Sahara [DVD]

I don't mind a bit of Cussler now and again. He writes entertaining if undemanding page-turners, that are perfect fare for a long flight or lounging around on a beach.

I was therefore curious to see how this Cussler yarn transferred to the big screen.

Well, Sahara is certainly undemanding - the goodies and boo-hiss baddies are all very clearly demarcated early on. It has to be said though that Matthew McConaughey as our hero Dirk Pitt, bears only a passing resemblance to Cussler's creation. In the novels, Pitt comes over as far more mature and with a hint of military or secret agent about him. Let's face it, Pitt is James Bond-lite. The designer-stubbled, longish haired medallion man that McConaughey gives us, simply didn't feel like Pitt and will probably annoy the Cussler purists no end!

No matter! Let's discuss the plot in some detail now. Pitt saves the world from environmental disaster, discovers a hoard of Civil War gold and gets the girl. Errrm ... that's about it!

Doesn't sound like much does it? And yet, the movie still kinda works, if you're in the right frame of mind. Just go with the flow and you will have to acknowledge that Sahara is beautifully filmed, amidst spectacular landscapes and with expertly selected dynamic camera angles. The high-speed boat pursuit and the action atop the solar tower, although somewhat derivative, were undeniably spectacular. The improbability of some of the stunts is such that they would probably make Indiana Jones gulp with disbelief! What the hell though - this has no pretensions to be oscar material and the 110 minutes flew past in a blur of sumptuous colours, action and amiable camaraderie between McConaughey and his wisecracking sidekick Steve Zahn.

Great rocking soundtrack too! Oh and Ms Cruz is certainly rather decorative!

If you don't expect too much, you may well be pleasantly surprised.

Over the years I've read all the Dirk Pitt novels, they can be a little slow to start, sometimes a little too explanatory - but they deliver the goods in the action department and I find them gripping and enjoyable.
Unfortunately Sahara is a very good book - one of the best, but the film although entertaining, leaves me wishing it had more.

Several elements have been rewritten, a lot has been ignored.
The part of Eva has been rewritten just to keep Penelope Cruz on screen, playing a character that in the book spends most of her time imprisoned in a slave mine.

The casting is a way better effort than Raise the Titanic (which I vainly hope will be remade sometime to do that soundtrack justice!), Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn get close to the Lancaster and Cravatt style partnership of Pitt and Giordino.

Action wise, it is fun, yes you've seen it all before, but it does not let you down.

I will happily buy this DVD, but I hope the other books that the studio has contracted to adapt can capture the book's atmosphere better. I certainly hope the relationship with Cussler himself can be repaired.

I do believe that, treated correctly these stories rival the Bond movie franchise, and I look forward to the next one.

'Sahara' is noisy, makes little sense and a bit too long. However, it gate-crashes all known logic that tells you it's tosh by being downright entertaining.

If you saw only the beginning and the end, you'd swear it was a different film entirely and even a completely different genre! From the U.S Civil War to James Bond style shoot-outs on a sci-fi set? You bet.

In between there is Penelope Cruz, being totally unconvincing as a world health officer and Matthew McConnuahey as a mixture of bad Indiana Jones and 007. More of the former, actually. Steve Zahn pops up as some sidekick or another but does so humorously and energetically, which is all that matters. There's a wicked dictator listed in the credits but I've already forgotten who that was - or what he looked like. Or she.

For rattling nonsense this is just fine. For anything else, look elsewhere!