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?).
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?).