Sahara

It took me half an hour before it fully hit me that I was watching one of the worst movies of recent times. But in the end, I endured Sahara diligently, because I could not believe that such a group of people could commit themselves to this. An avalanche of logical gaps, unrelated situations, and insane dialogues with a dysfunctional action finale. Unfortunately, they succeeded. One star for Panama. (02/20/2007)

Sahara perfectly fulfills the requirements of a summer adventure blockbuster. It has a reasonably (although still amusing) constructed plot about searching for a mythical treasure (although this one is quite massive), with an additional storyline about doctors fighting against an unknown infection, both of which are skillfully intertwined. The combination of comedy, adventure, action, and serious subject matter like disease-ridden Africa surprisingly doesn't feel like an eyesore. On the contrary, it is quite logically (within the context of the film) integrated and enhances the already high level of effectiveness of the movie. The production design, while it must be acknowledged that the helicopter flyovers over the desert don't quite fit in, otherwise indulges in grand shots of moving cars and camels, surprisingly sparingly. Moreover, both formally and content-wise (perhaps even more so), it strongly resembles the third installment of Indiana Jones, and if we had Dirk instead of Matthew McConaughey, it could easily be considered the fourth installment of the "archaeological adventures" even without Steven Spielberg. True, in many aspects, Sahara has its own distinct elements, such as the mentioned epidemic, and most importantly, it features Penelope Cruz in the leading female role, who delivers an incredible performance. It is worth watching the film just for her presence alone. But a second viewing? Maybe again in the summer. (08/14/2005)

Average, average, and more average. And it's certainly not as good as the book, which is excellent. I don't know why, but it seemed to me that each of the actors was only putting half the effort in. Yet McConaughey is a good fit for Dirk Pitt - unfortunately, he hasn't lent him anything but his body (which, as a straight man, is not good enough for me). Penélope Cruz is the same, but I like her better, Steve Zahn was annoying most of the time, but I can't deny him a few (I guess only two) good jokes. The best of all is William H. Macy in an uncharacteristic boss role. As far as the action scenes are concerned, they were handled quite well, the atmosphere of the desert helps the film a lot, the African villains are not bad either... It's just that the script smacks of stupidity here and there. Two and a half stars. (10/08/2009)

I personally imagine Dirk Pitt's role to be someone older, maybe just because in Clive Cussler's stories, he is roughly ten years older than Matthew McConaughey here, but I got over the initial mistrust and he, as the main star of the film, gives a fairly measured performance and fits quite well into the summer high-budget blockbuster that Sahara undoubtedly is. Don't expect a complex screenplay or well-developed characters, Sahara is meant to entertain, and it succeeds quite well. The action is shot perfectly and thankfully, there is not an overload of it, so it doesn't feel like a disruptive element. The exotic setting of Africa fits perfectly, and the director serves us a fairly decent piece of filmmaking with a well-chosen pace that you can consume in one breath, regardless of their opinion in the end. (10/20/2005)

Dirk Pitt is a dime novel mix of Doctor Henry Jones and that self-confident Bond, James Bond. The movie Dirk Pitt would also like to be like that, but he is acted by Matthew McConaughey and therefore lacks any charisma whatsoever. The unfunny sidekick acted by Steve Zahn suffers from same problem. And, apart from this considerable criticism, it isn’t really so bad. At least at the beginning. The opening credits certainly throw out a line and the beginning keeps you on the hook. The Sahara offers a wealth of exotic locations, the solid and frequent action is great entertainment with just the right adventurous “haze" about it. These impressions are spoiled by the over-long playing time, the change of genre half way through and the strange music that sounds like its come out of some bad romantic comedy. (01/05/2008)