Such a frustrating disappointment

Let's be realistic.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Today I watched this movie for the very first time. Back in the 80's this movie never made it to my home town, I guess because of the poor critics, and that was a shame because i really wanted to watch it, I had such a big crush on Brooke Shields during the early 80's. I knew that the movie was probably just a lame excuse to expose her sex appeal and popularity, and there were probably little to none substance in the movie it self. After reading the reviews I thought that this was probably a horrible fiasco of a movie I still wanted to watch it, but like i said I was never able until today. What a surprise... the movie is indeed not a big deal at all, but by far boring, it was rather entertaining, I mean not every piece of cinema has to be a master piece, but as long it is entertaining it will be alright, and this one it is alright. The rating is 4 out of 10, my self out of watching it and enjoying it and being able to watch again young Brooke in her prime it was worth it. I would give it a 5 out of 10.

This movie is actually pretty good for what it is (a romance novel basically) and provides an enjoyable, light romance with plenty of over-the-top adventure.Shields is very charming in the role of a wealthy, American, 1920's socialite with a dare-devil attitude and absolutely no experience with "real life". The daughter of the Packard mogul before the car is an American standard, she enters a race across the Sahara desert in order to secure the company's future. Partway through the race, she winds up getting kidnapped by John Rhys-Davies and is dragged off to his tribe's camp in the desert. Lambert plays the sheik of the tribe (Davies is his uncle and second in command), and is about to go to war with a neighboring tribe when Shields is captured. Instantly smitten with Shields, Lambert tries to take her from Davies, who refuses to give her up. Lambert threatens to take her as a wife so that he alone can lay claim to her, and thus begins a chain of events which ties not only his fate, but the fate of his tribe, to her. Shields, who of course is angry at getting kidnapped in the first place, is not happy when she finds out what Lambert has planned for her. She gets herself, her friends and eventually the entire tribe into tons of trouble trying to get away. The movie features horses, scorpions, jungle cats (er yes, but they are fun to watch), battles, romance, betrayal, kidnap, rescue and of course, a cross-country race.I tend to prefer strong female roles, and this character was awfully naive, but I enjoyed watching it anyway. If anyone else had played the part, it might have been irritating, but Shields managed to be charming throughout and relatively believable for the breadth of the role. Lambert is quite handsome, and the close work and romantic lighting of his eyes is often mesmerizing. There are lots of silly moments, relatively good action (though, the falling rocks are a bit much) and really enjoyable music. Ignoring the picture quality and all the technical marvels we enjoy today, it's relatively well-shot and edited and easy to watch.A good movie for a rainy day.

This is a fun movie with a little bit of everything: romance, adventure, treachery, war, comedy...you name it. Fate brings an American girl (Brooke Shields) named Dale to the Sahara Desert, hoping to win the famous Sahara off-road race in a custom built car that her recently deceased father designed and put together. A tribal war breaks out in the desert, wreaking havoc with her plans. She is kidnapped by Rasoul (John Rhys-Davies),a warlord for the Shombara tribe, and then claimed by the ruler of the Shombara tribe, a handsome young sheik named Jaffar (Lambert Wilson). Sparks fly between Dale and Jaffar from the moment they meet, but can they overcome all the obstacles? This film has beautiful desert scenery, the gorgeous Brooke Shields, exotically handsome Lambert Wilson, and some great character actors like John Rhys-Davies, John Mills, and Horst Buchholz. Some of the action and adventure scenes are pretty exciting, especially when Jaffar has to rescue Dale from a pit full of leopards. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie; it's great fun!

Ludicrous bodice-ripper starring the wooden Brook Shields as the kind of plucky romantic heroine who can change outfits in mid-kidnapping. Features such silliness as nomadic Bedouin chiefs who keep stone dungeons on hand, other Bedouin who have frosted lipstick and gold lame party outfits lying around, more Bedouin going on a human hunt using leopards instead of hounds (the leopards are kept on leashes where they can't chase anything), hairstyles that range from 1910 to 1983 (story set in the 1920's), incredible continuity problems with the trans-Sahara race that forms the basis of the plot (Brooke spends about a week in one spot, and suddenly the other drivers all appear at once; her two assistants appear and disappear randomly) etc. etc.Just about the dumbest, silliest, most badly acted, worst plotted excuse for a movie you'll ever see. Young Brooke Shields is so bad that you swear she couldn't get the lead in a a high school play, much less a real movie. Even by the low standards of the romance genre, it's pathetic.