MPAA Rating: PG-13
Original Review Date: May 4, 2005
Reviewed by: Erin, Movie Muse
In a Nutshell: Fun flick, but nothing spectacular. Great banter
between the two male leads. Definitely worth seeing, though no
blockbuster effects that absolutely require the theater, if
you'd like to wait until DVD. "They did a Panama." :-p
Quick Plot: A professional treasure hunter, I mean, deep sea
discoverer, finds clues to his pet project in Africa. Can he
really find a long lost Confederate ironside ship in the middle
of the dessert, especially without getting killed?
In Detail: I really rather liked this movie, quite a bit more so
that DH. Well, I mean, two hours of clean-cut muscles-cut
Matthew McConaughey, how bad can it be, right? LOL It was just
loads of fun. That's not to say that it wasn't missing
something. First off, there was too much luck and not enough
skill/solving involved. As this movie has been compared to
National Treasure, I will say that NT has the upper hand here.
I missed that aspect of it. Second, there was absolutely NO
explanation as to how the boat would have gotten there in the
first place. I don't think that is an unreasonable question.
And lastly, the whole "put the woman in peril so she can be
rescued" subplot just seemed tacked on, as opposed to integrated
in. They tried, it just wasn't very smooth. Not sure if the
book does better or not. However, I felt when watching National
Treasure that it was missing.... something. Something I was
never able to put my finger on. But whatever it was that NT was
missing, Sahara had it. Something about the chemistry and the
commeradery and the banter that was just incredibly enthralling.
If you could have combined the two films, you would have had
just about the *perfect* summer popcorn flick, ranking right up
there with Indiana Jones. Sahara doesn't quite make it, though
with some improvements, the next film in the franchise could (oh
come now, you know they'll do it, if it makes a single nickle of
profit). Looking forward to the next installment.
Will I Buy It? I'd like to, for a reasonable price (under $15,
I'd say). Not sure if DH will agree, though.
