Sahara

This is a remake of a 1943 Bogart movie of the same title. I was pleased to see they followed the original story almost to a T. Very well acted for a TV movie & Belushi was great as Joe Gunn. And the other actors were good as well. On the whole an enjoyable remake, which doesn't happen very often. I guess what I am saying is that as a very big Bogey fan I was expecting to be let down by this movie, but surprise surprise, I wasn't. It was reasonably well acted, interesting story this time around as well, followed the original movie very closely, surprisingly well directed & well photographed for a TV movie and once again Belushi does a crack job. I'll be buying the DVD.

Sahara is a cinematic pleasure. For fans of Bogart and of James Belushi, this film will excite you. The story may be a little hard to believe that a hand full of men hold off so many Germans, but Hollywood was part of the war effort 1943 and that is to be expected. Besides, whats wrong with wanting to kick a little Nazi butt every now and then? Anyway, the cinematography alone is worth the watching of this movie. Not unlike the desert scenes in Star Wars - Return of the Jedi and those of more recent films like the Mummy and the Mummy Returns, the richness of color and warmth and the brutal sun make for a heightened experience. If you have a chance to watch this film I highly recommend it so you might form your own opinion. After all, it's has to be better than most of the junk out there lately.

Sometimes 'remakes' aren't; they take liberties with the original. This movie didn't do that, they stuck with a good, simple story of men in war. The original started out as a "allied microcosm" propaganda flick, but turned out to be a good solid war movie. The makers of this version don't mess with what works. Jim Belushi provides a good solid focus as the Humphrey Bogart character ("Joe Gunn"), and is ably assisted by the rest of the cast. Not a grand war movie, to be sure, but a good one.

One of the classic war films that was made during World War II gets a 90s remake. Sahara starred Humphrey Bogart as the tank commander who joins up with an assortment of soldiers from various allied countries defending a dry desert oasis that a company of Rommel's Afrika Korps doesn't know is dry. It's nearly an annihilation, but a certain divine providence spares two of the defenders.

Stepping into Bogart's very big shoes is Jim Belushi and while nobody is a Humphrey Bogart, Belushi admirably fills the part in his own way.

A lot of very familiar character players in the original Sahara made that one enjoyable. Other than Belushi there are no familiar faces in this film. That's a pity because that roster of actors could never be assembled again.

Sahara itself is not an original, it was a remake of the John Ford classic The Lost Patrol. Later on the plot was shifted to the American west for Last Of The Comanches which starred Broderick Crawford.

There are no Bogeys out there so enjoy this remake of Sahara, it's practically a word for word copy.

Too bad that this movie isn't any better known and appreciated. Perhaps it has to do that never hit cinemas or because that it's a remake of the 1943 Humphrey Bogart movie but fact still simply remains that this a good and entertaining little action flick.

The movie benefits from its great story. It didn't changed must in regard to the 1943 original but still it changed a couple of sequences and left out the more propaganda like aspects of the original but still leaving in the exaggerated heroism and toughness of the characters, which aren't all very likely but help to make the movie an entertaining one nevertheless. The concept of 9 men standing their ground against an army of 500 is always something that should get your testosterone running.

In terms of its acting and visual look it isn't a too impressive looking movie. You feel that with a much bigger budget the movie could had truly turned into a fantastic one, without now calling the movie bad or a disappointment.

Its action is simply good. The second halve of the movie gets action filled when the Germans start to attack the ruins that hold the only well within the wide vicinity in it. They don't know however that the well has dried up and the Allies are using it as a decoy so that the Germans can't march on to El Alamien and flank the British stronghold there.

It's nothing too impressive, it's simply just a good and entertaining unknown little WW II action flick.

7/10

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