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 include 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 VC-1-encoded HD DVD picture has been transferred well, with little in the way of edge enhancement or source element artifacts. The image can look washed out in daytime outdoor scenes, with pale colors, including fleshtones, and grayish blacks. This over-exposed look gives a good sense of the extreme climate of the Sahara. Indoors, and at night, however, colors look much more natural and shadow delineation is much more accurate, with deep blacks and impressive details in the shadows. The high-definition imagery is superb, revealing the burned skin on the actors' faces and fantastic detail in textures. (Danny Richelieu)
While the Dolby® Digital Plus and DTS® Digital Surround™ 5.1-channel encodings include a good mix that utilizes each channel at times, the surround's use is inconsistent. The entire character is rather thin, as there is not much deep bass in any of the channels. While overall levels are toned down in the HD DVD release as compared to the DVD release, in some of the louder scenes there is noticeable clipping distortion that can become a distraction. (Danny Richelieu)