BLU-RAY REVIEW

Sahara

Featured In Issue 115, December 2006

Picture	4.5
Sound	3.5
WSR Score	4

Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.

(Studio/Distributor):

Paramount Home Entertainment

(Catalog Number):

11828

(MPAA Rating):

PG13

(Rating Reason):

For action violence

(Retail Price):

$29.99

(Disc Type):

Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)

(Widescreen Edition):

Yes

(Full Screen Edition):

No

(Running Time In Minutes):

124

(Color Type):

Color

(Chaptered/Scene Access):

Yes

(Closed Captioned):

Yes

(Regional Coding):

Not Indicated

(Theatrical Year):

2005

(Theatrical Release):

Yes

(Direct-To-Video Release):

No

(Disc Release Date):

10/24/06

(THX® Digitally Mastered):

No

(Director):

Breck Eisner

(Screenplay/Written By):

(Story):

(Music):

(Director Of Photography):

(Production Designer):

(Visual Effects):

(Costume Designer):

(Editor):

(Supervising Sound Editors):

(Re-Recording Mixers):

(Executive Producers):

(Co-Producers):

(Producers):

(Academy Awards):

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(Principal Photography):

(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):

(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):

(Disc Soundtrack):

Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

(Theatrical Sound):

(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):

(DTS Bit Rate):

(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):

(Additional Languages):

(French Language):

(Spanish Language):

(Chinese Language):

(Subtitles):

(Cantonese Language):

(Mandarin Language):

(Japanese Language):

(Italian Language):

(German Language):

(Portuguese Language):

After saving Dr. Eva Rojas (Cruz) from an early grave, underwater explorer Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) finds himself caught up in an adventure in the Sahara desert. While Dirk is searching for a Civil War battleship "The Ship Of Death," Eva is on a quest of her own. Soon the two find themselves caught up in the ultimate treasure hunt as they try to save the world from certain catastrophe. Based on the novel by Clive Cussler. (Tricia Spears)

Special features are exactly the same as those on the HD DVD: commentary by Director Breck Eisner; commentary by Eisner and Actor/Executive Producer Matthew McConaughey; three featurettes: the 15-minute Across The Sands Of Sahara, the 20-minute storyboarded Visualizing Sahara, and the ten-minute Cast And Crew Wrap Film; four deleted scenes with optional commentary with Breck Eisner and Matthew McConaughey; five minutes with the camel chase scene; two Animatics scenes: Opening and Train Jump; a storyboard comparison; and previews, which are also shown as up-front ads.

The 2.38:1 Blu-ray Disc picture is noticeably softer than the HD DVD release in fine details, such as facial hair and sand, but color balance and shadow delineation is still well rendered. How much of the loss of detail can be attributed to the Samsung BD-P1000, though, is unknown at this time. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby� Digital and DTS� Digital Surround� encodings are good, but I would have preferred if a next-generation audio codec, such as the HD DVD's Dolby Digital Plus encoding, had been used. The DTS encoding is preferred, as it has noticeably improved dynamic range and tighter bass, and is not much different than the HD DVD release. (Danny Richelieu)

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