[rate 3]
I can almost see the pitch: “See… it’s like, it’s like ‘Indiana Jones’ meets ‘James Bond’ meets….um, ‘Outbreak’, yeah, Outbreak, meets ummmm, ‘James Bond’ (again)…. uhhh, see?”
Still, ‘Sahara’ is a lot of fun to watch, delivering a great no-brainer action movie that would serve to spin Matthew McConaughey into a recurring role if the box office spikes on this preposterous, pre-blockbuster season release.
I’m giving it 3 out of 5 rare, golden Confederate dollar coins.
I was flummoxed by the plot: the last of the Confederate iron-clads had enough fuel to steam its way across the Atlantic (for reasons forever unknown) and wend its way up the Niger River to end up hidden in the heart of Africa – waiting for 21st century adventurer Dirk Pitt (my new pick-up-girls-at-the-bar name) to come and discover it.
The very preposterosity of this premise sent me scrambling online to make sure that there was a real story hidden underneath the sands of the film I’d just seen. Thankfully, the synopsis of author Clive Cussler’s original story harbors an even more incredible story involving gold mines (Allan Quartermain anyone?), the plot to assassinate Lincoln and the secret flight of a young femail pilot. Almost all of these subplots registers a blip in the streamlined adventure-fest you’ll see onscreen.
All goes to show you that it’s almost always better to read the book first.
Still, it was FUN and if you’re looking for something exciting and entertaining you should head on down the cinema for a movie that never forgets what it is: entertainment.
Who knows, maybe I’ll even try reading one of these pulp fiction novels!