Sahara ... WTF???????

[bryanmaguire]

@Evil Captor

Um, figure they had five minutes or so to restore it to operability. What’s the big deal?

Now you mention that it DOES make a lot more sense to me.

[El_Kabong]

Yep, enjoyed the movie; or what little of it I could see on an airplane seatback video display, at least. I’ve never read any Cussler, so have no comment on that. Yes, it was preposterous pretty much from beginning to end, but it at least didn’t appear that any laws of physics were badly broken to move the plot forward, which is pretty much my criteria for the relative plausibility of a film.

The performances of the lead characters were hugely enjoyable, and it’s got William H. Macy in it. What’s not to love?

[bryanmaguire]

@CalMeacham

When I first saw this flick I remarked that in both this and another out about the same time – National Treasure – you had guns and gunpowder from 100+ year old ships stored in extreme environments (the artcic, the Sahara) being used without any problems or misfire. Gee, I’d a thunk that sitting arounmd that long with all the sand and heat (or ice and cold) would lead to some deterioration. I can’t leave things sitting around for 10 years and expect them to work. I don’t buy that it was “preserved by its environment” They told us the same thing would preserve the Titanic in perfect shape, and look how that turned out (And Cussler was one of the tellers – in “Raise the Titanic”)

If the use of a Civil War cannon is your only or your chief beef, however, you haven’t been exercising your critical faculties.

I’ve got absolutely no beef witht the cannon firing. It was the highlight of a very enjoyable movie.

[Draelin]

@UncleRojelio

Speaking of which. I wonder why the director thought it was necessary to make Dirk a former Navy SEAL as opposed to his being an Air Force officer as in the books?

That part, I thought made sense. Making NUMA a privately-owned company rather than a government agency seemed more in keeping with their usual run of operations, and having Pitt and Giordino be former SEALS rather than former Air Force officers didn’t bother me. Two men who consistently kick that much ass everywhere from hidden underwater Pacific seamount oases to abandoned Tierra Del Fuego mining colonies to Disney theme parks fit much more easily into my idea of SEALS than fighter pilots. Either that, or making them Navy men made it easier to explain why they now work for a retired Admiral.