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Sahara

Sahara

Action · Adventure · Comedy · 2005

Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.

Movie details

Sahara

“Adventure has a new destination.”

2005 Action · Adventure · Comedy 2h 4m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.1 / 10

108.7K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

37 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

41 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Sahara?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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National Treasure

National Treasure

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Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest's whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do.

Flight of the Phoenix

Flight of the Phoenix

Action · 2004

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The Way West

The Way West

Action · 1967

In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

The Rundown

The Rundown

Adventure · 2003

When Travis, the mouthy son of a criminal, disappears in the Amazon in search of a treasured artifact, his father sends in Beck, who becomes Travis's rival for the affections of Mariana, a mysterious Brazilian woman. With his steely disposition, Beck is a man of few words -- but it takes him all the discipline he can muster to work with Travis to nab a tyrant who's after the same treasure.

Bear Island

Bear Island

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A group of people converge on a barren Arctic island. They have their reasons for being there but when a series of mysterious accidents and murders take place, a whole lot of darker motives become apparent. Could the fortune in buried Nazi gold be the key to the mystery? Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave investigate

Tarzan and His Mate

Tarzan and His Mate

Action · 1934

Harry Holt returns to Africa with his friend Martin Arlington to head up a large ivory expedition.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Sci-fi · 2018

Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.

North Sea Hijack

North Sea Hijack

Action · 1980

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Gray Lady Down

Gray Lady Down

Thriller · 1978

The USS Neptune, a nuclear submarine, is sunk off the coast of Connecticut after a collision with a Norwegian cargo ship. The navy must attempt a potentially dangerous rescue in the hope of saving the lives of the crew.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Breck Eisner

Written by

John C. Richards · James V. Hart · Thomas Dean Donnelly · Joshua Oppenheimer

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Dirk Pitt

Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz

Dr. Eva Rojas

Steve Zahn

Steve Zahn

Al Giordino

Lennie James

Lennie James

General Zateb Kazim

Lambert Wilson

Lambert Wilson

Yves Massarde

William H. Macy

William H. Macy

Admiral Jim Sandecker

Rainn Wilson

Rainn Wilson

Rudi Gunn

Court is in session

Put Sahara on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.