges the inside of the cave and the mission to rescue the boys safely becomes a worldwide emergency. Volunteers from all over the world come together in order to help in whatever way that they can. There is huge emphasis of good faith throughout Thirteen Lives which portrays just how incredible us as humans can be when tragedy strikes and it’s presented in a highly touching way throughout. The film itself can be watched on Amazon Prime video and is included for Prime subscription holders. It is currently #3 on Prime (at time of writing) and is a recommended watch for viewers who enjoy survival films which are based on true events. There are times in the film where you feel on the edge of your seat and the extremely inventive onscreen diagrams of the cave itself which are shown throughout the film, depict each area of inside of the cave rather perfectly!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A gripping look at the infamous rescue case with some spectacularly authentic underwater footage. It's also a film about volunteerism of the citizens and the professionalism of the divers.

Solid survival story told with plenty of thrills and a superb cast. The high production quality helps ground you in the reality of the events. A compelling watch!

Really enjoyed this movie - it has thriller like intensity, it is interesting, makes you care for characters even though you already know they survived. Plus also yeah you get to see how crazy the rescue actually was.

Tirando o maneirismo de alguns personagens (um ateísmo forçado), a parte técnica é perfeita, dá uma agonia assistir ao resgate, e como é baseado em fatos reais, torna tudo muito impressionante. O filme poderia dosar melhor o trabalho dos voluntários nativos, até mesmo a crença deles. De toda forma, é sim um filme que dá espaço para a técnica científica e para a humanidade contida naqueles profissionais, familiares, garotos, o técnico deles, enfim, é um filme que emociona e celebra a vida.

Film well conducted most of the time, but with a lack of emotion, mainly because of the narrated theme, which is strange directed by whoever it is. The script is well constructed, has good performances, but lacks emotional scale. A feather

You'll be holding your breath for at least two and a half hours in this gripping dramatisation of a miracle true story that features outstanding acting and gorgeous cinematography.

Me parece que es una muy buena película basada en hechos reales, buenos actores y actuaciones, nos muestran de verdad una película que no te permite voltear, y que te hace identificarte con todo el proceso.

Basically a by the numbers retread of the documentary with better cameras but none of the insight or clarity. Didn't tell us about the lives of the divers or soccer team before hand. Even though the British accents from Viggo and Colin were basically half Australian, they seemed good enough for the job but they were not directed enough to give an impactful performance and all the interactions between the divers fell flat. The underwater and cave diving footage was quite well done but still even that could have been done with more precision as there was never enough context given as to the situation inside and out of the cave and there was not enough clarity of which diver you were watching or the ultimate goal of what the diver was supposed to be doing. You also never truly felt the claustrophobia of what the dive would have been like as the water was mostly crystal clear with the scary sections basically amounting to getting stuck, and you never truly felt the fear, even when the Navy seal drowns because the pacing was off and there was no music to accompany it. It also seemed like they got through the cave too quickly the first time which made all subsequent expeditions feel less impactful. The constant heads up display of the location inside the cave didn't do anything to help us understand the distances and time involved, and more than that actually took you out of the realism. The way Nat Geo did this was far more insightful. They could have used aerial shots of the mountains or CGI of the cave to show how far it was for them to go but all they give you is a white line with a red dot. They could easily have fit in showing us the boys go into the cave which would have showed us how big the cave us and given them a chance to introduce them as actual characters. I will give points that the final sequence had the anxiety levels up, however when the divers come out at the end, two of the three Thai divers come out together and then the last after and it seemed like only two had come out and then everyone was celebrating while you were left without closure, which made it so the most crucial part of the film - the sigh of relief - never comes. After this, the movie abruptly ends with the boys waving to their mothers in the hospital. We don't see Rick Stanton meet his wife or see the divers get knighted or the Australian diver return home. Overall the movie is a missed opportunity to expand beyond what the documentary told us. None of the characters are fleshed out, there is no main character, no supporting cast. Just a bunch of actors who fill in for real people, all participating in the aimless goal of retelling a story that was already told more succinctly and in far more detail and impact before in the National Geographic documentary. Apparently a film called 'the Cave' was already made in 2019 and by watching the trailer shows the divers lives before hand. I would watch that or the Nat Geo documentary if you want a more detailed and interesting depiction.

10/10 Best movie I've seen in 5 years. -Don't listen to the subpar reviews, this movie is a must see for everyone. -Epic true story, amazing acting, such a high quality made film that only comes along sadly once a year now. -Just watch it.

If you want to make a great biopic, look no further than Ron Howard. Some of his best films such as Apollo 13 and Beautiful Mind are based on real life events. This one is no different. It is riveting and well made, with an eye on authenticity. The only **** is a long movie and it seems that Howard made this to be seen on a streaming service, in this case on Prime.

A dumb title... but it's a solid entertaining re-telling of an incredible rescue story. It's a little overly-dramatised but never loses it sense of realism and stakes. The acting is solid and the film succeeds in creating a tense atmosphere of urgency and claustrophobia.

Nachdem ich am Anfang etwas irritiert war wegen der Synchronisation, wollte ich schon abschalten, da nicht alles in deutsch ist. Bin dann aber dran geblieben und habe ein sehr spannendes Drama bis zum Schluss gesehen. Top-Empfehlung von mir.

I was always aware of the Thai Cave rescue but I never truly understood the challenge that the people faced during the rescue. This film succeeds in giving me an appreciation for everyone involved in this rescue. Ron Howard delivers a gripping dramatization of the story and manages to keep it suspenseful, despite knowing the resolution. I also appreciate that the movie isn't just about the British Cavers and that the movie gives a lot of focus to what the Thai people die as well. It also helps that all the actors from Viggo, Colin to the Thai actors, give a great performance. Thirteen Lives is a great retelling of the rescue and I highly recommend it.

This is one of Viggo and Colin's best performances. This movie is an epic retelling of a story that shows grit and strength to push through and be heroes at a level that has never been accomplished before. Ron Howard directs this exhilarating ride into a terrifying reality that twelve young boys and their coach faced for over two grueling weeks. This movie is one of the best films of the year, and based off a true story that is unforgettable.

Rock solid film by Ron Howard. Being based in such powerful true events, Thirteen Lives is exactly what you think it would be. Unlike many movies of this genre, rejects excessive dramatism and embraces realism. At first I was pissed that we didn't get to see more of the kids' point of view, but it results to be effective and coherent with what Howard was trying to make us feel. It felt a bit overlong and in spite of giving good performances, Farrell and Mortensen could have deeper characters.

Ron Howard is a director with too much expertise and knows his way around the field to allow his work to feel flawed as a whole, but in Thirteen Lives his work and that of his actors, all of whom are well-known names, fail to give this film the needed emotion and tension to become the heroic story they were aiming for. Between so much back and forth in the cave, the pace soon stalls and what happens outside of it feels like gratuitous filler. I don't consider it a bummer, but I did think it would be much better.

bad [ bad ] adjective, worse, worst;(Slang) bad·der, bad·dest for 36. not good in any manner or degree. bad [ bad ] adjective, worse, worst;(Slang) bad·der, bad·dest for 36. not good in any manner or degree.

Feels redundant after watching the documentary "The Rescue," but at least Ron Howard didn't let himself go with the melodrama this time.

Great job by Ron Howard. Good performances by Viggo, Colin and the whole cast. Story was super interesting and intense. I really love the spirit of the Thai people.

Little Opie Cunningham delivered the goods with this movie. It's a shame it went to Prime before playing in the theater, because the movie theater is where it belongs. We all know the outcome, but Ron Howard's cast/direction/writing are all top tier. The world needs to band together more often like these guys did. All courageous heros in my book.

Absolutely insane that this rescue worked given all the circumstances and the method used. Decent film.

For 18 days in 2018, the world's attention was focused on the attempted rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach who were trapped inside the flooded Tham Luang cavern in northern Thailand. It was an inspiring story that moved people around the globe, and director Ron Howard has now brought it to life in a technically masterful re-creation. However, as capably made as this picture is, its overlong 200 runtime can try the patience of viewers at times, especially when some of it sequences become drawn out and repetitive. This is by no means intended to diminish the uplifting nature of the story or the adeptness with which it has been produced cinematically, but, given the emphasis on the picture's technical merits, this approach to telling the tale tends to shortchange its tremendous emotional impact. A journalistically styled by-the-numbers take on telling a story like this is fine, but I was hoping for something a little more heartfelt in light of the miracle this epically heroic yarn turned out to be. "Thirteen Lives" definitely earns a passing grade, but I can't help but wonder what it might have been with a little more emotion – and a lot more heart-tugging.

(Mauro Lanari) Howard made the event spectacular by adding details, actors, subplots, folklore, bombast, and emptied it of the metaphysical core that on the contrary was central in "The Cave" (Waller 2019): it is deleterious to have stars act instead of the protagonists of the story, who know how to communicate to us for direct experience what they lived in there and down there, an existential disorientation. The images shot by Howard do not know how to express it and the director takes refuge in didactic dialogues. Ps: during the end credits Wikipedia is cited as a primary source, while it cannot be by definition, since it is based on reliable third-party sources.