Matthew McConaughey stars as explorer and adventurer Dirk Pitt in this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Clive Cussler. Pitt thinks he may have found both a fortune and the answer to a long-standing mystery when he discovers a rare coin in the waters of a river in West Africa. During the Civil War, an ironclad battleship with a valuable cargo went missing, and Pitt's theory is that the coin places the ship somewhere in the Sahara Desert. Pitt and his goofy sidekick, Al Giordino (Steve
Zahn), set out to find it, but along the way they make the acquaintance of Dr. Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), a scientist and physician who is trying to determine the source of a strange and deadly disease sweeping the nation. As Eva joins Dirk and Al, they begin to wonder if the mysteries they're trying to uncover might be somehow linked. Sahara was only the second of Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures to be adapted for the screen; the first, 1980's Raise the Titanic, was publicly dismissed by the author. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Sahara is many things, but it is not a movie. It is the skull-splitting cacophony of 21 producers and four screenwriters (that we know about, anyway) standing in the same room shouting into their cell phones.
For an adventure movie based on chase scenes in exotic locations "Sahara" never takes hold because director Breck Eisner and his team of screenwriters can't agree on what the story's about or what tone should resonate against it.
For "Sahara," the problem is that we have the Indiana Jones movies to compare it to, and I'm afraid there's no comparison. It's never more than a likable poseur.
The plotting is too complex for a generally stupid picture, but that didn't stop me from getting sucked in by director Breck Eisner's nicely paced action sequences.
Im pretty sure i wasnt suppose to enjoy this movie at all. Is is suppose to be horrible according to reviews but what i found was 2 hours of fun, humor and action. Now that I know this is a book. I think I need to go look them up.
Everything about 'Sahara' feels forced. The plot, the action, the characters. Nothing gives off an interesting vibe because it all seems so unoriginal. These treasure hunt movies always feel like a step in the wrong direction to me, and this is another large example. It may provide some mild fun, and Zahn's performance
may offer some goofy fun, but 'Sahara' already fails on so many different levels. 20 minutes in, you can already sense the mindlessness the film has to offer.
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