National Treasure (2004)

A treasure hunter is in hot pursuit of a mythical treasure that has been passed down for centuries, while his employer turned enemy is onto the same path that he's on.

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers:

Jim Kouf (screenplay), Cormac Wibberley (screenplay),

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Benjamin Franklin Gates
Diane Kruger	...	Abigail Chase
Justin Bartha	...	Riley Poole
Sean Bean	...	Ian Howe
Jon Voight	...	Patrick Gates
Harvey Keitel	...	Sadusky
Christopher Plummer	...	John Adams Gates
David Dayan Fisher	...	Shaw
Stewart Finlay-McLennan	...	Powell
Oleg Taktarov	...	Shippen
Stephen A. Pope	...	Phil (as Stephen Pope)
Annie Parisse	...	Agent Dawes
Mark Pellegrino	...	Agent Johnson
Armando Riesco	...	Agent Hendricks
Erik King	...	Agent Colfax

Storyline

Benjamin Franklin Gates descends from a family of treasure-seekers who've all hunted for the same thing: a war chest hidden by the Founding Fathers after the Revolutionary War. Ben's close to discovering its whereabouts, as is his competition, but the FBI is also hip to the hunt.

---

Plot Keywords:

treasure | clue | fbi | treasure hunter | declaration of independence | 

---

Taglines:

In order to break the code, one man will have to break all the rules.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action violence and some scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

19 November 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

La leyenda del tesoro perdido

Filming Locations:

DAR - Memorial Continental Hall.- 1776 D Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,071,825 (Japan) (18 March 2005)

Gross:

$173,005,002 (USA) (27 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Junction Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While Gates is attempting to decipher the first clue on board the Charlotte, after Shaw suggests "Prison," Riley says, "Albuquerque. See, I can do it too. Snorkel." This is a reference to the 1998 'Weird Al' Yankovic song, "Albuquerque," which talks about a man's journey to Albuquerque with his lucky snorkel.

---

Goofs

When entering the vault under Trinity Church, they light torches that have been there for more than 200 years. Oil would not have remained flammable for that long.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Young Ben Gates: Grandpa!
John Adams Gates: You're not supposed to be up here, looking at that.

---

Crazy Credits

The Jerry Bruckheimer Productions logo sequence blacks out before it finishes running.

---

Connections

Referenced in You Know What's Bullshit: DVD's (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"Dreaming"
Written by Norbert Pawlicki, Hans Salomon
Courtesy of Associated Production Music LLC

User Reviews

fun adventure

This was a fun film, sort of like an Indian Jones movie, but the treasure hunter must figure out clues. I'm sure the reason this was made and released now has a lot to do with the Da Vinci Code. The plot is just like it except instead of involving religious history, the clues center around American history, and namely the founding fathers.

So Nick Cage, plays Ben Gates, the treasure hunter whose family has been looking for the treasure of the knights templer for years. One of his relatives possessed the last remaining clue from a dying Mason. So, the movie starts with Cage finally solving that clue, and the film goes from there. Of course, we have the evil billionaire guy who wants the treasure for himself and the funny sidekick. But, I think the sidekick failed because he wasn't all that funny. The movie could have used some more humor. And of course, Gates hooks up with a beautiful woman along the way to help him solve the clues, which sounds just like Da Vinci.

It is unbelievable that someone could just come up with the answer to these difficult clues after thinking about them for 2 minutes, but we don't have time to let the characters ponder them for a few months. It is meant to be fun, so forget about the plot holes. The whole set beneath the church looked very neat, but I would have to think all those wooden stairs would have been rotten by then and no one could walk on them. But who cares, it's fun.

And the theft of the Declaration of Independence was reminiscent of Ocean's 11. Funny how anyone can steal anything in a film, forget locked down security.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like adventure films, I recommend it. It is not like Tomb Raider, which some have compared it to. Tomb Raider was horrible. This is more like Indiana Jones.