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Sahara

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Sahara (2005)

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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

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Reviews for Sahara

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
05/13/05
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

The whole movie is a kick, actually.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/18/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

A pretty offensive comedy about Africans who range from primitive to demonic that, sorry, is just not funny.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
05/11/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

Vapid, lengthy, and mostly lifeless -- kind of like the desert it's named for.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
10/02/06
Russ Breimeier
Russ Breimeier
Christianity Today
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sahara rather resembles National Treasure, another film with a strained story line and deadening lack of visual richness.

Full Review Source: MTV | comment Comment
02/07/06
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
MTV

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
11/18/05
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

It tried to be National Treasure and it failed.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
11/11/05
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

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.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
10/07/05
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Like the African desert that lends the film its name, this so-called adventure is coarse, dry, and overheated.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
07/11/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sahara's biggest problem is twofold: the film's subtle ideological bent is alarming, and, in the lead, McConaughey is only just barely tolerable.

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
06/11/05
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

With this strong of a cast this film should have been much better.

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
06/07/05
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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Latest News for Sahara

February 21, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Vantage Point Aims For #1 Debut
A terrorist attack is played out through multiple perspectives in the high-octane political thriller Vantage Point which leads the four-pack of new openers which also includes... More...

January 14, 2008: Nu Image/Millennium, Lionsgate Teaming Up for New Conan the Barbarian
It's been rumored for some time, and now it's finally official: Conan the Barbarian is heading back to the big screen. More...

February 05, 2007: Novelist and Producer Point Fingers in Court; Whose Fault Was "Sahara?"
Accusations are flying between author Clive Cussler and producer Philip Anschutz over who's to blame for the 2005 adventure stinker, "Sahara," which cost an estimated... More...

January 18, 2007: McConaughey is "Magnum, P.I."?
It's been in development so long, you may have given up waiting on any casting news -- or forgotten about it entirely -- but IGN Movies reports that "We Are Marshall"... More...

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