Sahara (Widescreen Edition)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, Rainn Wilson, Steve Zahn, William H. MacyBrand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Arabic (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Arabic (Original Language); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 124 minutes
Published: 2005-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-30
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Sahara (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: An Overall Entertaining Action Comedy With Good Acting
Summary: 5 Stars
Breck Eisner's "Sahara", adapted from a Clive Cussler novel odf the same name, may look, at first, like a routine action comedy. The action sequences are overdone and outlandish, the plot is thisck enough to hold up for a solid 137 minutes, and the stars are giant. All of that is true, but it adds to the endearing charm of the movie. Really, it's just a throwback to the old Indiana Jones films, but this seems much more accomplished. It seems as if the action really explodes off the screen, and that when something is fired, a gun or a cannon, the theater seems to vibrate. The film works on many levels, one of which is that it evenly balances comedy and action. The first scene, which is very misleading, launches directly into an action sequence, and it seems for a while that "Sahara" will be just another run-of-the-mill adventure with the overly cocky adventurer and the joke making sidekick. OK. That again is true, but it is done in a much better way. Adding attempted rape to the plot (on part of the villains, not the heroes), also makes the film different. Usually the heroins are resourceful, but early in this movie we learn that Penelope Cruz's character is anything but. It takes a spear gun and a severed hand to get the criminals away. The scene is, however, relevant to the plot and not just a weirdly out of place scene. At times, the movie drags a little, such as scenes where the heroes are captured over and over again, and one must ask at one point "If the team was already in the villains fortress, why did they leave and come back?" I still think it was so that they could shave and get a nicer car, but I may be wrong. I have heard people calling this movie "National Treasure 2". Alright, that just isn't true. First off, "National Treasure" was PG, so there was no spurting blood when people where shot, and I don't remember a person ever getting their hand sliced off with a harpoon gun. Funny, too, I also don't remember people getting sliced off with machetes. There is another plot that is not given away in the preview (more on that later), and it adds to why it is unfair to call this movie "National Treasure 2". I also don't remember attempted rape in "National Treasure". Or do I? I liked both movies, but if I had to pick between the two, i would probably pick "Sahara", just because it was more daring and had better action sequences. One scene, set in a power plant reactor of some sort, is spectacular and quite original. I must say that the sequence in itself was one of the best choreographed I have ever seen, and also contained some astonishing special effects.
The plot revolves around soap-opera named Dirk Pitt (Mathew Mcconaghey) and his sidekick Al Giordino (Steve Zahn, who really should just be a full time sidekick) searching for a war ship from the late 1800's that carries a large treasure. Along the way, Dirk meets, or more rescues, doctor Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz). Eva works for the World Health Organization, also known as the W.H.O. She is investigating a strange sickness that is sweeping Mali and leaving its victims with bloody holes in their body and wildly disfigured eyes. There are sinister people who do not want Eva to learn the origin of the disease, and they will stop at nothing to kill Eva, Dirk, and Al. Early on in the film, the army ambushes Eva's crew and threatens then with death, so Eva is now truly scared. William H. Macy turns in a good performance as Jim Sandecker, the captain of the boat Al and Dirk work on, and the person that contributes heavily to the troups trip. The film spans to about three locations in the 2 hour 17 minute running time, and their is an action sequence in each.
The movies action scenes stretch from five minutes being the shortest to twenty minutes being the longest. Although they stretch forever, and contrary to what I may have implied, the movie has more than three action scenes and they never seem to grow old. They keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through, and the special effects never grow old, as they did so quickly in the similarly themed (and set) "Scorpian King". I liked how the movie wasn't all action, and how the film graciously took its first hour to introduce characters. I also enjoyed the movies many references to those strange 1940's action movies( the opening title sequence pans across a wall of newspaper clippings and the title is accompanied by the subtitle "A Dirk Pitt Adventure"). Nice touch. But that is what the whole film is. One good, fast paced, funny, thoroughly entertaining popcorn action film. This is officially the first good action blockbuster of the summer. If only they all could be this good.
"Sahara" is approximately 137 minutes and is rated PG-13 for Violence, which is at times graphic with shootings and stabbings, and lots of bombing and helicopters exchaning gunfire. Most of it is non-gory except for a thoroughly graphic scene involving a severed hand and a harpoon gun.
Summary of Sahara (Widescreen Edition)
IN THE SCORCHING DESERT, DIRK PITT UNCOVERS THE TRUTH BEHINDHIS LIFELONG QUEST - THE FATE OF A CIVIL WAR IRONCLAD. NOW, AMIDST THE BLAZING, SHIFTING SANDS OF THE SAHARA, DIRK PITT WILL MAKE A DESPERATE STAND - IN A BATTLE THE WORLD CANNOTAFFORD TO LOSE!It took more than 25 years for another Clive Cussler novel to come to the screen after the financial and critical disaster of Raise the Titanic. Based on Cussler's oddly landlocked adventure, Sahara finds the author's hero, Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey)--a sort of all-American, high seas variation of James Bond--in Africa looking for a Confederate ironclad ship that impossibly might have ended up there. Soon he and his faithful sidekick Al Giordino (Steve Zahn) are lost in another adventure, discovering a deadly contaminate being tracked by a beautiful doctor (Penelope Cruz). The results are checkered: there's no one outstanding sequence, but the action is enjoyably varied, while the thrills are mild yet not bombastic or gratuitous. The cast are all adept in their roles, yet the only one who sparkles is the scene-stealing Zahn, cast against type; McConaughey, who also produced, knows he might be starting a franchise character and plays it safe. He's never as dangerous as Cussler's hero is on the page (except in his introduction), and in fact, the whole movie plays towards comedy, infused by a soundtrack of 70s FM radio monsters. Cussler fanatics may not like this lighter fare, especially with the archeological portion (a Cussler strong point) not fully embraced, but with a very, very likable cast and colorful settings, Sahara is a kindler, gentler action film that has all the elements in place for a better, more memorable franchise if anyone cares to attempt it. --Doug Thomas
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