Sahara was another movie I missed at the cinema but have now managed to watch. I was, to tell the truth, a little worried about how they would pull it off. I’ve only read the one Cussler book, Valhalla Rising (which, as the name suggests, has vikings in it), and I found Dirk Pitt a problem; he’s just too good, he doesn’t have a single flaw. Charming, intelligent, dedicated, lethal, funny, sexy, unselfish, modest, desirable and the perfect gentleman. People like that don’t exist in the real world and I found that jarring. Add to that the fact that Cussler likes to get a classic car and/or plane and, in the one I read, even himself into the story (not for the first time apparently, talk about ego) and I wasn’t overly impressed. Matthew McConaughey does a great job of making Pitt believable, and makes a great team with Steve Zahn playing Pitt’s sidekick Al Giordino (though he doesn’t fit the look for an Italian-American). The witty banter between the two, especially when the going gets tough, is very funny. The story too, is well-paced and builds perfectly to the crescendo, with the main characters finding themselves in successively tougher situations. Add to that plenty of action, beautiful scenary (which Breck Eisner takes advantage of with plenty of wide landscape shots) and some witty dialogue and you’ve got a cracking movie. Admittedly there are the usual plot holes as you would find in any action film.
Cussler has only had one of his novels turned into a movie before, Raise the Titanic, and he was so disappointed he vowed to never sell another book to Hollywood unless he was given final says in the actors, director and script. There were some tangles between Cussler and the studio on Sahara and the final result was an uneasy truce. Director Breck Eisner has stated that several other books are under contract, the main stars signed a three picture deal and he’s certainly keen to direct another one, so it comes down to Cussler. Sahara received mixed reviews and a varied response from the fans, but they still want to see the remaining books developed, so hopefully Cussler will acquiesce. I’d certainly like to see another.
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