National Treasure (2004)

A historian races to find the legendary Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries.

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers:

Jim Kouf (screenplay), Cormac Wibberley (screenplay)

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha

1 win & 9 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, a pedigree of the treasure hunter family who learns about a national treasure from his grandfather. The treasure is stashed somewhere in the country and the clue leading to the treasure chest is cyphered and scattered all over the country. Benjamin's father abhors treasure hunting, as he himself lost 20 years in chasing the treasure without success. Plot takes a twist when Ben's accomplice Ian decides to steal 'Declaration of Independence' for the next clue. Ben refuses to Ian's plan and they become hostile. When Ben tips FBI about the possible theft, they refused to believe him. Ben determines to steal the 'Declaration of Independence' in order to protect it from Ian. Ben meets 'Abigail Chase' the curator of the archives when he steals the document. Rest of the story is about how Ben, his partner Riley and Abigail decrypts the clues and rescues the national treasure without getting to the hands of Ian.

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | declaration of independence | treasure hunter | treasure hunt | secret society | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action violence and some scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

19 November 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

National Treasure

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,142,554, 21 November 2004

Gross USA:

$173,008,894

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$347,512,318

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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book that Ben shows Riley in the Library of Congress, that has the information about the Preservation Room, is called "The Earth System". It is some sort of a textbook, and it is authored by Lee Kump, James F. Kasting, and Robert G. Crane. The ISBN is 0131420593.

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Goofs

When Ben escapes from the police and he's meeting with Ian and they are talking outside the church, in one scene there are cars in the background. Then the camera turns back to look at Ian and then goes back to Ben and there are no cars.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Charles Barkley/Alicia Keys (2010)

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Soundtracks

String Quartet Op. 33 No. 2 in E Flat ('The Joke')
Written by Franz Joseph Haydn (as Franz Joseph Haydn)
Performed by The Lindsays
Courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group Ltd.

User Reviews

Fairly entertaining

I am NOT, repeat, NOT, a Nicolas Cage fan, mainly because he relies too much on action to carry his films (instead of his acting), but this is a pretty decent flick. There is enough action and suspense to keep the viewer's interest and also to maintain the pace of the film. There's actually not very much actual violence (strange for a Cage film!), but the story is so well-written that even Cage can pull it off without any gore. The basic story has been reviewed several times, but it's the continuation of a 200 year old treasure hunt. Cage must solve riddle after riddle to find the ultimate clue to the treasure's whereabouts. The clue is finally determined to be on the back of the Declaration of Independence. How Cage figures the clue that leads him there is pretty far-fetched but its the key to the story. If you buy into that, the rest of the riddles are acceptable. There's also a double cross plot headed by the great Sean Bean that provides a lot of the action. The lovely Diane Kruger portrays the poor lady who gets caught up in the middle of all this intrigue. Overall, except for the figuring out of the clue found in the ship (the viewer just has to assume that he's that far above the rest of us in intelligence), a pretty exciting film with a little something for everyone.