Thirteen Lives

[loosenit2]

just watched it, not as good as I had hoped, did not really capture an emotional narrative or make you feel vested in the people. I thought The Rescue was better, did all of that. Also noticed that in 13 Lives they showed it all as SM diving (or correctly single tank diving by Thai Seals), did not show rebreather use at all, which at least Rick used during some of the real events, a home made one if I recall correctly. The movie portrayed the Thai Seals as protective of turf and more confident in their abilities then I have the impression they were in real life, i think they were more humble about not having the needed experience, equipment, and training for caves.

 

[mbs]

just watched it, not as good as I had hoped, did not really capture an emotional narrative or make you feel vested in the people. I thought The Rescue was better, did all of that. Also noticed that in 13 Lives they showed it all as SM diving (or correctly single tank diving by Thai Seals), did not show rebreather use at all, which at least Rick used during some of the real events, a home made one if I recall correctly. The movie portrayed the Thai Seals as protective of turf and more confident in their abilities then I have the impression they were in real life, i think they were more humble about not having the needed experience, equipment, and training for caves.

Wow, I certainly felt for the locals. The scene especially where the farmers agreed to lose their crops. Stantons book also portrayed the seals as protective, but even in the movie they accepted input from Rick and John.
As to the equipment, yea I had hoped for some of Stantons homegrown stuff

 

[Angelo Farina]

Just finished watching with wife and son.
I did like it, the wife instead did complain of too much drama and tension...
We were all quite concerned of the small amount of air they were using, and not understanding why they did not employ ARO rebreathers.
We were thinking that these CC oxygen rebreathers are standard equipment for navy seals...
And at the beginning something similar to a CC rebreather was seen being overhauled by Rick Stanton while he was still at home.

 

[Wibble]

It’s interesting to hear Richard Harris' account regarding rebreathers.

 

[mbs]

Ron Howard was on Stephen Colbert last night talking about the movie. Turns out Stanton was training the actors and they requested to do all of the underwater scenes themselves.

 

[Hojo in SC]

I enjoyed the movie, didn't think it had too much drama, any foreigners coming in may cause some resentment of local officials so I get it.

I do wonder about the inner tube BCD, I thought that was before modern sidemount BCD's.

 

[Marie13]

I enjoyed the movie, didn't think it had too much drama, any foreigners coming in may cause some resentment of local officials so I get it.

I do wonder about the inner tube BCD, I thought that was before modern sidemount BCD's.

Rick Stanton is very much a DIY diver. He goes into that in great detail in his book. He even built at least one rebreather.

 

[Ukmc]

Just watched it too. I agree with @loosenit2 , the Rescue ruined it for them. 13 lives did not do it for me. I felt like a timeline was rushed through. Dramatic spots felt artificial. The Rescue captured the tension a lot better and felt to have more natural portrayal of events. Of course, this is my opinion only. Who am I to critique Ron Howard? Having said that he has done a lot better in the past

 

[Angelo Farina]

I have found an interesting article about Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, providing some infos on their rebreathers:

Thailand Cave Rescue. How Did British Cave Divers Succeed Where Navy Seals Could Not? - Yay.Fish

Thailand Cave Rescue. How did British cave divers gain the skills needed to rescue 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave when navy seals could not?

www.yay.fish

It is not clear if and how much these units were employed during the rescue in Thailand.
Here the Stanton's home-made rebreather:

And here the modified Castoro ARO unit employed by John Volanthen:

Both units are modified for being able to operate with "mixtures", instead of the basic pure oxygen.
I was expecting to see them in the film, instead I did see almost uniquely standard alu tanks of small size (probably AL80).

 

[Belzelbub]

I would have enjoyed seeing Stanton's homemade rigs though, especially the innertube!

Go back and watch again. I was specifically looking for the innertube. It was present. Volanthen had a more traditional rig in the movie, but Stanton had an inner tube. Looked to be roughly the size of a fat tire on a bike.

I enjoyed the movie as well. Apart from the visibility being exceptional (understandable as it’s a movie), and the AL80s lasting a real long time, the diving seemed at least plausible.