The 33 (2015)

Based on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.

Director:

Patricia Riggen

Writers:

Mikko Alanne (screenplay), Craig Borten (screenplay)

Stars:

Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Antonio Banderas	...	Mario Sepúlveda
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Laurence Golborne
Juliette Binoche	...	María Segovia
James Brolin	...	Jeff Hart
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Don Lucho
Mario Casas	...	Álex Vega
Jacob Vargas	...	Edison Peña
Juan Pablo Raba	...	Darío Segovia
Oscar Nuñez	...	Yonni Barrios
Tenoch Huerta	...	Carlos Mamani
Marco Treviño	...	José Henríquez
Adriana Barraza	...	Marta Salinas
Kate del Castillo	...	Katty
Cote de Pablo	...	Jessica
Elizabeth De Razzo	...	Susana Valenzuela

Storyline

A docudramatic account of the 2010 Chilean mine disaster is presented, where the thirty-three miners who went into the San José Mine in Copiapó, Chile in the middle of the Atacama Desert on August 5 were trapped 700 meters underground for sixty-nine days, with all thirty-three eventually able to make it out of the mine alive. That day, mine foreman, Luis "Don Lucho" Urzúa, reported his concerns to mine owner, Carlos Castillo, about the unstable nature of the mountain under which the mine is located, those concerns which went unheeded. Don Lucho one of the thirty-three, went to work as usual into the mine, when that instability led to collapse in some of the underground shafts, the thirty-three who were able to make it to the refuge area, however with communication channels to the surface inoperable. Under normal circumstances, the refuge area had enough supplies to last thirty men three days. The miners also discovered that the company had failed to place the requisite ladders from ...

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Plot Keywords:

survival | rescue | 21th century | 2010s | mine | 

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Taglines:

Discover the miraculous true story

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a disaster sequence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Twitter

Country:

Chile USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

13 November 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los 33

Filming Locations:

Nemocón, Colombia

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,787,266, 15 November 2015, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$12,188,642, 10 January 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alcon Entertainment,Phoenix Pictures,Dynamo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Datasat

Color:

Color Black and White (end sequence)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(June 2013) Jennifer Lopez got the news that she landed a role in this movie, when she answered a cell phone call by her agent during an interview for Washington D.C., radio station Hot 99.5. She did not discuss any details but referred to it as a "small film".

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Goofs

Some of the letters at the beginning of the Chilean License Plates (such as G) were not yet available as of 2010.

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Quotes

Luis Urzua 'Don Lucho': I knew this place was dangerous!
Mario Sepúlveda: Nobody is blaming you! You are my brother, we are going to pull together to get out of here.

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Crazy Credits

The last scene shows, in black and white, the real 33 miners gathered on a beach, and credits each of them individually.

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Connections

Referenced in Face Off: Return of the Champions (2015)

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Soundtracks

Gracias a la Vida
Written by Violeta Parra
Performed by Cote de Pablo (uncredited)
Published by WB Music Corp (ASCAP) o/b/o Warner Chappell de Argentina SA

User Reviews

This true story deserves a better film

Squandering an almost unbelievable true story in a treatment that feels far to TV like to produce the emotional resonance needed in such a dramatic survival tale, Patricia Riggen's dramatization of the 2010 Chilean mining collapse that enthralled the world is a harmless attempt at bringing this stunning example of human courage and perseverance to the big screen but for such an unforgettable modern day tale, The 33 is sadly highly forgettable.

With a recognisable if not an exactly star studded cast led by the increasingly aged looking Antonio Banderas who finds support from hamming it up co-stars Rodrigo Santoro and one time A-lister Lou Diamond Philips, Riggen puts a majority of its focus onto these three men as Banderas's Mario and Philips's Don Lucho survive under the collapsed mountain of San Jose with their 31 other co-workers and Santoro government official with a heart of gold Laurence Golborne manages the rescue efforts above ground but a key ingredient to films such as The 33 is getting the audience to feel their pains and sufferings and their triumphs but Riggen's direction is so stale and uninvolving that The 33 has a hard time making any form of impact with its loaded material.

Many including myself would remember the travails of these 33 Chilean miners, trapped for months in the small space of shelter after the mining shaft they were working in collapses but Riggen fails to capitalise on our memories or feels from this time and it would be most adequate to describe Riggen's direction as cold and miscalculated and the aforementioned cast struggle with some truly groan inducing dialogue and even industry veterans Gabriel Byrne and the embarrassed looking Juliette Binoche can't make the cheese covered wordings work. Overall The 33 fails to make a dent cinematically bar a few sporadic yet impressive visual ticks and even the late great James Horner's intrusive score feels like a half effort.

The true tale of these Chilean miners and there will to survive is a great story and as poor as The 33's execution is their plight is enough to make sure Riggen's film isn't a true turkey but for a tale that offers so much possibility (the psychological toll of being underground an example, something briefly touched upon here) The 33 feels like an opportunity gone begging with hopes left that one day a more polished and thoughtful incarnation of this story can be produced.

2 cookies out of 5