English 101 Fifth Graded Assignment
Matthew C. Hinkle User ID: HI5247197
University of Management and Technology 18 August 2015
I have an issue with Director Breck Eisner’s adaptation of Clive Cussler’s book Sahara. In most of Clive Cussler’s books, the opening of the book sets up the story later on, the beginning story is usually a major part of the plot development.
Those who have read his books understand this omission, it was largely left out and replaced with the director’s backstory. In the original movie the story of Kitty Mannock, a pilot who crashes into the desert during a record attempt in 1931 sets up the book, and later in the book when two of the characters come upon the crash, it makes sense, in the movie however they just find the plane, use the plane and the story is never told, something those who like Clive Cussler’s books enjoy immensely.
Overall, I enjoyed both the movie and the book, though there were issues those who are Clive Cussler fans would catch right away, it was exciting to see one of the books come to life on the big screen. I have been a Clive Cussler fan for years, though this will probably be the only one to become a movie I was not completely disappointed. I enjoyed the movie, plenty of excitement, plot changes, drama, civil war history references and a little morality thrown in the plot. Being a little critical as a Clive Cussler fan, I saw things in the movie others might not, things I know the main character would or would not do, but overall it was a decent adaptation.
There were a few issues with the movie adaptation, important parts that made the book enjoyable to read and added to the plot development were left out, or changed completely. First problem, as mentioned above the story of Kitty Mannock, a blatant omission that left me confused at first on how they were going to explain the wreck later on in the movie, which they did not even attempt, a shame.
Second error, in the book President Abraham was theorized to have been taken captive and was a hostage on the CSS Texas when it disappeared. In the book, an actor was hired by the Confederates and later killed, this was not in the movie and would have made for some interesting plot development.
Third error, this is the ending of the book, where the main character, Dirk Pitt, forces the villain, Eve Massarde, to sit in the hot sun for three hours then allows him to drink, but is given the contaminated water from his polluted waste dump. He is then allowed to leave, Dirk Pitt knowing he will die as he drank the contaminated water. In the movie, an undercover agent posing as a waiter serves Eve Mesasarde the contaminated water and leaves, allowing the watchers to believe he will die as he drank contaminated water from his waste dump. I was highly disappointed in this directorial change, as Dirk Pitt normally serves out justice of this sort in the books, in the movie his character was not involved.
I would recommend the movie to friends, as it has adventure, some history involved and overall a decent movie. It is not a great movie, not a bad one either, overall it is a reasonably good book to movie adaptation. It stars Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, so it does have some star power, though it can be a little cheesy with some of the character lines but whether you watch it on DVD, Netflix or on television you will not be totally disappointed.