RESCUE MOVIES

        Do you maybe remember the saga of the 12 boys and their leader who were stuck in a flooded cave in Thailand? I thought so. Rescues are dramatic and excellent movie material. The Rescue (2021) is a documentary about those boys in the cave. They are isolated by flood waters many kilometers deep in the cave. The only way to get them out is through all that water. It cannot be done. Except it can. Well, you already know that they all made it out pretty much unharmed. But this movie tells in great detail the incredible plan to rescue them. 

You might also remember, though it was further back in time, the 33 miners trapped by a landslide in Chile. With food and oxygen running out, an incredible plan is hatched: Drill a man-sized hole all the way down to their location and hoist them out one at a time. It cannot be done. Except it can. The 33 (2015) is the film about that rescue 69 days after the cave-in. This film is not a documentary but is closely based on the actual events. And after the credits roll many of the actual participants appear on screen. 

Another dramatic recreation of an incredible rescue won the Oscar for Best Movie in 2015. Argo is unbelievable and yet it happened pretty much as the film portrays. This film is Ben Affleck’s baby-he produced and directed it and is the star. After the Iranians storm the US embassy and take the workers hostage the Americans realize that six people are unaccounted for. They are being secreted in a Canadian’s residence and the Iranians don’t know it.  The Americans make a plan to fake the making of a sci fi movie in Iran and use the six sheltered people as actors. This cannot possibly work. But it does.

The Martian (2015) is fictional but nonetheless interesting and gripping. A Mars mission goes bad when a dust storm strikes. The astronauts hustle back to the way out- their rocket- and get back to Earth ok. But one of them is left behind because he was knocked out by the flying debris and is presumed dead. But Mark Watney is alive- and very alone. His survival and eventual rescue are great movie stuff. 

Tom Hanks is utterly convincing as Captain Phillips (2013) skipper of an unarmed cargo ship boarded by Somali pirates. The pirates take the captain hostage and refuse to let him go until millions in ransom are paid. The US Navy is dispatched to the scene but are powerless because Phillips is in the pirate boat with them. Then one of the US sailors has a good idea which works to free the captain. Yep, this is based on a true story. 

Some additional rescue movies worth a look include Apollo 13 (1995), Dunkirk (2017), The Way Back (2010), and Raid On Entebbe (1977). All of he movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.