Honestly, if you mentions the movie Sahara today, most people immediately picture Matthew McConaughey shirtless in 2005. But real cinephiles—or anyone who lived through the early 80s—know there is another one. A weirder one. The 1983 Sahara movie with Brooke Shields is a fever dream of desert racing, mustache-based disguises, and Cannon Films ambition that basically defines "spectacular failure."
It was supposed to be huge.
Coming off the massive success of Raiders of the Lost Ark, every studio in Hollywood wanted their own desert adventure. Cannon Films, run by the legendary (and notoriously frugal) cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, decided to swing for the fences. They had the biggest star in the world at the time: Brooke Shields. She was fresh off The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love. She was everywhere.
The plan? Put her in a vintage race car, send her to the desert, and watch the money roll in.
The Mark Thatcher Connection and a Bizarre Plot
Most people don't realize that this movie was actually "inspired" by real-life headlines. In January 1982, Mark Thatcher—the son of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher—went missing for six days during the Paris-Dakar Rally. He was eventually found safe, but the drama of a high-profile figure lost in the dunes gave Menahem Golan an idea.
He didn't want a biopic, though. He wanted a romance.
The plot of the Sahara movie with Brooke Shields follows Dale Gordon (Shields), an heiress in 1927. Her father dies before he can compete in the "Trans-African Auto Race." Being a dutiful daughter, Dale decides to take his place. There's just one problem: women aren't allowed to race.
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Her solution? A pencil-thin mustache.
She glues on some facial hair, tucks her hair into a cap, and honestly, nobody notices. It is one of those "movie logic" moments that makes you want to reach through the screen. For about three scenes, she's "one of the guys." Then, inevitably, the disguise comes off, she gets captured by warring tribes, and finds herself in the middle of a desert power struggle.
Cast and Crew: A Mix of Legends and Newcomers
The production was a weird collision of talent.
- Director: Andrew V. McLaglen (known for Westerns).
- The Sheik: Lambert Wilson, who would later play The Merovingian in The Matrix.
- The Villain: John Rhys-Davies (Sallah from Indiana Jones!) showed up as a tribal leader.
- The Music: Believe it or not, the legendary Ennio Morricone did the score.
Why Production Was a Literal Nightmare
Filming wasn't just difficult; it was dangerous. They shot mostly in the Negev Desert in Israel. Brooke Shields later admitted that the experience of living there for four months was way more memorable than the movie itself.
She almost died.
During one stunt, Shields was thrown from a car and landed on her back, bruising her ribs severely. She has cited this as the closest she’s ever come to death on a set. Beyond the injuries, there was constant friction. Her mother, Teri Shields, was an executive producer and reportedly clashed with the director so much that Menahem Golan had to step in and direct some scenes himself.
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They even looked at John F. Kennedy Jr. for the male lead. Can you imagine the tabloid explosion if that had happened? Teri Shields eventually passed on him because she thought the press would be too much and, more realistically, "his mother wouldn't let him."
The Valentino Connection
Even if the script was a mess, they wanted Brooke to look incredible. They hired Valentino to design the period-accurate 1920s fashions. The designer loved the era, calling 1925 a "fantastic moment" for women's style.
The result? You have a movie where a woman is supposedly racing through sand and grit for her life, yet her hair is perfect and her outfits look like they belong on a Vogue cover in 1927. It added to the surreal, campy quality that makes the film a cult watch today.
The Box Office Disaster
When the movie finally hit theaters in 1984 (after being delayed from a December '83 slot), it tanked. Hard.
The budget was somewhere between $12 million and $25 million—a massive sum for Cannon at the time. It made about **$1.4 million** total. The critics were brutal. The Chicago Tribune famously called it "a dog."
Brooke Shields even managed a rare feat at the Golden Raspberry Awards: she won Worst Supporting Actor. Why supporting actor? Because she spent part of the movie dressed as a man. The Razzies weren't exactly known for their subtlety back then.
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Is It Actually Worth Watching?
If you go in expecting Lawrence of Arabia, you're going to be miserable.
But if you go in wanting a high-budget, beautifully shot, slightly nonsensical 80s adventure, it’s actually kind of fun. The Ennio Morricone score is genuinely good (because he's a genius), and the cinematography of the Israeli desert is stunning.
It represents a specific moment in Hollywood history when "star power" was thought to be enough to overcome a thin script and a mustache disguise. It's a curiosity. It's a relic.
How to Revisit the 1983 Sahara
If you want to track down the Sahara movie with Brooke Shields, keep these things in mind:
- Check the Year: Don't accidentally rent the Matthew McConaughey version unless you really want to see Steve Zahn.
- Look for the Blu-ray: Recent boutique labels have released restored versions that actually make those Valentino outfits and desert vistas pop.
- Appreciate the Stunts: Knowing Brooke did many of her own stunts—and almost died doing them—gives her performance a lot more weight than critics gave her credit for in 1984.
The best way to enjoy this film is to view it as a piece of "Cannon Films" history. It was the studio's attempt to be "prestige," and even though it failed, it did so with a level of 80s earnestness you just don't see anymore.
To dive deeper into Brooke Shields' filmography from this era, check out her documentary Pretty Baby, which puts the chaotic production of movies like this into much-needed perspective regarding her career and her relationship with her mother.