"Hi. How are ya?" (Sahara (DVD))

Name: The Duke

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Product:	Sahara (DVD)
Date:	20/03/06 (212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Swash and buckling. What more do you need? Action? Adventure? Humour? It's all here.

Disadvantages: Nothing serious enough to spoil the fun.

In 1865 the "Texas", a Confederate iron clad ship escapes into the Atlantic, never to be seen or heard from again…

Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) is an ex-Navy SEAL working for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), headed by Admiral James Sandecker (William H. Macy). They specialise in underwater archaeology and while off the coast of Africa, Dirk Pitt once again raises his theory that the "Texas" had sailed all the way across the Atlantic to Africa. Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz) is a doctor working for the World Health Organisation, investigating the possible outbreak of some kind of plague.

Their paths cross, first when Dirk rescues the beautiful doctor from a mysterious attacker and second when Dirk's trip into Mali (borrowing his boss's boat) to hunt for the "Texas" coincides with Eva's trip into Mali to find the source of the plague.

After dropping Eva and her colleague off to travel overland, Dirk, his friend Al (Steve Zahn) and colleague Rudi head further up the river to investigate a clue Dirk has found. When Dirk's boat is shot up by the Mali military looking for Eva, Dirk abandons his plans of hunting for the "Texas" and goes looking for the doctor before it's too late…

"Sahara" is almost like a modern day Indiana Jones and while not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, could arguably give any of the others a run for their money. The action starts early and never really lets up until the very end.

Matthew McConaughey's Dirk Pitt is likable enough, though able to deal with most circumstances as you might expect of a leading character. As an acting role, it might not tax him too much, but you get the impression he had a lot of fun in making the movie and this does translate across onto the screen. Penélope Cruz, as Eva Rojas, is a modern woman and holds her own when the danger levels rises (and in Sahara, this is a frequent occurrence).

Where Sahara really wins is with Steve Zahn's Al Giordino. The reason I liked Al so much was not simply because he was the comedy sidekick (which Zahn seems to specialise at), but because when the going gets tough, Al's as much in the thick of the action as Dirk is and is able to handle himself. It's a feature of action/adventure flicks that doesn't happen enough in my opinion and this made Sahara that little bit different to other films of this genre.

From the very start, I was drawn into the story as I watched the Texas escape and disappear into the fog. Soon after, the action kicked off in the present day and didn't really let up for the next two hours. There are a few plot threads to follow (Dirk, Eva and the Admiral), but none of them is particularly taxing and everything remains clear right up until the end where I found my only real complaint about the film and that was that the mystery of the Texas wasn't really explained to my satisfaction, despite being Dirk's driving force for a lot of the movie and, as was hinted near the start, an obsession of his.

Complementing the good fun atmosphere of the film is the soundtrack and rather than be spoon fed dramatic music to tell us what's happening, the director has chosen to use some good-time rock music instead, so expect songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd to accompany the boat trip, for example. Most of the music is American 70's rock (Dr. John, Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad etc.), but it seemed to suit the sequences perfectly.

I don't usually pay too much attention to stuff like direction or cinematography when watching a film, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the photography during the scenes in the Sahara. Even on my relatively small screen, the scale was very impressive.

To be quite honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from Sahara. It was only in my collection to bulk out a three for three nights package from my video shop. The cover just looked fun and cheesy and a punt was taken on it for that reason alone. As is sometimes the case, it turns out that Sahara was probably the best movie of the three.

The performances of the two male leads were excellent and the film managed to avoid my usual bugbear of a female companion/love interest whose sole purpose is to get into trouble. The film, at just under two hours long, kept my attention throughout and ended before it got too much. I don't remember there being any swearing, sex or blood in it, either, so if you don't mind the kids see a couple of bad guys get shot, then it could be one for youngsters, too. It's been a long while since I last was able to sit back and simply enjoy a really good, fun movie as I did with Sahara.

It has been suggested that Sahara might be the first in a series of Dirk Pitt (or possibly NUMA) films, and if that's the case then I eagerly await the next. However, I get the impression that Sahara didn't perform particularly well at the box office, so any further adventures might not be forthcoming.

Summary: Modern day action/adventure movie set in Africa.