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Sahara (2005)
Tomatometer
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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.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US 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
Reviews for Sahara
For an adventure movie based on chase scenes in exotic locations "Sahara" never takes hold because director Breck Eisner and his team of screenwriters can't agree on what the story's about or what tone should resonate against it.
A pretty offensive comedy about Africans who range from primitive to demonic that, sorry, is just not funny.
Vapid, lengthy, and mostly lifeless -- kind of like the desert it's named for.
Sahara rather resembles National Treasure, another film with a strained story line and deadening lack of visual richness.
For "Sahara," the problem is that we have the Indiana Jones movies to compare it to, and I'm afraid there's no comparison. It's never more than a likable poseur.
The plotting is too complex for a generally stupid picture, but that didn’t stop me from getting sucked in by director Breck Eisner’s nicely paced action sequences.
Like the African desert that lends the film its name, this so-called adventure is coarse, dry, and overheated.
Sahara's biggest problem is twofold: the film's subtle ideological bent is alarming, and, in the lead, McConaughey is only just barely tolerable.
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