Fun movie. Not an epic, by any stretch, but fun. Dirk Pitt was well-cast (Matthew McConaghey). The title sequence included a montage of Cussler's shipwreck-hunting buddies, and the soundtrack was comprised of 70s album rock tunes.
Like I said, I think that he'd be a fun guy to have a beer with.
This was a really fun read:
He does indeed sound like the kind of guy you’d want to have a beer with, while looking under the hood of one of his cars.
http://www.numa.net/car_collection.html
“Sahara” struck just the right chord for Cussler material. I initially didn’t think Steve Zahn was well-cast as Al Giordino, until I saw him press-check that AK-47 in the oasis shootout. Peanut-head (McConaghey) was perfect. Fun movie.
Unfortunately, Cussler hated it, and killed any possibility of a franchise. Guy was too full of his own worth. You can’t play his books too seriously in movies, or you end up with the dreary “Raise the Titanic”.