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National Treasure (film) |
| National Treasure | |
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| Directed by | Jon Turteltaub |
| Produced by | Jerry Bruckheimer John Turteltaub |
| Written by | Story by Jim Kouf Oren Aviv Charles Segars Ted Elliott Terry Rossio Screenplay by Marianne & Cormac Wibberley |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage Diane Kruger Justin Bartha Sean Bean Jon Voight Harvey Keitel Christopher Plummer Yves Michel-Beneche Jason Earles |
| Music by | Trevor Rabin |
| Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
| Editing by | William Goldenberg |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista International |
| Release date(s) | November 19, 2004 |
| Running time | 131 min approx. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$100,000,0001 |
| Gross revenue | US$347,451,894 (worldwide) |
| Followed by | Book of Secrets |
National Treasure is the first movie in the National Treasure franchise and is a 2004 adventure film from Walt Disney Pictures written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub. It stars Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel and Christopher Plummer. It is an adventure movie set in the USA about a search for lost treasure, involving stealing the Declaration of Independence, which leads to a trail of clues and a back-story intertwined with the Knights Templar and the Freemasons.
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The story centers on Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), whose family believes in the legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and forgotten to all but a few. The first clue was given to Ben's great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas Gates by Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, saying simply, "The secret lies with Charlotte".
Using sophisticated computer arctic weather models, Ben, with his friend Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and financier Ian Howe (Sean Bean), finds the wreckage of a Colonial ship, the Charlotte, containing a Meerschaum pipe engraved with a riddle. After examining the riddle, Ben deduces that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. While Ben sees gaining access to such a highly guarded artifact as an obstacle, Ian finds no problem in stealing it. In the standoff, Ian escapes and the Charlotte explodes with Ben and Riley inside, nearly killing them.
They attempt to warn the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) at the National Archives, but no one takes them seriously, believing it to be too heavily guarded to be under any threat. Ben thinks otherwise, however, and decides to steal it to keep it from Ian. Ben and Riley manage to steal the Declaration during a 70th anniversary-gala, just before Ian arrives. Dr. Chase, who is holding a replica, is kidnapped by Ian who thinks she has the real one, and Ben has to engage in a car chase to rescue her. As she will not leave without the Declaration, and Ben will not let her leave with it, she is forced to go along with them.
Ben and Riley agree that the only place to hide from the police would be Ben's father's (Jon Voight) house. Despite his father's disbelief in the treasure, Ben manages to reveal an Ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration, referring to characters in the Silence Dogood letters. The coded message in the letters leads them to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where they find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin inside of a brick from the building. Ben examines the back of the Declaration with the glasses, to find another clue. After a short chase, Ian gets the Declaration from Riley and Abigail, and the FBI arrests Ben, who has the glasses.
When the FBI attempts to use Ben as bait to get the Declaration back, Ian arranges to have him escape by jumping from the deck of the USS Intrepid, into the Hudson River. Using Ben's father, Riley, and Abigail as leverage, Ian forces Ben to interpret the clue on the back of the declaration, a reference to a secret chamber under Trinity Church in New York City. When they arrive at a seemingly dead end, Ben's father makes up another clue to keep Ian going, telling him a lantern is the clue to the Old North Church in Boston, referencing Paul Revere's ride. Ian goes to Boston with his men, leaving everyone else to die in the caverns.
After Ian leaves, Ben reveals there is another exit that must be through the treasure room. They find a secret passage into another chamber. To their disappointment, they find it empty, and assume that the treasure was already moved. However, they realize a secondary exit must have been created in case of cave-ins. Ben examines the walls of the room, to find a hole the shape of the pipe from the Charlotte. This lock opens a door into the true treasure room, containing artifacts from all periods of history.
When they leave through the second exit and the FBI arrives, Ben discovers that the chief investigator, Special agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), is a Freemason. Ben proposes to give the treasure to various museums around the world, with credit being given to the entire Gates family and Riley, with Dr. Chase not being penalized for the theft of the Declaration. However, Sadusky says that someone has to go to prison for the theft of the Declaration, so they fly to Boston, where Ian and his men are breaking the lock to gain entry to the Old North Church. FBI agents emerge from hiding and arrest them under charges of "kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." The U.S. government offers Ben and his friends 10% of the treasure, but Ben only takes 1% and splits it with Riley. With his share, Ben and Abigail buy a mansion once owned by a man who knew Charles Carroll, and Riley buys a red Ferrari 360 Spider.
A special collector's edition, two-disc DVD set of the movie was released on December 18, 2007.[1].
Disney released Blu-ray Disc versions of National Treasure and its sequel, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, on May 20, 2008.2 Also, becomes Ben's love interest.
Although the DVD commentary stated that there were no plans for a sequel, the film's box office gross of an unexpected $347.5 million worldwide warranted a second film, which was given the greenlight in 2005. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, on DVD known as National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, was released on December 21, 2007.
Director Jon Turteltaub said that the filmmaking team will take its time on another National Treasure sequel,3 but Disney has already registered the domains for NationalTreasure3DVD.com and NationalTreasure4DVD.com.4 Though the second film ended with the question about page 47 of the President's book of secrets, Turteltaub responded in a press interview that the idea was not set in stone as the basis for National Treasure 3.5
| Preceded by "The Incredibles" |
List of Box Office#1 Movies November 21, 2004 - December 5, 2004 |
Succeeded by "Ocean's Twelve" |
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