User Reviews

I have watched this movie at least 5 times since it was released on video. It is one of the movies that is constantly entertaining. The soundtrack is great and I also agree that the chemistry between the actors was perfect. I would watch this duo again in another film. I'll put this movie on when I am cleaning the house or doing laundry. Every time I end up sitting down and watching most of it. As another viewer commented it is a lot like National Treasure(which I also give high mark). They are both easy to watch, they wrap things up nicely and leave you feeling like you went on the adventure! What else could you ask from a movie...

Bring on Dirk Pitt! Here is a movie that wants to have fun, the cast wants to have fun. The audience ends up having fun. Steve Zahn is hilarious. Matthew McConaughey handles the limited demands of his role quite well. Penelope Cruz brings her ever-present charm and beauty to a role which is notable for being one of the few action-adventure roles written for a female that is not obnoxious in recent memory. You can't take your eyes off William H. Macy whenever he is on screen in ANY movie. He's that good.

It's kind of a Bond meets Indiana Jones film (I swear they used the same canyon from "Raiders of the Lost Ark") The villains are one dimensional, but who cares? We are here to follow the exploits of our heroes. If we have to suspend our disbelief, we do it willingly because we are grinning ear to ear.

The film starts in the Richmond battle (1865) where a war ship is disappeared and is gone during modern time in that an archaeologists(Matthew McConaughey,Steve Zhan and William H.Macy) are looking for treasures on Africa. A physician (Penelope Cruz ) is investigating about an illness which is killing thousands people . Then they 'll take on ominous villains,evil Arabs,corrupt governments and many dangers until discover the enigmas.

The motion picture blends adventures, unstopped action,humor,a love story,tongue in cheek,tense and is enough amusing. From the beginning to end the adventures,action-packed and the fast movement is continuous, for that the film is pretty bemusing and isn't boring in spite of the longtime, as the run is two hours and some. The starring couple(Matthew MacConaughey and Steve Zahn) make a type of ¨buddy movie¨ both are top notch and very sympathetic.Penelope Cruz is attractive and enjoyable, this is her best film. The support cast is of first range (William H.Macy,Lambert Wilson,Delroy Lindo) and are excellent. Cinematography and musical score(Clint Mansell) is magnificent and riveting. Production design (Allan Cameron) is spellbound and the Sahara outdoors are spectaculars. The final confrontation between the starring and the enemies is breathtaking and impressive. It's a run and mill action film where the comedy and the giggles united to the action make the story very agreeable and stimulating. The picture well directed by Brick Eisner obtained a lot of success and achieved important box office, it was number one in United States and Europe. It's a real blockbuster. The yarn will appeal to emotion and adventure enthusiasts . Rating: Above average. Well worth seeing.

I saw this movie in theaters, and I loved it. The fighting scenes were excellent, a lot of the lines made me laugh, and the story line was great. I definitely liked how the writer connected two plots together, and i liked the music they added into the movie. As soon as it was out on DVD, i had to buy it. I had watched it over and over again (especially the boat scene). The actors were sensational. I fell in love with Penelope Cruz when I first saw her. Steve Zahn was hysterical, and an excellent actor. Metthew McConaughey was the perfect actor for his part. Like I said, run out to your nearest video store and buy/rent this movie. I was glad I did.

-$tanley

My Take: James Bond meets Indiana Jones with silly yet exciting action, crackling wit.

Although it was credited as a "Dirk Pitt Adventure", SAHARA seems more in kin with James Bond and Indiana Jones than Clive Cussler. I haven't read any of Clive Cussler's books, but I'm absolutely certain that this would be Cussler's visualization. It is, indeed, a B-level adventure film, complete with heroes in top gear (complete with winning grin, no less), the sexy heroine, the sidekick, and the bad guys who want to rule the world (or simply get whatever it is they want). Not to mention the series of stunt play and gunfights done the old-fashioned way. This is the look (and feel) of an action picture they no longer make, which provides most of its appeal. I enjoyed SAHARA on the level many think it doesn't work, and that's being a traditional old-fashioned brainless adventure. It's not great at the field, but at least it has its heart on it.

Its tag line states "Adventure has a new name", it's without question or doubt that Dirk Pitt, Cussler's brainchild hero played here by Matthew McConaughey, will be a new James Bond or Indiana Jones. The charisma given to him is good but obvious. He's calm over tension, and never loses his cool even at extreme measures. The other supporting characters have nothing in them, their there, but practically, their hardly anybody but characters in a movie. If characters in adventure movies could be quite as interesting as those featured in the INDIANA JONES series, couldn't we deserve to get the same on other entries in the genre, including knock-offs.

Still, what you've come to expect from SAHARA are here anyway. The implausible plot involves the quest for a lost Ironclad in the middle of the Sahara desert (!) by the dashing Dirk Pitt (McConaughey), his sidekick Al (Steve Zahn) and a daring Dr. Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz), who trek through the blazing desert landscape with camels, vans, boats, you name it. Along the way, they are trailed by the bad guys and get into situations that could only mean more action movie fun. What's in store? Helicopter chases (my favorite!), gunfights, boat chases and even a train chase with camels (who even knew that you can still come up with a fun action movie sequence with camels!). If you don't think this stuff is any fun, you may wanna have to check with your doctor in case your sugar's a little low.

Is SAHARA any great? No it isn't. But did I get exactly what I wanted from it? It surely does. Even if this genre, which includes films like NATIONAL TREASURE, will never live up to its superior INDIANA JONES ancestors, they will still nonetheless offer the action and adventure it promises. And in that level, SAHARA delivers.

Rating: *** out of 5.

This movie is definitely not a masterpiece. The screenplay is dumb. The acting is to say the least, average. The story is preposterous. Yet, as Ebert nicely put it, "I enjoyed this movie on its own dumb level, which must mean (I am forced to conclude) in my own dumb way". Yes, this is a film you should watch with your brain switched comfortably to the 'Off' position, a nice cold beer on the table and a bag of popcorn in your lap. When you come to think about it though, isn't that what movies are supposed to be all about in the first place?

P.S. One thing worth mention though is the excellent cinematography. The movie is a wonderful African picture book, which definitely helps the overall experience.

Most of the negative comments about this movie can be summed up as follows: "I have a narrow mind and this movie just don't make sense". Let me tell these people not to read the book because it will make even less sense. Myself, I love Clive Cussler and his Dirk Pitt novels and this was a decent attempt to create a movie from one. (There was a previous attempt with Raise the Titanic but even high star power couldn't save that flop.) Personally if I could have picked the cast of the main characters I am not sure I would have chosen McCon. and Zahn but they worked. They missed a bunch of classic Dirkisms and Alisms that took away away some of their mystique but overall did a passing job. If you liked the movie you will love the book. If you are a Pitt fan - the movie entertains but it is not quite right.

It had been proposed by some that the only reason Eisner Jr. (Breck) was allowed to make this film was his relationship with Eisner Sr. (Michael). While there is no proof for such an argument either way, Breck has proved to be not much worse than other directors. In fact he did better than most and worse than some. Sahara is best described as a typical entertaining adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones or perhaps National Treasure. It has a tough good guy (McConaughey), a funny sidekick (Zane) and admirable eye-candy (Cruz). Now I admit that most things are quite shallow, but if you mix all of the above mentioned ingredients with a decent story, good action sequences and throw in the fact that there isn't one nanosecond of corniness in this movie, you inevitably end up with a crowd pleasing blockbuster.

7,25 out of 10

I expected nothing from this movie and was pleasantly surprised, even refreshed. All of the characters had a reason to be where they were, even the female character. Her mission is actual more compelling than the lead's. The sidekick, Al (Steve Zahn), is not just a buddy along for the ride. It's clear that the lead wouldn't be able to do what he does without him. Beside, Zahn is just damn funny.

It didn't require my full capacity to suspend disbelief, which was especially refreshing and left mental reserves to actually appreciate the characters and story.

I was pleased to recognize drum rhythms that were actually from Nigeria and Mali. Indigenous music enhanced the adventure of by taking us there. The locations were filled out, and not just a backdrop for the action.

Go ahead and watch it. It's not as cheesy as it looks.

I really tried to like this film. I have always been a fan of Steve Zahn and have been looking forward to a good Matthew McConaughey feature for some time. The film just finally wore me out. At every turn the audience is required to accept implausible events and amazing coincidences that border on the impossible. The river chase scene is one of a string of these incredible events. We are asked to accept the good fortune of the good guys in overcoming a small fleet of gun boats in their bosses yacht. If one of the thousands of rounds fired at the yacht had hit the hull is would have sunk. By the outrageously silly end of the film I found myself actually watching it with my hand covering my face.

Others seemed to enjoy it but it was just too stupid for me.

I've come to the conclusion that this is one of those movies that you either love or you hate, and I'm one of the "love it" guys.

In some ways you can compare it to your typical James Bond movie, the girl everyone wants and the guy that everyone wants to be like, but if it's cut from the same bolt of cloth, Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) is fraying at the edges. I've tried reading some of Clive Cussler's books, but not exactly my style, but both movies based on his material (Sahara and Raise the Titanic) are decent enough movies with this one being the better of the two (and apart from the news article regarding the Titanic during the opening credits you wouldn't know it was connected). Dirk Pitt is portrayed wildly different in both movies with this one being more action and humor oriented.

Movie is easy enough to find and watch for free on streaming services so if you have a Roku just do a search for it. If it isn't available when you do search for it, sit tight, it will make another round of availability soon enough. Definitely worth it if you're looking for an action/adventure style buddy movie with humor.

Part comedy, part action. Easy to watch, enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

Sahara was a pretty good action movie in the same mold as Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider & National Treasure. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it probably would not have worked as well without the comedic duo of Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn. Penélope Cruz pulled her weight as well. She reminded me so much of Salma Hayek that I would swear they are related.

Treasure Hunters Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino (McConaughey & Zahn) manage to get their hands on a rare confederate coin, apparently which only 5 were made. It would have made quite a collector's item. Dirk has a hunch on where the ship it had originated from is now and also has a theory on how it got there, in the middle of the desert. Dirk manages to convince his boss, Admiral Jim Sandecker (William H. Macy), to loan him his boat for 3 days to search for the missing ship.

Before they get going, they run into two W.H.O. workers, one of who was the beautiful Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz). They need a ride and manage to get on board with Dirk and Al, but by doing so, they get the attention of an African dictator, who wants to stop them before they get too close.

There are quite a few action scenes and for what it was, I was entertained throughout the movie. More so than I would have though, which is why I waited so long to see it. Like I mentioned above, I do not think I would have enjoyed it as much without McConaughey. He added sort of a friendly charm to the movie and if that is not enough, Penélope Cruz should make up the difference.

Action/adventure movies have to have more than action and adventure in order to work - otherwise they just end up being pale copies of each other with only minor variations. At the very least, they need an intriguing story line and good performances. On those counts, "Sahara" works pretty well. Admittedly, at first glance this would appear to be something of a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" clone, with the emphasis on treasure hunting. However, once it gets going it's far more intriguing, and, of course, with a more modern flair to it. It's about the quest for a Confederate ironclad that ran the Union blockade in the last days of the Civil War and is now inexplicably reputed to be buried in the sands of the Sahara. How it got there is one mystery in the movie. That story ends up being linked with a mysterious plague that's starting to spread in northwest Africa, and finally with a potential environmental catastrophe that needs to be stopped. The three stories blend together very well. Being set in modern Africa also allows for some consideration of the problem of "warlordism" that still afflicts parts of that continent. So, the story works.

So do the performances. I'm not a huge fan of Matthew McConnaughy to be honest, but he was very good as Dirk Pitt, the leader of the expedition looking for the ironclad, and he was complemented very nicely by Steve Zahn as his sidekick Al. The two shared some witty dialogue and both were well partnered with Penelope Cruz as the doctor from the World Health Organization who's investigating the plague and, in a somewhat lesser role, by Rainn Wilson as Rudi, a fellow adventurer. Also featured fairly prominently (although most of his scenes were his own; he wasn't in partnership too much with the others) was William H. Macy as Dirk's boss.

It's what you'd expect in such a movie in terms of adventure and action, but the intrigue in the storyline and good performances raise it up a notch or two. 7/10

Great action and entertainment movie. However I wish it had followed more closely to the book as the book was very exceptional. That being said Matthew embodies a perfect Dirk Pitt. Cruz as always comes with a disappointing performance but with comedic relief from zahn and rainn lifts the movie to being enjoyable.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Adventurer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McCoughnehey) travels to Nigeria, Africa to retrieve an ancient battleship. However, he stumbles upon a travesty. The people are dying or terribly diseased because of polluted water from the wells. There is, of course, a more insidious reason for this: the typically corrupt African government and a plot that spreads all the way to the States. Pitt, his sidekick and Eva (Penelope Cruz) a beautiful doctor determined to stop the spread of the disease, must battle to save the day.

Sahara is a slick, glossy effort that has a pleasingly polished feel all the way. It has a neat soundtrack and some fairly exciting action sequences. But, fun as they are, there's not nearly enough of them and the disappointing lack of action leaves the film to get a little boring along with the wavey plot that meanders about a bit for two hours.

McCoughnehey isn't my favourite leading man. A bit too smug and coy for my liking. His sidekick is little more than your typical wise-cracking Hollywood fall guy and similarly Cruz can do little more than be the usual steely, determined love interest you see in films like this. As for the rest of the supporting cast, William H Macy is pleasing but Delroy Lindo gets hardly any screen-time in his role.

A film with some serious flaws, but still a fairly enjoyable piece of Sunday afternoon BBC 1 entertainment. ***

This movie had a lot of potential, but in the end, it just wasn't enough to make me want to see it again. Everything about it seems out of place. The soundtrack music, meant to invoker a certain nostalgia I think, is way out of place in most scenes (the only time it is used effectively is during the land sailing scene). The comedy at times is way too forced. The henchmen have to be the dumbest in screen history. You can forgive a little bit of this given that the movie is trying to take a page from the Indiana Jones trilogy, but they just make the henchmen way too stupid and unobservant.

All in all, I can see why this film did not do the business at the theater that was expected of it. A shame, a good cast, just not a lot there for them to work with.

This movie is a little something that my family and I would watch together on occasion. Every time we saw it, we'd have the time of our lives and be left with feelings of happiness and joy.

When I later found out about the mixed to negative reputation this movie received, as well as discovered the lack of success it had at the box office, I was deeply surprised. The only thing I don't know is what audiences think of the film, really.

Even now, I find this movie to be an absolute masterpiece. An unexpectedly underrated one too.

For instance, the direction by Breck Eisner, and the screenplay by James V. Hart, Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, and John C. Richards, were spectacular!

What I particularly enjoyed was the filmmakers's ability to have the film acknowledge itself for what it is, but at the same time...create something that was instantly fun. At times, it may seem like the usual "treasure hunting adventure" sort of story. However, the film team created a concept that was unique and different on its own too, and it feels like a lot of passion and heart was put into it. Along with that, the story and plot line was intriguing to a tee, and everything tied together like a rope to a hook. The comedy aspect of the film was also marvelously well-done, with every joke being excellently executed and having wonderful innocence. There was powerful heart and emotion as well, the particular generators being the friendship between Dirk and Al, and the romance between Dirk and Eva. The action sequences were likewise deeply exhilarating, and the mystery aspect of the movie was grippingly engaging.

The acting, casting, characters, and character development were astounding as well. Each character had a personality that made them remarkably unique and full of life, and the performers fit their parts like a glove and looked like they were having a great time portraying their characters and being part of the movie. And while it may not seem like it at first, the characters had phenomenal growth.

It was Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, and Penelope Cruz that I thought gave the best performances, and the characters of Dirk Pitt, Al Giordino, and Eva Rojas had wonderful development and shared entertaining chemistry between one another. I would like to add that Lennie James did an amazing job portraying Zateb Kazim, and his character was not only intimidating but a deliciously classical villain; Rainn Wilson was likewise quite a scene-stealer as Rudi Gunn, and his character was a lovable guy to be around; and, William H. Macy was wonderful in the role of James Sandecker, portraying his character with a personality that was both authoritative and admirable.

Finally, the music by Clint Mansell was magnificent. Mansell gave the film so many wonderful melodies that were instantaneously memorable, and they fit perfectlywith the African settings and the movie's tone and concept, an example being the music used for the boat montage. Plus, the songs that were incorporated into the movie boosted the film all-the-more into being something fun to watch, such as Dr. John's "Right Place Wrong Time" and Grand Funk's "We're an American Band".

In conclusion, "Sahara (2005)" is an underrated gem that's all-out enjoyable. The performers and characters were incredible, the comedy was hilarious, everything!

Cussler's novels have so many great action set pieces, that to whittle any of them down to a feature film immediately guts them of much of their fun. They would be better served in either a mini-series format or as a series a la "Alias" or "24," where there are strong story arcs and lots of cliffhangers.

It's unfortunate that the producers attempted to launch a film series with what is the most flawed of the Dirk Pitt novels. In fact, to their credit, some changes from the book actually do a better job of tying the historical backdrop to the contemporary story, and another edit makes somewhat more palatable the deus ex machina that saves Dirk and Al in the desert (the excised footage is included in the DVD's deleted scenes).

The casting isn't bad, although Al Giordino is described in the Cussler novels as being more like Monk from the Doc Savage pulps than any run-of-the-mill actor. Casting would inevitably be a challenge (though I've long envisioned Joe Piscopo as the closest "name" actor to the character), but Steve Zahn certainly doesn't match the literary version of Al. Still, I understand that Cussler signed off on him, and he always adds a fun presence to the pictures he appears in. As for Rudi Gunn, I've always imagined him to be smaller, maybe a bit like Barry Livingston (Ernie on "My Three Sons") or even actor Matt Craven. William H. Macy doesn't make a bad Sandecker, though he certainly gives the character more of a comical bent than he has in the novels.

All in all, the picture works on a very basic action-adventure level, but because of the scaling down required for the feature-length format, what we're left with is simply a decent action picture that's nothing special. Nevertheless, it certainly outperforms the one prior attempt to bring Dirk Pitt to the screen, "Raise the Titanic"; which, for all its failings, gave us a wonderful score by composer John Barry.

What I loved most about this movie is that you really get the classic feel that a Jeep is all you need to create thought provoking and memorable cinema. Jeeps are rugged, sporty and undeniably sexy. I've often considered purchasing a Volvo or possibly an Acura, but this movie did exactly what it set out to do: showed me the errors of my ways: my next vehicle will be a Jeep or will not be at all! But don't take my word for it. On March 8th run to the nearest multiplex and shell out $10 of your hard-earned money and see this world-class advertisement for yourself. The only negative comment I have is, well, other Jeep commercials I've seen do have a better story, more interesting characters and memorable dialog, but forget about that. That's not what makes brilliant movies now. Jeeps do. And don't get me started about the Ray-Bans. I just bought 10 pair. That's right. It's also the most brilliant Ray-Ban commercial ever. It's that good.