The 33

On August 5, 2010, a total of 33 Chilean men were buried alive during a catastrophic explosion that collapsed a 121-year-old gold and copper mine. For the next 69 days, an international team tried to rescue the miners, while millions of people around the world watched. Opening with the ominous statistic that 12,000 miners die annually in work accidents, The 33 begins at a retirement party, where the primary characters are introduced: shift supervisor Don Lucho (Lou Diamond Phillips), young father-to-be Álex Vega (Mario Casas), philandering Yonni Barrios (Oscar Nunez), Elvis impersonator Edison Pena (Jacob Vargas), Bolivian newcomer Carlos Mamani (Tenoch Huerta), and alcoholic Dario Segovia (Juan Pablo Raba). Most recognizable here is Mario Sepúlveda (Antonio Banderas), who becomes their leader. The terror begins in the San José Mine—under the rugged Atacama Desert—when fateful cracks in the mountain wall signal impending disaster. Trapped under 700 tons of rock, “Super” Mario allocates food and water in the small, sweltering cavern called “the Refuge.” Meanwhile, aboveground, family members gather in a makeshift camp, including Maria (Juliette Binoche), Segovia's strident, estranged sister. Chile's idealistic new Mining Minister, Laurence Golborne (Rodrigo Santoro), supervises the rescue efforts led by civil engineer Ándre Sougarret (Gabriel Byrne). Based on Héctor Tobar's 2014 book Deep Down Dark, filmmaker Patricia Riggen's The 33 is, unfortunately, a formulaic, superficial true story that is conventionally directed. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “The World Was Watching” behind-the-scenes featurette (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The Mine Collapse” segment on the real-life story (4 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an unremarkable ripped-from-the-headlines film.] (S. Granger)