Genres

Visitors Review

maheshmanutd 2012-05-25 00:36:34

Maybe The Most Underrated Film

Sahara is one of the biggest financial flops of Hollywood.Criticsrating doesn't hold that good either. But for me, this is one of thebest wholesome entertainers I have ever seen. Action, adventure andcomedy at its very best.The credit for making this movie a visual extravaganza goes to thedirection, cinematography and especially art direction. The moviehighlights the natural beauty of Africa. The action sequences shot atRiver Niger is a perfect example.The movie showcases some breathtaking action sequences. Well, itshould, considering about the 130 million dollars poured into themovie. The film is fast, free flowing without giving a single minute ofboredom like unwanted romance, sentiments or even unwanted dialogues.The movie is made to be a comic action adventure entertainer and doesfull justice to its genre.Had this movie become a success, then Matthew McConnaughey would havebeen a real superstar by now. Such is the powerful,cheesy acting hefeatures. It is a shame really that this movie did not succeed.Thesupporting cast is superb, especially William Macy and Lennie James.Lennis James makes the villain the most memorable character of thefilm. Well, if you want to lie on your back, crack a snack and get some fun,then this is the movie for you. Once again, too bad it was a flop.

kampura-otsaan 2012-05-24 13:14:34

I hate this movie

I wasted precious units of time on this crap, and it makes me sad.This movie is completely predictable and full of "clishee" and lousyworn out action movie on-liners, not to mention technical bloopers.Like that wouldn't be enough of misery, this movie is also extremelyboring to watch. I'd rather slice onions in hangover in a sh1thouse forthat 2 and half hours.I just can't get it, how this kind of story can be stretched into twoand half hours long movie. In my opinion the story is not worth even aseries episode.There was all the elements of B-class action movie. No surprises,nothing that you haven't already seen million times before. Waste oftime.

gwashington1732 2012-05-23 09:31:12

You should be ashamed of yourself

I've been reading Clive Cussler's books since the fifth grade, Saharawas the first of his books that I read, it's my favorite and the bookthat really made the push into me starting my own book series, sonaturally, when I heard that it was going to be made into a movie Icouldn't wait to see it. We really need zeros to rate movies, becauseif we did I... well, I'd probably still complain that we needednegative numbers. I didn't get to see the movie in theaters but Ipicked it up the day it came out on DVD then I hid it under my bed,ashamed that I wasted my money. This is just... this is the kind ofmovie that will have any Clive Cussler fan having to erase severaltimes because it's just too hard not to include a swear or two, ortwelve-kindred and two. This movie is basically a lesson for allauthors, keep your movie rights and sit on them so at least you won'thave to see your work ruined in your lifetime.So, let's look at how these people took probably the best Dirk Pittnovel, and turned it into the pile of um, cow defecation that it wasthe Ironclad has almost nothing to do with the original story, it wasessentially a different story in the book. They took out the awesomemutant tribal people who ate a bunch of snotty rich British tourists.They made the red tide less significant. They made Rudi Gunn a wimpinstead of an Ex-Navy commander. They took out the UN strike force.They did away with the gold mine at Tebezza, and the French fort. Theymade the aircraft that they found less significant. They took out theawesome battle on the river and replaced it with a flare gun. Last,theychanged the way they killed General Kazim. Worse still they replaced the book cover after the movie. They alsodidn't stick to the deal with Cussler; again back to the sitting on themovie rights. Being an author myself I can say this. Clive Cussler should be allowedto torture those responsible for this trash until he is satisfied.

Daryl-7 2012-05-22 16:38:23

Loved It!

We just loved this movie. A thriller from start to finish. Yes, it fitsnicely into the Indiana Jones model. So what? It works.Matthew McConaughey is looming large as one of Hollywood's best leadingmen, especially for action/adventures. My wife and I have beenlamenting the loss of our best action heroes (Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson,etc.) - they're all just too old. And who is supposed to take over? TheRock?? Vin Diesel?? No fricking way. Matthew M. is going to lead thecharge.Steve Zahn was an amazing sidekick. Loved him. And if Penelope Cruz wasany more beautiful, well, let's just say she was a more than capableleading lady - tough, smart and lovely.I loved the chemistry between these three. Saying William H. Macy wasexcellent seems obvious (he's always excellent).Anyway, loved the entire movie, from front to back. Haven't readCussler's books, but now I'm thinking about picking up a copy of one ofthem.The only thorn in my side the entire movie was the soundtrack. What thehell???? Sweet Home Alabama when they're driving around Africa?Couldn't you find any suitable music for a desert adventure? The Faces?Seventies rock 'n roll? Are you kidding me? I mean, I love that music,but it was such a non sequitur with the story that it jarred me out ofmy seat. (And that's hard to do once I'm settled, let me tell ya.)Superb casting. Great acting. Nice story. Top notch entertainment.

2012-05-21 21:12:42

Good Kid Adventure

Similar to National Treasure. No blood or cussing just a good old plain adventure story. Nothing new here. Same old Hollywood formula. I would suggest NT over this. Great to watch with the kids and if the kids are not home then watch Indiana Jones again.

2012-05-21 06:25:48

Better than DVD

You have most likely already seen the movie so I will only say that it is good. As for Blu-ray PQ is excellent in my opinion (high detail all the way down to the stubble on Mathew's face). I thought that AQ was equally as good at least on my setup (it was clear and put you in the movie).

2012-05-18 08:11:46

Far Fetched movie with a typical brainwashing message

The first half of this movie was kind of interesting but still far fetched, a civil war ship in Africa with a treasure to find. It then turns into a far fetched evil corporation poisoning the world water supply on purpose with solar panels in the middle of the desert? And ends with a few shots at the U.S. government policies. I was hoping to have fun watching this film, and did for a little bit, but it turned into a barf fest with a poor plot. The hidden messages from hollywood is beating a dead horse and very predictible. Corporations are evil and will poison the environment. No one cares about Africa. Bush sucks. America sucks. It is not worth fighting for your country. Give your money to the poor. Give it up Hollywood, people want to enjoy a movie and escape from reality for a while, not have your crazy political views shoved down our throats. Another bomb from Hollywood that didn't have to be. Don't waste your money on this piece of junk.

2012-05-17 14:16:31

Sahara/movie

This review is from: Sahara (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) Really enjoyed the adaptation from the novel 'Sahara' written by Clive Cussler. Lots of action, and followed the story line very well. I thought the actors portrayed the characters the way Cussler has them written on paper. Very well cast.

2012-05-15 01:42:48

lame

The sidekick whats-his-name is pretty funny, but the movie just sucks. If you have to even ask about the story, it's the same movie with a different name. I'm sure they're praying daily to the scientology God for a franchise, but I really hope it just dies.It's basically a chick-flick as well, because it's all about Matthew. He just adores himself.But hey, sometimes we want a stupid action movie to kill 90 minutes so it's got it's place.Wholly un-memorable.

Geoffrey 2012-05-14 19:53:57

As best as you could probably get...

As a longtime fan of Clive Cussler, I was understandably excited about Sahara, having seen Raise the Titanic, and shared Mr. Cussler's disappointment of that particular movie (even though I own it!) Sahara seems to showcase the book as well as it could and I really like the choice of actors to portray some very difficult and strong charactors. Steve Zahn, in particular really pulled off Al Giordino, although Matthew McConaughey was very convincing as Dirk Pitt too. Penelope Cruz was okay, but it seemed like she was a bit constrained in this role. All told, a good movie, and I hope that we get to see more of Mr. Cussler's book in film. I would like to see Dragon next.

livfred 2012-05-14 04:56:46

Fun, well-written movie!

I expected Sahara to be a typical, dumb, adventure movie. In fact, it'sa clever, well-written film. The characters have great motives thatmake sense, they have a reason for being everywhere they end up, thestunts aren't over-the-top, and their lines are incredibly witty. Oftenadventure movies sacrifice plot, characterization, and writing for thechance to film bigger and better stunts. This one doesn't do that, andyet it's still very much an action film. The bad guys aren't just evilfor the sake of being evil - they have plausible motives. The good guysaren't just heroes because, well, they're the heroes and that's whatthey do. They have motives! I'm a fan. See the film. It's very, veryfun.

Ric-7 2012-05-13 20:13:19

Mindless and thoughtless

You are required to suspend quite a lot of disbelief in order to enjoythis film. There are so many absurdly improbable coincidences, I won't(and probably can't) list them all, but let's just say that if theshirtless McConaughey had not been in the surf with a spear-gun in hishand at the exact moment when Cruz is checking a lighthouse keeper forplague, you could just forget the rest of this film.And the big discovery is a treasure-laden civil war ironclad buried inthe middle of the Sahara, and we are given a very, very lameexplanation for how it got there: well, there was a big storm whichraised the water level, you see; and then there were climate changes.Oh, yeah, sure, over a few decades, from swamp to desert. I think theSahara pre-dates the Civil War. Of course, that's totally aside fromhow did an ironclad, running on an engine rather than sails, get fromVirginia to Africa? I recall that in Close Encounters of The ThirdKind, there was an ocean liner discovered in the Gobi Desert, and Ithink a UFO would have been a more plausible explanation for theironclad in the Sahara.In this film, the heroes figure out the origin of a plague andeffectively end it, terminate an African civil war, liberate oppressedpeoples, save the environment, and discover untold millions inConfederate treasure (when everyone always thought the Confederacy wasbankrupt), and all this happens in about two hours. If only McConaugheyhad been staying at the Hotel Rwanda . . .The villain in this case is French, and I wonder if current politicshad anything to do with the selection of the villain's nationality. Andthe discovery of the cave paintings about the boat--were you remindedof The English Patient? However, even if I had a mind eraser, I could not really enjoy thisfilm because McConaughey and Zahn apparently abandon two saddled camelsin the desert with no drinkable water available. The camels wereconveniently supplied for plot purposes, and I guess the screenwriterthought they were disposable. I spent the rest of the film wondering ifthe camels survived. I hope they were rescued by a UFO.

OptimusPrimeV 2012-05-13 00:26:49

Great popcorn Flick

Nice popcorn flick. The acting is good and Matthew McConaughey looksjust the part of Dirk Pitt. The rest of the cast is also good. SteveZahn had the best part I think. The character wasn't that of thetypical sidekick and the director takes this into consideration bygiving Al as much screen time as Dirk.I read the novel too and stillfound the film entertaining. There were a couple of scenes which mademe laugh in disbelief, but the film needed such stuff. Dirk Pitt, theresourceful adventurer always turns adversity into advantage and thisfilm tried pretty well to depict that. Also, the dialog between Dirk &Al is good. Only thing I felt out of order was Rudi being depicted as acomplete nerd. Still makes a good viewing, though it helps not beinghypercritical.

racerx70 2012-05-12 07:03:15

A FUN time to be had...

First off, let me say I've been a fan of Clive Cussler's books sincethe 1970's and was hoping the mistake of Raise the Titanic wouldn't berepeated. I'm happy to say that fear has been put to rest. Sahara is abreath of fresh air in a VERY stale Hollywood that seems to be on aremake bent as of late. Some will compare this to Raiders/IndianaJones, and call it a remake of sorts, but it's not really a "remake" asit's capturing the spirit of adventure on a grand scale. The Indy Jonesseries did the same thing with the serials of years past, and a lot ofpeople who have not read the books probably wouldn't know that DirkPitt dates back to before Raiders (the early 1970's to be exact). Inany event, enjoy this for what it is, an excellent popcorn flick thathas the potential to be the next "franchise".

Lurtz Of Isengard 2012-05-02 21:05:25

Not as bad as people would make you think.

I give Saharah a 8 out of 10. It did not have a perfect type plot, butit had a solid one, that was far from boring. People say if you like anaction movie to go and see this one. I beg to differ, this movie MIGHTfall into the action category at Blockbuster, but it is not a bigaction flick like Matrix or even The Mummy for that matter.Good storyline, though the plot outline that is on its homepage herewill give many people, as they did me, the wrong impression of thismovie. If people went to this movie expecting "Outbreak (DustinHoffman" with some more action, than it wouldn't have such a lowrating, but the fact is everyone, like me, went to see this movie toget to see how the tale of the boat under the sands of the Sahara gotthere and this was not given. Which would explain low ratings.Out Lurtz

elscorcho10101 2012-05-02 10:22:58

Laughable Cookie-Cutter Hollywood Bore-a-thon

In between being the bitch of Hollywood's latest populartwenty-something chick flick star, Matthew McCaughnehey (sp??? Like Icare) has time to be a buff civil war buff. Because all historians haveparty boy personalities and memberships to both the tanning salon andthe local gym.As if that wasn't already insulting enough, the role of the indistress, educated do-gooder for bone-headed Matt to wind up seducing(as only a musclehead slash archelogical expert with a smartasssouthern dialect can)is Penelope Cruz. After seeing this movie, I'mconvinced she'd make a better freedom fighter, or even janitor than shewould an actress. Her performance is unintentionally hilarious.Not hilarious? Steve Zahn, in yet ANOTHER, quirky wisecracking sidekickrole. It is likely he is so deep in his pigeonhole that he'll never beseen anywhere else again.The book might actually be interesting. The plot seems interestingenough when it is thought of in the context of a few hundred pages. Buthere? No. This isn't a detailed suspense novel, this is a typicalformulaic Hollywood stupidfest. Sadly, I saw that it took four peopleto write the screenplay. I hope they gave the author of the novel afortune. It'd take seven figures for me to allow my literary art to beraped mercilessly by the likes of Hollywood's D students.Go see if you're into the usual Hollywood garb. It isn't like I neededto say that. Everyone knew what this was going to be.

kevinmorice 2012-04-30 21:38:49

Better than expected

It does exactly what you would expect from a buddy action movie in theSahara desert. It's not an Oscar candidate, but then it isn't based ona literary classic now is it? Good buddies, one too good to be true, one slightly geeky but perfectlyuseful sidekicks, one hot girl, plenty of action, good fight scenes anda story stretched just about far enough to fit what they want tosqueeze in.Plenty of action movie clichés, plenty of irreverent humour to thepoint that it even makes fun of it's own clichés.Doesn't take itself too seriously.Thumping good soundtrack.I am quite surprised that it isn't better appreciated for what it is.

Rob Vaux 2012-04-30 09:07:44

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.

striker-8 2012-04-25 02:48:34

Dirk Pitt is amusing

Sahara is an entertaining adventure movie. It starts with a historicscene but do not follow it like "Indiana Jones", "Mummy" or "NationalTreasure"... You can neither call it a comedy or a romantic movie butboth has their share in Sahara.McConaughey or Zahn are not great, but you don't expect them to be inthis action packed movie. Macy has a small part but makes his mark.Some of the scenes make disbelief but you can also forgive them becauseSahara does not take itself so seriously.Penelope Cruze is the object of beauty. Although she appears in manyserious movies I really don't see her as a great actress. But her lackof acting doesn't bother me for the first time in Sahara. She is reallybeautiful and it's enough for this movie.For me one of the greatest things in the movie is the use of the ball.Everyone who played football on the streets probably chased a lose ballto an unknown place. For those Sahara holds a beautiful surprise.For those who expect decent facts, a strong plot without flows, Saharais a very bad choice. But if all you need is some entertainment withoutfocusing too hard, this light-adventure probably won't disappoint you.

Sid Unrau 2012-04-24 04:58:12

Very Fun, though Implausible

This was a fun movie. One of my favorite film critics really trashed itso I had low expectations. This movie has action, slight romance,adventure, and a pair of lovable lead characters.The eccentricities of the main characters provided most of theentertainment for me, including the female lead. Each had a differentagenda, different talents, and distinct flavors to add to the mix. Iloved how all those elements blended together in the context of theunderlying story.There are two story lines - both of which are hinted at in thetrailers. One is a mysterious hidden plant in the desert; the other isthe main character's obsession with finding a lost Conferate iron-cladship - also in the middle of the desert. With the "desert" connection,the story unfolded in a very satisfying way.Yes, the whole thing is implausible (no way a Civil War ship couldcross an ocean, get up a river and end up under all that sand -especially without anyone noticing; also, no way the "danger" was soabsolute and universal - well, I guess that's the way many Hollywoodflicks put things - the characters have to save the world). Butimplausible as it is, it refreshingly and fantastically entertaining.