Breck Eisner
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Filmography
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Connections, in both directions
Sahara is an Indiana Jones rip-off so dull that it gives me newfound respect for Cannon Films' 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines -- that infamous piece of cheese starring Richard Chamberlain as Allan Quatermain and a pre-stardom Sharon Stone as the damsel in constant distress.
It says a great deal about the lingering impact of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that nearly a quarter century later it's still spawning substandard knockoffs like "National Treasure" and, now, "Sahara," that aren't much better than the old cliffhanger serials to which "Raiders" paid big-budget homage.
This one is no “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but it’s definitely worth checking out before the onslaught of action-packed summer films dominate the box-office.
Sahara feels like it was cobbled together from discarded pieces of National Treasure and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
An attempt has been made to re-create the jaunty thrills of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but it doesn’t even come close.
Eisner, who is Disney honcho Michael Eisner's son, tries to instill in "Sahara" a "Raiders of the Lost Ark"-like insouciance, but light tones are tricky.
Sahara has a decent scientific reasoning behind itsstory but Cussler's books has been adapted into an action adventure film that looks less like the classic adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark , as they had planned, and more like the tepid action vehicle Armageddon.
"Sahara" apes elements from "Lawrence of Arabia."
They also manage to tip the hat to a whole multiplex of movies, from Raiders to James Bond to Star Wars — there’s even a contrived, unnecessary train scene that seems to exist solely as a salute Lawrence of Arabia.
It's not the sort of movie you see in a theater (despite the Lawrence of Arabia-inspired sandscapes).
Constantine (2005)
Directed by Francis Lawrence
influenced The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Characters Visuals
Ghostbusters is blatantly referenced, but a better comparison is 2005’s Constantine , which starred Keanu Reeves as a similarly magical detective with similarly sharp taste in outerwear.
If this over-stylization comes off as feeling familiar, like maybe Constantine-like, that’s because it had been recreated several times a year for the last 15 years.
In fact, Sahara is most comparable to an even worse Golan-Globus Indiana Jones wannabe -- the completely lackluster Firewalker (1986) with Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett Jr.
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
Directed by Rudolph Maté
influenced The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Characters
Not since Tony Curtis in "The Black Shield of Falworth" has a New Yorker been so misplaced - and Curtis at least was allowed to retain his own hairdo.
It must be said that the New York witch bar scene was handled much more agreeably in “Bell Book and Candle” back in 1958, but in any event the ceremony is interrupted by an evil warlock with malevolent designs (Olafur Darri Olafsson).
Well, it’s eternal life or the next best thing, since his longevity — rather like that of the bad guy in Captain Sindbad (1963) — depends on her heart being preserved in beating condition.
Sahara is based on a novel by popular author Clive Cussler, but to the untrained eye it plays like a wholesale rip-off of last year’s entertaining National Treasure, except with added complications and considerably less fun along the way.
It says a great deal about the lingering impact of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that nearly a quarter century later it's still spawning substandard knockoffs like "National Treasure" and, now, "Sahara," that aren't much better than the old cliffhanger serials to which "Raiders" paid big-budget homage.
Sahara feels like it was cobbled together from discarded pieces of National Treasure and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
…outdistancing even National Treasure (which it rather resembles) on that score.
"Sahara" should appeal to fans of "National Treasure," last year's hit blend of ersatz archaeology and adventure.
"Sahara" is only slightly more satisfying than last year's "National Treasure" because it's full of pretty locations, the action bits are much flashier, and this new one, as I said, has Steve Zahn in it.
So, there they are one day, happily trolling on the Niger River in a speedboat borrowed from N.U.M.A.'s grumpy chief, Admiral Sandecker (a tongue-in-cheek William H. Macy in a part previously played by Jason Robards in 1980's "Raise the Titanic"), for tell-tale bumps on the bottom when their water sampling turns up a strange chemical that wouldn't likely be found in a river.
Dirk has a thing about long-lost ships; readers may recall that he was also the hero of " Raise the Titanic " (1980), a movie so expensive that its producer, Lord Lew Grade, observed, "It would have been cheaper to lower the ocean."
Emmet Walsh combo of Raise the Titanic, but something is still off with a chemistry that should come natural to these two.
Sahara is based on a silly Clive Cussler novel -- oh, admit it: you know you read Raise the Titanic in your shipwreck…
The movie is based on the popular novel by Clive Cussler ("Raise The Titanic").
(1980's "Raise the Titanic" and 2005's "Sahara") Perhaps Clive is one of those authors who are fiercely protective of their novels, and would hate to see them turned into a bunch of junky movies.
Men in Black (1997)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
influenced The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Characters Themes Plot
(Some of his encounters with witches are reminiscent of how Tommy Lee Jones dealt with aliens in the first “Men in Black.”)
There's a surprisingly playful quality in The Last Witch Hunter, and the unveiling of the secret world around us is something like a mix of Men in Black and John Wick.
Think Men In Black, but scripted by Dan Brown.
The “Men in Black” reference is actually an apt comparison.
I’m the guy who still loves watching Tom Cruise chase the unicorn in Legend.
Previously, Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, famous for the Night Watch and Day Watch films before he went to Hollywood, was attached to direct the film.
Having replaced Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Wanted) on the project, Breck does a solid journeyman job, but a nagging suspicion lingers that the Russian action auteur might have goosed up this formulaic material with more of his signature visual flair and gonzo energy.
They look like they are having a good time playing make-believe in the desert with their toy guns and camels, but you never once believe they are in danger, etc. McConaughey, although buffed up to the max for the role, displays none of the effortlessness that Bruce Willis possessed when he went from being that guy on "Moonlighting" to an instant action hero in "Die Hard."
The movie seems to be in the vein of other supernatural action films like the Underworld and Resident Evil movies, but maybe more than anything, it seems like a cross of two Nicolas Cage movies, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Season of the Witch, which grossed $63 million and $24 million respectively, which helped to kickstart the end of his career.
Previously, Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, famous for the Night Watch and Day Watch films before he went to Hollywood, was attached to direct the film.
I did this once with Van Helsing, the 2004 vampire equivalent of The Last Witch Hunter.
After all, this film also features Michael Caine and Elijah Wood, both of whom have contributed to the haulings of major franchises with Batman and The Lord of the Rings, respectively.
Kaulder now lives in New York, and is handled/aided by the 36th member of a line of priests (Michael Caine, because the house that Jaws: The Revenge built must have needed a guest wing) in hunting and incarcerating witches in the surrounding area.
(A feeling which apparently extended to the cast: The awesomely spacey indie staple Steve Zahn, until now best known for his indelible pothead in Soderbergh's Out of Sight, came to town recently and went on at exhaustive length at how jazzed he was to be allowed to ride camels and shoot machine guns in a major motion picture.