Sahara poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, Penelope Cruz, Lambert Wilson, Glynn E. Turman ... see more see more... , Delroy Lindo , William H. Macy , Lennie James , Rainn Wilson , Dayna Cussler , Glynn Turman , Jude Akuwudike

Matthew McConaughey stars as explorer and adventurer Dirk Pitt in this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Clive Cussler. Pitt thinks he may have found both a fortune and the answer to a long-stan... read more read more...ding mystery when he discovers a rare coin in the waters of a river in West Africa. During the Civil War, an ironclad battleship with a valuable cargo went missing, and Pitt's theory is that the coin places the ship somewhere in the Sahara Desert. Pitt and his goofy sidekick, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn), set out to find it, but along the way they make the acquaintance of Dr. Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), a scientist and physician who is trying to determine the source of a strange and deadly disease sweeping the nation. As Eva joins Dirk and Al, they begin to wonder if the mysteries they're trying to uncover might be somehow linked. Sahara was only the second of Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures to be adapted for the screen; the first, 1980's Raise the Titanic, was publicly dismissed by the author. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

61% liked it

193,867 ratings

Critics

39% liked it

171 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 10 min.

Directed by: Breck Eisner

Release Date: April 8, 2005

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: August 30, 2005

Get It:

Stats: 6,970 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Sahara Sahara Sahara Sahara Sahara Sahara Sahara Sahara
Upload a Photo | View All Sahara Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (6,970)

  • jmanard52
    May 11, 2008
    jmanard52
    Im pretty sure i wasnt suppose to enjoy this movie at all. Is is suppose to be horrible according to reviews but what i found was 2 hours of fun, humor and action. Now that I know this is a book. I think I need to go look them up.
  • moonrivers
    May 18, 2012
    moonrivers
    Standard buddy action flick adventure fare where gold hunters wind up saving an African country in the process. Fun if predictable, the kind of fantasy where our heroes have a gunfight with a whole army and never get shot even once. Penelope Cruz plays the buxom babe while Stev... read moree Zahn handles the capable buddy chores.
  • phubbs1
    March 28, 2012
    phubbs1
    So I've read this is THE most expensive flop in Hollywood history haha was a bit of a surprise to me I must say but I can see why really. The whole franchise prospects based on the 'Dirk Pitt' novels has collapsed after this first film which isn't a big deal really seeing as the ... read morecharacter is a combination of 'Indy' and 'Bond' and not really required.

    The film is really a poor man's 'Indiana Jones', a poor man's 'Indiana Jones' in the present day basically, yet somehow the film is almost two hours long and really quite dull. The whole film consists of the heroes running around African desert whilst being shot at by various people really, there is a silly plot about trying to find a buried American civil war ironclad warship and also a plot about stopping most of the African water supply getting poisoned.

    Personally I feel like they have gotten the era's mixed up, McConaughey looks and acts like a kind of dashing cinematic silver screen legend of the 30's-40's yet he is in the present day and accompanied by the rather whiny and annoying Zahn. Both the main leads are always clad in desert colour outfits which all seems to have stemmed from 'Indy', there is the all too common vintage car racing through the desert whilst been shot at sequence, Cruz is completely pointless throughout, it tries to be funny but fails and the ending is a rip roaring anti-climax.

    To be frank I think this failed because its set in the present day and we already have a character for that and his name is 'James Bond'. These type of adventures seem to work better when period set, 'The Mummy' films and 'The Phantom' are good examples of this type of boys own wilderness set adventures that work in another era.

    I still don't get how the 'CSS Texas' was shown at the start of the film in Virgina, US and ends up in the Niger River, Africa, anyone?? plus on a final note..'Dirk Pitt' has to be one of the dumbest attempts at a 'cool' heroic name I've come across for some time hehe.
  • fb100001048934982
    July 13, 2011
    fb100001048934982
    Everything about 'Sahara' feels forced. The plot, the action, the characters. Nothing gives off an interesting vibe because it all seems so unoriginal. These treasure hunt movies always feel like a step in the wrong direction to me, and this is another large example. It may provi... read morede some mild fun, and Zahn's performance may offer some goofy fun, but 'Sahara' already fails on so many different levels. 20 minutes in, you can already sense the mindlessness the film has to offer.
  • SajinPA
    June 12, 2011
    SajinPA
    Usually I'm a sucker for treasure-hunt movies. No matter how lame they are, almost every time I end up humming to the swashbuckling music themes from the movie. But SAHARA turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in the above-said movie genre.
    Sahara tries to squeeze i... read moren a plethora of plots into one single movie - with a treasure to be found, a mysterious plague to be investigated, a dictator to be overthrown, natives to be rescued... and then it screws up further by giving none of the characters a strong enough motivation to chase any of these missions.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    April 10, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    I don't understand why this film has gotten so much flack. Sahara is a fun, action adventure film based on the adventures of Dirk Pitt, famously created by author Clive Cussler. Many fans of the book have vilified the film. I haven't yet read the book,. but I found this film ve... read morery entertaining and better than expected. Sahara works well due to the fact that it's a fun, action film with bits of comedy thrown in for good measure. Breck Eisner does a good job at directing, and Sahara is an action packed adventure. Matthew McConaughey is terrific as Dirk Pitt, and Steve Zahn is amusing as his sidekick. The rest of the cast are good as well. Sahara tell the story of Dirk Pitt who is searching for a Civil war Iron Clad battleship in the desert of West Africa. A n entertaining film from start to finish, Sahara at times feels like a cheap version of Indiana Jones. However the Indiana Jones films are of course way better than this. Sahara has the right formula to entertaining, I thought it was an exciting film that was plainly fun to watch. Even if the film ain't perfect, ir definitely doesn't deserve all the negativity it has received. The film is far better than I had expected it to be, and considering the skills that McConaughey and Zahn have, they deliver something good, entertaining and enjoyable on screen. If you're in the mood for some mindless, entertainment you definitely should check out Sahara. You may be surprised at how good it really is. Sahara is a well conceived action adventure that is never boring and will most likely give you a fun viewing experience.
  • sanjurosamurai
    August 18, 2010
    sanjurosamurai
    a lot better than i thought it would be
  • StarCrossedVoyager
    August 8, 2010
    StarCrossedVoyager
    The plot was fairly interesting but it was a bit hard at the beginning when it kept swapping between the two stories however it did get better. I thought the plague story was much more interesting but it didn't get shown as much. It was very predictable and the action was there j... read moreust for the fun on it. Cruz did an ok job.
  • fb733768972
    February 4, 2010
    fb733768972
    Weak! It is saved by a few really cool action scenes though!
  • ironclad1609
    January 2, 2010
    ironclad1609
    People who enjoyed the National Treasure films should have a good time with this action adventure as well. Beautiful settings, a cast who obviously had fun and plenty of action makes for an entertaining film, that certainly won't win any awards for originality or plot twists but ... read moreeasily keeps you interested for the two hours. Additionally, the film doesn't take itself too seriously and knows exactly what it is good at. Whoever doesn't expect more from a film should not regret spending two hours with these treasure hunting adventurers in the desert.

View All Sahara Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rex Reed
April 14, 2005
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Despite the vast beauty of location settings in Morocco and Spain, the vast lack of chemistry between the two stars is appalling. Full Review

Jessica Winter
April 12, 2005
Jessica Winter, Village Voice

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... Full Review

Richard Roeper
April 11, 2005
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

It drove me crazy. It made National Treasure look like a documentary. Full Review

Desson Thomson
April 8, 2005
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

McConaughey's no Harrison Ford. And no one cracks the whip of originality. Full Review

Stephen Hunter
April 8, 2005
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

A mediocrity wrapped inside a banality, toasted in a nice, fresh cliche. Full Review

Peter Howell
April 8, 2005
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Unlike Raiders of the Lost Ark, which this movie wants so desperately to be, there's nothing here to engage the brain along with the eyeballs. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
April 8, 2005
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

This one has everything: stereotyped characters, shaky camera work, absurdly inappropriate pop songs on the soundtrack, a confused tone, misplaced zaniness and a nonsensical story. Full Review

Roger Moore
April 8, 2005
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Let's hope today's 10-year-old boys aren't too jaded by Matrix reruns to enjoy this for the good clean fun that it is. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
April 8, 2005
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Productions this guiltlessly corny need real personalities to sell them, and unlike the dull National Treasure, Sahara has a few. Full Review

Kyle Smith
April 8, 2005
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The one-liners, mostly bland, are used so liberally that they water down the action.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • National Treasure
    National Treasure (78%)
  • National Treasure: Book of Secrets
    National Treasure: Book of Secrets (80%)
  • The Men Who Stare at Goats
    The Men Who Stare at Goats (93%)
  • The Mummy Returns
    The Mummy Returns (75%)

More Movies like Sahara

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Sahara : Watch Free on TV

Sahara Trivia

  • This actor was almost lost in 10 days, he explored the Sahara, and he had a Failure to Launch? Who's the southern stud I'm talking about?  Answer »
  • Which actor or actress can be attributed to the following titles? Failure to Launch Dazed and Confused How to Lose a Guy in 10 days The Wedding Planner We are Marshall Reign of Fire Sahara  Answer »
  • Im in all these movies: Failure to Launch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days The Wedding Planner Sahara  Answer »
  • The underrated actor Steve Zahn appears in what three movies...  Answer »
More Sahara Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Sahara to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

tankspice Skin by tankspice
79 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins