This is what action movie should be... Dirk Pitt is a hero who would make James Bond buy him a drink and make XXX wet his pants.
Sahara (2005)
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Reviews Counted:168
Fresh:64
Rotten:104
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: A mindless adventure flick with a preposterous plot.
Theatrical Release:08-04-2005
Synopsis: Dirk (Matthew McConaughey) and Al (Steve Zahn) have been friends since kindergarten, having also gone through college and the Navy together. The two now work for a former admiral traveling around... Dirk (Matthew McConaughey) and Al (Steve Zahn) have been friends since kindergarten, having also gone through college and the Navy together. The two now work for a former admiral traveling around the world and salvaging treasures from the sea with the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). In his spare time, Dirk is obsessed with the 150-year-old mystery of the Texas, an Ironclad battleship that reportedly disappeared from Richmond, Virginia during a Civil War battle and turned up in Africa. When a Confederate coin--allegedly one of only five minted--surfaces in Mali, Dirk and Al plan to travel there from Lagos, Nigeria on the admiral's yacht to investigate. Meanwhile, in Lagos, Dirk meets Eva (Penelope Cruz), a doctor for the World Health Organization (WHO) who believes that there is a plague building in Mali. Since the WHO is unable to find another way into the war-torn country, Dirk and Al give Eva and her colleague a lift up the river. Once in Mali, Dirk, Al, and Eva quickly find themselves embroiled in trouble as she pursues the source of the disease. Meanwhile, Dirk and Al search for the Texas. Based on a novel by Clive Cussler, SAHARA is a rollicking thrill ride through exotic locales, including everything from high-speed boat chases to helicopter pursuits to jeeps racing through the desert to camel rides. A warlord and a greedy French businessman prove to be formidable villains for the trio. McConaughey fits the bill as gentleman and adventurer Dirk, while Zahn holds his own as likeable sidekick Al. Cruz is feisty as independent Eva. Director Breck Eisner's theatrical feature film debut also features William H. Macy as the admiral. [More]
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, Steve Zahn, Delroy Lindo
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, Steve Zahn, Delroy Lindo, William H. Macy, Rainn Wilson
Director: Breck Eisner
Director: Breck Eisner
Screenwriter: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Delroy Oppenheimer, John C. Richards, James V. Hart
Producer: Howard L. Baldwin, Mace Neufeld, Stephanie Austin, Karen Baldwin
Composer: Clint Mansell
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Sahara
A little Indiana Jones, a little James Bond, a little Tom Clancy -- it all adds up to an action-adventure flick with little to distinguish it.
It's nothing more than a mirage of fleeting potential and topless Matthew McConaughey shots.
A little inventiveness is one thing, but this movie strains credibility at every turn.
We get it, guys…there’s a treasure in the desert…just get to it already!!
Sahara won't be competing for any Oscars, but it is goofy, light-hearted fun.
The most exciting adventure based on a third-rate paperback and directed by the son of a movie mogul ever produced! Which is to say, not actually exciting at all.
Sahara isn’t exactly a prestigious Merchant-Ivory production, and it doesn’t pretend to be. Meet it on its level of entertainment, and a good time is sure to be had.
Sahara is such an enigmatic piece of filmmaking that it never settles on a tone and whose downtime in-between the action is going to ease audiences into a gentle slumber.
It's no wonder the highly mechanized finished product feels so unfulfilling
Eisner shows himself to be a solid helmer of complex and beautifully staged action sequences with a sure ear for character interplay and an exact eye for glorious widescreen framing with nods to images from Lawrence of Arabia.
A testosterone-drenched escapade that misses because it lacks the tension to make it a thrill ride.
It's a little hard to have silly fun when you are constantly being reminded that Hotel Rwanda and similar stories have been playing out down the road.
The casting is so strong and the overall filmmaking flair of the movie is so captivating that it basically works, perhaps even well enough to join its producer Mace Neufeld's Tom Clancy adaptations as a major new movie franchise.
Getting the girl, finding the gold and saving the world from a plague are just afterthoughts here. The main objective is to have fun, and in that regard, Sahara accomplishes its mission handily.
A largely entertaining version of Clive Cussler's novel, with Matthew McConaughey delivering the goods as the adventurous Dirk Pitt.
The movie, first preposterously entertaining and then just preposterous, makes James Bond films look as logical as Euclidean geometry.
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February 05, 2007:
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Accusations are flying between author Clive Cussler and producer Philip Anschutz over who's to blame for the 2005 adventure stinker, "Sahara," which cost an estimated... More...
January 18, 2007:
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