|
Over the years, there have been many pretenders to Indiana Jones' throne of "Ultimate Action Adventurer" - Jack T. Colton (Romancing The Stone), Rick O' Connell (The Mummy), Benjamin Gates (National Treasure) yet despite decent box office, none of these characters have captured the hearts of the audience quite like Indiana. For me, there was one character that came close but encountered several obstacles. Not only did this character's film only just earn back its budget but it's been slapped with a lawsuit that has basically closed on the door on sequels. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dirk Pitt. Created by producer of airport fodder reading material Clive Cussler, Dirk's journey to the big screen has been a torteous one. His first cinematic outing Raise The Titanic flopped so badly that Cussler vowed that he'd never allow another film to be made of his beloved creation. Then Paramount showed up on his door with a bag of cash. Cussler relented but on the condition he got final script approval....Paramount agreed and then promptly ignored him. Now this may seem harsh but Cussler has a reputation for being difficult and disapproved of the more ridiculous elements of his book being removed (eg. Abraham Lincoln's body is found on the Ironclad in the Sahara). Paramount refused to wait for him to sign off on the script and made the film none the less. Cussler was not happy and has taken the studio to court and looks set to win essentially killing the franchise and it's a pity because as a franchise, it started off well..... For those not in the know, Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaghy) is a former Airforce commandor (Navy Seal in the film) who now works for NUMA (National Underwater Marine Association) with his life long friend, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn). Under the supervision of Admiral Sandecker (William H Macy), the duo find treasure, uncover mysteries, get dragged into evil plots and defeat ner-do wells. Director Breck Eisner realised that the core of the books is the friendship between Pitt and Giordino and McConaghy and Zahn perfectly sell the relationship perfecly, displaying the bickering and trust that comes from a lifelong friendship be it when they're arguing about past fishing trips or engaged in gun fights. Sahara was meant to be one of Paramounts tent pole releases and cost $150 million. Now despite all the exotic locales, boat chases, car chases and helicoptor chases you don't exactly see all the money on the big screen. Yes, it's action packed but get the feeling someone definetly left the production with a few houses and cars under their belt. Personally I think ex Disney head Michael Eisner was helping himself to his son's budget to set himself up for early retirement.  The film itself is great fun. Pure summer popcorn with Al and Dirk teaming up with a member of the WHO (Hollywood's favourite rent-an-exotic chick Penolpe Cruz) to uncover a mysterious plague in Africa whilst getting caught up in the plans of an evil African warlord (Lenny James) and a phantom ironclad from the US Civil War. It's ludicrous, it's action packed and it packs one of the best scores in the past five years. Clint Mansell's action packed score is amazing combining the beats of a Bond score with the heroic themes of an Indiana Jones soundtrack. Even if you don't like the film, admit the score rocks. It's a shame that the lawsuit means that it's unlikely we'll see a sequel as Dirk Pitt was one of best successors to Indy's title. He was smart and educated, a smoothie with the ladies, heroic and delivered a decent right hook to evil henchmen. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait for Indy IV. Oh and if this has tempted you to get the DVD - get the R1 one. Much better.
< Message edited by Timon -- 8/10/2007 10:16:39 PM >
_____________________________
"I put no stock in religion. By the word 'religion', I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called 'The Will of God'. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves." Twitter: @timonsingh
|