Sahara (2005)

Director:

Breck Eisner

Writers (WGA):

Clive Cussler (novel)
Thomas Dean Donnelly (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

Dirk Pitt. Adventure has a new name.

Plot:

Master explorer Dirk Pitt goes on the adventure of a lifetime of seeking out a lost Civil War battleship known as the "Ship of Death" in the deserts of West Africa while helping a UN doctor being hounded by a ruthless dictator.

Plot Keywords:

Vintage Car | Camel Ride | Solar Power | Flashback Sequence | Handcuffs

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Jude Akuwidike	...	Imam (as Jude Akuwudike)
Mark Aspinall	...	Lawyer
Rakie Ayola	...	Mrs. Nwokolo
Christopher Bello	...	Train Driver
Nicholas Beveney	...	Gunboat 1 Officer
Empotoe Bosage	...	Pick Up Truck Guard
Robert Cavanah	...	Captain Tombs
Penélope Cruz	...	Eva Rojas
Clint Dyer	...	Oshodi
Matthew Flynn	...	1st Lieutenant, Ironclad
Paulin Fodouop	...	Modibo (as Paulin F. Fodouop)
Ouahbou Houcine	...	Tuareg Village Boy 1
Emmanuel Ighodaro	...	Kazim's Officer Asselar
Lennie James	...	General Zateb Kazim
Maurice Lee	...	Zakara

Also Known As:

Sahara (Spain)
Sahara - Abenteuer in der Wüste (Germany)
Sahara (Canada: French title) [fr]
Sahara (Argentina) [es]
Sahara (Brazil) [pt]
Sahara (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

UK | Spain | Germany | USA

Language:

Arabic | French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Ireland:12A | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIA | UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Delta del Ebro, Tarragona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Bristol Bay Productions

Trivia:

When Dirk and Al talk about an incident in the past where they rode camels in Morocco, actors Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn are actually in the Moroccan desert (depicting Mali).

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the opening credits (after approx 4.5 minutes) a newspaper titled "Nouvélles de Monde" (French) appears. "Nouvelles" (news) is misspelled (there should be no accent). Moreover "Nouvelles de Monde" is not correct, the adequate form is "Nouvelles du Monde"

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sailor Who Drops Gold: Sorry, captain.
Pilot, Ironclad: It's all right son, just keep moving. That's the future in your hands.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Home Alabama

No cinematic drought after all

It had been proposed by some that the only reason Eisner Jr. (Breck) was allowed to make this film was his relationship with Eisner Sr. (Michael). While there is no proof for such an argument either way, Breck has proved to be not much worse than other directors. In fact he did better than most and worse than some. Sahara is best described as a typical entertaining adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones or perhaps National Treasure. It has a tough good guy (McConaughey), a funny sidekick (Zane) and admirable eye-candy (Cruz). Now I admit that most things are quite shallow, but if you mix all of the above mentioned ingredients with a decent story, good action sequences and throw in the fact that there isn't one nanosecond of corniness in this movie, you inevitably end up with a crowd pleasing blockbuster.

7,25 out of 10