by Quinn Blackburn

Created on: August 12, 2007

Their Turbans May Not be Wrapped Too Tight...

This 2005 release is a highly entertaining action/adventure spree that attempts to weave together several seemingly random threads. Dirk Pitt is National Underwater Marine Agency's current golden boy. He heads Admiral James Sandecker's crew as they seek out and recover artifacts of all sorts that have been lost in the Seas of the world."Al" Algiers Girodino is Dirk's longtime pal and right hand man who handles the grunt work of running the machinery or demolition, and Rudi Gunn evens these two out by handling the science and computer end of things. Together they make a successful, if unconventional, team.

While searching for treasure in the River Niger, they cross the paths of two World Health Organization doctors, Eva Rojas and Frank Hopper, who are trying to find the source of what they very much fear will be a virulent plague of unimaginable proportions. As if searching for the source of this terrible disease wasn't motivation enough, Dirk firmly believes this is his best opportunity to find his personal 'holy grail'. He stands alone in believing that, somehow, a US Confederate ironclad ship made it across the ocean to end up stranded somewhere in the Sahara with the "last" of a rare series of Confederate golden dollars that never quite surfaced during or after the Civil War. Imagine their surprise when Al finds ancient paintings in a cave that depict an infamous "Ship of Death" that looks, undeniably, like an ironclad vessel! Is the ship the source of this mysterious illness? We, the viewers, quickly realize that this illness is just an inconvenient by-product for the villains of the film. Profits are rolling in for two unlikely power-hungry business partners, Yves Massarde and Mali's current dictator, General Kazim, who will go to any lengths to protect their secret.

Will our heroes find and eliminate the source of this plague before it's too late for the world? Will they find the lost ironclad and reveal its long-hidden treasures? The adventure unfolds as we eagerly await these answers!

A Look at the Cast:

Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz): Cruz fulfills her role here, although I didn't feel that it was particularly challenging. She plays an intelligent, resourceful, confident woman in a unique job under unusual circumstances. More brain than brawn, she is, none the less, willing to give it her all when attempting things like leaping from a galloping camel onto a moving train. Cruz is believable, if somewhat uninspiring.

Algiers

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