National Treasure (2004)

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers (WGA):

Jim Kouf (story) and
Oren Aviv (story) ...

Release Date:

19 November 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

The greatest adventure history has ever revealed.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Treasure | Clue | FBI | Declaration Of Independence | Treasure Hunter

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14	5:35 PM	USA
Sun. Nov. 15	2:03 PM	USA

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Ben 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

Also Known As:

Sonomo (Philippines: English title) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for action violence and some scary images.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Canada:G (Quebec) | Denmark:11 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Taiwan:PG-12 | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

The Liberty Bell shown in the movie was actually made of styrofoam. The movie was shot a few days before the Liberty Bell was put in. This is proven by the fact that protective shades were installed in the observation window when the bell was installed. In the movie Ian looks exactly where the shades are supposed to be if the real bell was there.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben and Abigail are putting on their new clothes Abigail's jeans are turned/rolled up two to three inches. In all future scenes the jeans are hemmed to an appropriate length. There is no mention of having the clothes "tailored" nor would adventurers on the run take the time to have that type of thing done.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Spin off "Treasure Hunters" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Forget It

Indiana Jones minus the gore

This one gets my vote for the most enjoyable flick of 2004 (together with The Indredibles). You'd think it's just for kiddies, but any adult capable of just going to the cinema to enjoy themselves should be able to sit back, gobble the popcorn, suck the straw, nibble on the ice- cream and just have a couple of hours of unproblematic mania—with good and bad guys, daring thefts, lost treasures, romance, chases, near escapes, disasters and rescues and everything you'd expect in this kind of Bruckheimer production.

The whole thing is paced just right, the villains are just bad enough, and the goodies are nobles with a roguish streak. The cheesy bits are mellowed with a dash of wry humor, and those that aren't: well, just take them, don't cringe and, again, have fun!

I came out of this movie smiling, as did my wife and elder daughter (that would make all of us into definite 'adults'). Since a smile was what we all wanted that day, we got exactly what we asked for.