Sahara--a vague review
Apr. 21st, 2005 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
allanaSaw Sahara last night at the cinema. I've long been a fan of Clive Cussler and his rollicking Dirk Pitt (yes, he does sound like a porn star) novels. Great summer reading, with plots as inticrate as Tom Clancy's efforts... but you don't need to haul out a copy of Jane's to understand what's going on. They're a bit Mary-Sueish, since like his hero, Clive has discovered lost ships, treasure, and has a massive collection of classic cars.
An aside--do other Clancy fans have to haul out gun manuals/listings and ask their husbands what sort of plane's being talked about, or is it just me? He throws in as much sodding detail as Anne Rice does! I keep threatening to write a reading guide for non-military Clancy readers.
Anyway, after spluttering a bit over the casting (Steve Zahn is NOT my idea of Al Giordino, but then again, how many squat actors with arms like an orangutang are there?), I actually enjoyed the movie. They've made a few changes. Inevitably. We can't have a marine engineer saving the world, can we? No, he has to be an ex-SEAL. As only ex-SEALs know how to fight *dramatic eye-rolling* Still, the door is open for future films and it's definitely better than the very dismal adaptation of Raise the Titanic from the early 80s. The action was great, and the plot wasn't raped too much to turn it into a movie. William H Macy was great as Admiral Sandecker and they kept the running joke about his cigars which made me smile.
BTW, Dave has been winding me up with comparisons to Indiana Jones. I must point out that the first Dirk Pitt novel was published in 1973, and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981. It's probably easier to think of it as a watery rendition of James Bond, without spy connections :D I believe that Clive wrote it to compete with James Bond anyway.
I have to be the world's worst reviewer, but if I as a screaming fangirl enjoyed it despite some dubious changes, then most folks should have fun at it :)
An aside--do other Clancy fans have to haul out gun manuals/listings and ask their husbands what sort of plane's being talked about, or is it just me? He throws in as much sodding detail as Anne Rice does! I keep threatening to write a reading guide for non-military Clancy readers.
Anyway, after spluttering a bit over the casting (Steve Zahn is NOT my idea of Al Giordino, but then again, how many squat actors with arms like an orangutang are there?), I actually enjoyed the movie. They've made a few changes. Inevitably. We can't have a marine engineer saving the world, can we? No, he has to be an ex-SEAL. As only ex-SEALs know how to fight *dramatic eye-rolling* Still, the door is open for future films and it's definitely better than the very dismal adaptation of Raise the Titanic from the early 80s. The action was great, and the plot wasn't raped too much to turn it into a movie. William H Macy was great as Admiral Sandecker and they kept the running joke about his cigars which made me smile.
BTW, Dave has been winding me up with comparisons to Indiana Jones. I must point out that the first Dirk Pitt novel was published in 1973, and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981. It's probably easier to think of it as a watery rendition of James Bond, without spy connections :D I believe that Clive wrote it to compete with James Bond anyway.
I have to be the world's worst reviewer, but if I as a screaming fangirl enjoyed it despite some dubious changes, then most folks should have fun at it :)
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-21 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-21 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-21 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-22 05:40 pm (UTC)OK... I will sound all fangirly about this lol (as well as PRR... but Dirk came first.)
I'm very afraid to see Sahara, knowing how butchered Clive thought they did Raise the Titanic. And I think I much prefer my mental visions of Dirk and Al.
Dirk was ex-AF... that wasn't good enough for them? Geeze.
I've even seen Clive speak, once (he resides part of the year in the Denver area) and had a chance to see some of his antique cars (that did not happen due to a blizzard, darn it.) Clive is a very interesting person.
I have to admit I haven't been able to read the past few Dirk novels. He lost something somewhere (about when Maeve died) and I can't get into him anymore. But I love re-reading the earlier novels. I think I have them all.
I love Dirk Pitt.
/fangirl gushing
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Date: 2005-04-23 12:12 pm (UTC)When I was about 13/14, the lovely twinkly-eyed Clive and I... used to write to each other! I have a bunch of letters stuffed in a desk drawer at my parents house. Haven't read them in years, but he was really nice to me.
Raise the Titanic was utterly butchered. They've done a much better job with Sahara, I think. Little details like Dirk wearing a Doxa divers watch made their way into the film. I'm planning on seeing it again, actually.