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Sahara

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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.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for action violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

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

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Reviews for Sahara

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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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.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

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.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
04/07/05
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

It's nothing more than a mirage of fleeting potential and topless Matthew McConaughey shots.

Full Review Source: Richmond.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Mike Ward
Mike Ward
Richmond.com

Second-rate adventure.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
04/07/05
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

A little inventiveness is one thing, but this movie strains credibility at every turn.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

We get it, guys…there’s a treasure in the desert…just get to it already!!

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
04/07/05
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Sahara won't be competing for any Oscars, but it is goofy, light-hearted fun.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

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.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
04/07/05
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

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.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

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.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

It's no wonder the highly mechanized finished product feels so unfulfilling

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/07/05
David Levine
David Levine
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/07/05
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A testosterone-drenched escapade that misses because it lacks the tension to make it a thrill ride.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
04/07/05
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

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.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
04/07/05
Kevin Crust
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/07/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
04/07/05
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Believable? Nah. But when a movie is this fun, who cares?

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/07/05
Meg Jones
Meg Jones
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A largely entertaining version of Clive Cussler's novel, with Matthew McConaughey delivering the goods as the adventurous Dirk Pitt.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
04/07/05
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News

Even the brain-dead National Treasure tried harder than this.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 2 Comments
04/07/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The movie, first preposterously entertaining and then just preposterous, makes James Bond films look as logical as Euclidean geometry.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
04/07/05
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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Latest News for Sahara

February 21, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Vantage Point Aims For #1 Debut
A terrorist attack is played out through multiple perspectives in the high-octane political thriller Vantage Point which leads the four-pack of new openers which also includes... More...

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It's been rumored for some time, and now it's finally official: Conan the Barbarian is heading back to the big screen. More...

February 05, 2007: Novelist and Producer Point Fingers in Court; Whose Fault Was "Sahara?"
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: McConaughey is "Magnum, P.I."?
It's been in development so long, you may have given up waiting on any casting news -- or forgotten about it entirely -- but IGN Movies reports that "We Are Marshall"... More...

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