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Sahara
Paramount Pictures


6.6

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 54 votes
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for action violence

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, Penélope Cruz, Lambert Wilson, Glynn Turman, Delroy Lindo, William H. Macy, and Dayna Cussler

Clive Cussler's master explorer Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) takes on the adventure of his life when he embarks on a treasure hint through some of the most dangerous regions of West Africa. Searching for what the locals call "The Ship of Death," a long lost Civil War battleship which protects a secret cargo, Pitt and his wisecracking sidekick (Zahn) use their wits and clever heroics to help Doctor Eva Rojas (Cruz) when they realize the shop may be linked to mysterious deaths in the same area. (Paramount Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Adventure \| Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer John C. Richards James V. Hart Clive Cussler (novel)
DIRECTED BY:	Breck Eisner
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 30, 2005 Video: August 30, 2005 Theatrical: April 8, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	127 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / Spain

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The casting is so strong and the overall filmmaking flair of the movie is so captivating that it basically works.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I enjoyed this movie on its own dumb level.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As Sahara careens between swashbuckling silliness and semi-serious comment, it builds up reserves of energy and good will that pay off when it bursts into its final sprint, a rootin'-tootin' 21-gun finale as satisfying as it is preposterous.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Surprisingly entertaining.

Empire Dan Jolin

About as good as a big, stupid American action movie can be without ever being anything better than a big, stupid American action movie.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

This insanely busy, exceedingly long, and sometimes endearingly preposterous rendering has simply gotten the directions reversed in its insistence on sticking only to where men-who-make-adventure-flicks have gone before.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Takes the action/adventure story to new heights of preposterousness. In a way, that's not a bad thing, since it allows a certain level of guilty enjoyment.

Variety Robert Koehler

Saddled with more industry/celebrity baggage than a high-class safari voyage, Sahara is a rousing and only occasionally ridiculous adventure yarn.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Rojas is played by Penélope Cruz, who's endearing enough, but still comes across coarse and irritating every time she attempts a role in English.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

McConaughey, despite alarmingly orange makeup, does justice to the role, a hard-drinking, shipwreck- hunting senator's son with a 007 way with the ladies.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Action films can't be this consistently absurd, can't paint their heroes into such dangerous corners, from which only cocktails of luck and divine intervention can save them, over and over. It's a bad-faith bargain with the audience and bad storytelling.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The movie, first preposterously entertaining and then just preposterous, makes James Bond films look as logical as Euclidean geometry.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It's not that Sahara is offensively bad: It's just that the picture, loud and busy as it is, never really finds its own identity.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Spectacularly silly and perversely entertaining.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Sahara doesn't waste time on introductions. It wastes time in other ways.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Most of the personality work in the film is left to Steve Zahn.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

It ain't art, and it's dumber than I'd like, but I don't imagine you were expecting Kieslowski.

New York Post Kyle Smith

If the filmmakers had spent $14.98 of that $100 mil on a DVD of "The Mummy," they might have learned a few things: You need a head villain who is surpassingly evil, you need some jokes that get laughs - and a few sword-fighting skeletons wouldn't hurt.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Eisner is not remotely up to the challenge. Spending millions on action scenes does not mean you get them right.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Breck Eisner, son of former Disney mogul Michael and something of a protégé of Steven Spielberg, for whom he directed an episode of the miniseries "Taken," guides Sahara's big action set pieces with assurance, but would have been better served by a tighter script.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The film clocks in at under two hours, but the last 20 minutes feel like 40.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the historical premise for this Indiana Jones knockoff.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Just don't go expecting complex moral and ethical quandaries and you'll likely never think of "Ishtar" even once.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Sahara is many things, but it is not a movie. It is the skull-splitting cacophony of 21 producers and four screenwriters (that we know about, anyway) standing in the same room shouting into their cell phones.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

McConaughey is usually a welcome presence, but here, he looks like making the movie was getting in the way of his exciting African adventure.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Any movie starring Penelope Cruz or William H. Macy can't be all bad. And Sahara, which stars both Penelope Cruz and William H. Macy, proves the point: It isn't all bad.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

This perfectly distracting, ultimately unsatisfying film feels like a James Bond flick in which the stand-in got the lead.

Boston Globe Janice Page

In the end, the thing that Cussler's fans will probably object to most is the nonsensical way Sahara manhandles his story.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

McConaughey remains more buffed than compelling. He's not helped by a two-hour convolution of episodes that are too busy imitating other, better movies.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The greatest hits of '70s bar-rock soundtrack - "We're an American Band," "Right Place, Wrong Time," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Magic Carpet Ride" etc. - has a certain rollicking, kick-ass energy that, unfortunately, never rubs off on the movie.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

An adventure in mediocrity that brings together some of the worst current techniques and trends.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Sahara is a mediocrity wrapped inside a banality, toasted in a nice, fresh cliche.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

A stunning piece of work--stunningly inept, stunningly incoherent, stunningly awful in every single way imaginable.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 54 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David H gave it a3:
This movie is based on a Clive Cussler novel, who is not exactly Herman Melville, but his adventure novels are great fun and very easy reading for a quick escape. Sadly, if you're a big Cussler fan, you won't like what Hollywood has done to this "Dirk Pitt" adventure. Their most obvious and atrocious error was casting McConoughey in the lead role. Not so much that his talent is in question, but that casting him as Pitt is like casting Steve Buschemi in the life story of John Wayne. i.e.: they could not have picked a more opposite person from the character developed in Cussler's books. Likewise for casting of Dirk's sidekick character. If you loved the books, you won't be able to get past the horrible casting choices. If not, it comes across as a fairly high energy but lightweight adventure movie.

D. A. gave it a10:
When "It's a Wonderful Life" came out, it was considered a grand flop, as well! It took 30+ years - by sheer fluke of luck - for that beautiful film to be recognized as the incredible gem we all now know and love... and I do LOVE this movie!! Sahara has great humor and chemistry and it just works. Still, timing is everything, and it simply wasn't this movie's time, unfortunately, because I would have loved to have seen McConaughey, Zahn, Macy, and Rainn Wilson work together again on this fantastic franchise.

Jesse S. gave it a10:
This movie was awesome! and I don't a crap about what you other scumsuckers say about this movie!

Tony B. gave it a6:
Just because you probably will not believe a minute of it does not mean you will not have a pretty good time.

Junior B. gave it a6:
This movie is ok if there is nothing else on tv i guess. McConaughey once again shows that he can only play one character - good ol southern boy, cocky, too cool for school(i'm guessing that's must be his real personality).The HD-DVD version has amazing picture quality which is the main reason i gave it a 6. Also Penelope Cruz was very nice to look at. BTW who picked the songs for this movie? Matthew McConaughey himself using his dazed and confused leftovers tracks.

Fred Bob gave it a7:
It's pretty good, but has a couple of dragging spots.

CJ gave it a0:
The worst trash I have ever seen. I would have paid to get out of the cinema while watching it.

Sahara Paramount Pictures

Sahara
Paramount Pictures