Sahara 2005

Adventure has a new destination.

5.9 / 10   1400 vote(s)
PG-13
Action Adventure Comedy Drama Mystery

Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.

Release Date 2005-04-06
Runtime 2h 4m
Directors Seamus McGarvey, Harvey Harrison, Víctor Molero, Breck Eisner, E. J. Foerster, Frederic Evard, Christopher Newman, Marc Homes, John Marzano, Jordi Yria Roca, Ben Howarth, Carlos Santana, Terry Madden, Samantha Smith, Tarik Ait Ben Ali, Pedro Sopeña, Ahmed Hatimi, Patricia Johnson, Luis Casacuberta, Tom Glaisyer, Francisco Barrionuevo, James Chasey, Yann Marie Faguet, Rachid Bouzida
Producers Stephanie Austin, Mace Neufeld, William H. Brown, Matthew McConaughey, Henning Molfenter, David Barron, Thierry Potok, Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin, William J. Immerman, Nick Morton, Chris Thompson, Mike Phillips, Mark Albela, Denise O'Dell, Rory Aitken, Lis Kern, Scott Thaler, Andrew Reif, Gus Gustawes, Angie Wills, Fay McConkey, Marcus Alexander, Tim Keene, Vicki Dee Rock, James Lamb, Diane Conn, Anil Kurian
Writers James V. Hart, Clive Cussler, Thomas Dean Donnelly, John C. Richards, Joshua Oppenheimer

Decent watch, might watch again, but can't recommend unless you're running out of things to watch or are an action archaeology fan.

This was a weird attempt created a 2005 version of Indiana Jones, or, since this is in Africa, Alex Quartermaine with Matthew McConaughey, of all people. I'm not aware of Matthew McConaughey or Steve Zahn being big action stars, but they surprisingly manage to handle their own, even if it isn't always believeable. Rainn Wilson and Penelope Cruz get in on the action as well....if that helps.

The premise is a little interesting: they're looking for a U.S. Confederate boat in Africa. Because it's not interesting enough on it's own, Penelope Cruz is a doctor trying to stop a plague coming from a war-torn country. It all feels a like ridiculously improbable things happening in a world that is far too realistic rather than a world created of fiction that houses an incredible story.

The movie is heavy with plot armor, despite any cleverness the characters have.

It's fine to watch, but there has to be something else that you can watch that is likely going to be better.

Kamurai

Words like "Literary work" and "Clive Cussler" really shouldn't be in the same sentence.

Hey...chill...I love Clive Cussler, I honestly do. In fact I'll put him in the same league as Elmore Leonard and Louis L'Amour and I will put them in the same league as Dumas and Doyle.

They all write pulp fiction, adventure, crime, mystery, horror, whatever, they all fall under the title "pulp" and I can admit that I eat them whole, without swallowing...

...and without the need to call them "Literary" in an effort to save face.

I have the academic degrees somewhere in a box, the intellectual prowess, and a library with enough classics and heady works of history and philosophy to be able to openly display writers like Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, and Timothy Zane to not have to call his work "Literature." I will however call it "Adventure" I will call it "Fun" and what should be most important to any writer or film maker..."Entertaining." It doesn't have to follow the book. Jackie Brown was a far cry from Rum punch and they were both a lot of fun to watch and read.

So Sahara isn't like the novel.

It is an Action-Adventure-Comedy. That means it is everything that pulp should be, it is everything that movies should be...

In fact it is the kind of film that the critics would have loved in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

GenerationofSwine