Sahara (2005)

Plot of Sahara: Dirk Pitt is an intrepid former special forces guy who specialises in wreck recovery. He is working for Admiral Sandecker who is in charge of an international force which recovers wrecks for museums. They are in Nigeria, and Dirk is given a coin which makes him think that an ironclad the CSS Texas is somewhere up the Niger having back in the Civil War disappeared with all the Confederate gold. Meanwhile a couple of World Health Organisation doctors are dealing with a plague which they think originates in Mali. Dirk and his sidekicks borrow the Admiral’s power boat and off they go up the Niger, first taking the doctors, one of whom is the attractive Eva Rojas up to Mali. They leave them there and carry on but are attacked by soldiers in boats. The doctors are also attacked by the Mali dictator’s troops, Eva surviving by hiding in a well. Pitt and his sidekick, arrive on camels and rescue Eva, and later join forces with a Taureg chief to find the source of the plague and hopefully the missing ironclad.

Content: No sex or nudity; Eva seen in a bikini at the end. Some drinking, Pitt seeming to favour hard liquor. An extensive scene at the beginning of the CSS Texas fighting the Union soldiers before sailing away somewhere. Once in Nigeria Pitt and his friends motor up the Niger in the power boat – impressive. They finally end up in the desert and travel about on camels. Even when captured they get away finally making it to a massive solar power system which reflects sunlight onto a centre. There are numerous fist fights and gunfights mostly using Kalashnikovs. At one point they jump from camels onto a train. Then while escaping they throw dynamite out of their vehicle revealing the lost CSS Texas buried in the sand.

A View: This film was plagued with misfortune mostly featuring disagreements between Clive Cussler and the producers. It would later be the subject of extensive court action. But its real trouble was its vast cost, originally budgeted at $80 million it finally cost twice that, it was poorly reviewed and not much liked by anybody. And the plot was fatuous. There was really no possibility that a Confederate ironclad could make it across the Atlantic. But in its favour the scenery was terrific, many of the scenes being breathtaking. So it was almost a watch but the total implausibility of everything kept getting in the way. So if you’ve read this and still want to watch it, go ahead.

Fun fact: The cast had to learn to ride camels, but only the camel wrangler could jump off one onto the train, so he stood in for all three of them.