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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: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for action violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Apr 8, 2005 Wide

Box Office: $68,642,452

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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Release:

Oct 24, 2006

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Reviews for Sahara

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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How seriously can you take a movie in which Penelope Cruz, wearing a bucket of eye make-up, plays a World Health Organization physician who investigates plagues?

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment 2 Comments
04/07/05
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

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

A blockbuster played by action figures and written by children.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment 1 Comment
04/04/05
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

A couple of action scenes are a little less thrilling than promised, but McConaughey's cowboy strut can sell the snake oil he's peddling.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
04/08/05
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/09/05
Boston Phoenix

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
04/09/05
Hollywood.com
N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
05/13/05
Sydney Morning Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

It's about good ol' boys on a rip-snorting adventure, and to that end, it succeeds.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
04/08/05
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Mightily agreeable foolishness ... one of the few cases where the phrase, "the book was better," actually doesn't apply.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
04/07/05
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Sahara is pretty to look at but lacks the adrenaline charge of the movies it's so obviously trying to emulate.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
04/08/05
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
04/09/05
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

Not quite as fun as "National Treasure," but far better than Dennis Quaid’s doomed "Flight of the Phoenix."

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
04/08/05
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

The film is passably entertaining, in no small part because of Steve Zahn.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
04/07/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With a running time of a few minutes over two hours, Sahara sputters along as slowly as a trek across the desert.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
04/08/05
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

It’s a pleasure to see a potential franchise develop from such an unlikely source.

Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | comment Comment
04/09/05
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Now Playing Magazine
 
 
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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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