National Treasure Film

[Rolan Sacco]

NationalTreasure is a 2004 American action-adventure heist film[2] released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf and the Wibberleys, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub. It is the first film in the National Treasure franchise and stars Nicolas Cage in the lead role, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha and Christopher Plummer. In the film, Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian, along with computer expert Riley Poole and archivist Abigail Chase, search for a massive lost Freemason treasure, which includes a map hidden on the back of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin Franklin Gates is an American historian, cryptographer, and treasure hunter. When Ben was young, his grandfather John told him that, in 1832, Charles Carroll passed on a secret clue to their ancestor of a fabled treasure hidden in America from ancient times to the Knights Templar, Founding Fathers and Freemasons. Carroll's clue leads anyone to the treasure with the phrase "the secret lies with Charlotte". While Ben is convinced by the story, his skeptical father, Patrick, dismisses it as nonsense.

Ben and his friend, computer expert Riley Poole, head an expedition financed by wealthy Ian Howe to find the Charlotte, revealed to be a ship lost in the Arctic. Within the ship, they find a meerschaum pipe, whose engravings reveal the next clue is on the Declaration of Independence. When Ian reveals himself as a crime boss and suggests stealing the Declaration, a fight ensues, and the group splits. Ben and Riley report Ian's plan to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Abigail Chase of the National Archives, but they don't believe them. Ben decides to protect the Declaration by removing it from the Archives' preservation room during a gala event before Ian does. Obtaining Abigail's fingerprints, he successfully obtains the Declaration, but he is spotted by Ian's group just as they break in to steal it. Ben tries to leave via the gift shop but has to pay for the Declaration when the cashier mistakes it for a souvenir copy. Suspecting something amiss, Abigail confronts Ben and takes back the document. Ian promptly kidnaps her, but Ben and Riley rescue Abigail, tricking Ian by leaving behind a souvenir copy of the Declaration. The FBI, led by Agent Sadusky, begins tracking Ben.

Going to Patrick's house, the trio studies the Declaration and discovers a book cipher written in invisible ink. The message refers to Benjamin Franklin's Silence Dogood letters. Patrick formerly owned them but donated them to the Franklin Institute. Paying a schoolboy to view the letters and decipher the code for them, Ben, Riley, and Abigail discover a message pointing to the bell tower of Independence Hall. Pursued by Ian, they find a brick containing a pair of spectacles with multiple colored lenses, which, when used to read the back of the Declaration, reveal a clue pointing to Trinity Church. Ian's associates chase the trio through Philadelphia until the FBI arrests Ben. Abigail and Riley lose the Declaration to Ian, but Abigail convinces Ian to help them rescue Ben in exchange for the next clue. Ian agrees, contacts the FBI, and arranges a meeting at the USS Intrepid, where they help Ben evade the FBI.

Later, Ben and Abigail start a relationship, and Riley is somewhat upset that Ben turned down the 10% finder's fee for the treasure. However, the 1% he "did" accept has still netted them all significant wealth.

David Dayan Fisher appears as Shaw, Stewart Finlay-McLennan as Powell, Oleg Taktarov as Viktor Shippen, and Stephen Pope as Phil McGregor (Ian's henchmen); Annie Parisse, Mark Pellegrino, Armando Riesco, and Erik King play agents Dawes, Ted Johnson, Hendricks, and Colfax, respectively. Don McManus appears as Dr. Stan Herbert, Arabella Field appears as Abigail's secretary. Sharon Wilkins portrays a butcher. Jason Earles portrays Thomas Gates, and Terrence Currier portrays a young version of Founding Father Charles Carroll.

By early 1999, it was revealed that Jon Turteltaub was developing National Treasure based upon an idea developed by Oren Aviv and Charles Segars in 1997, with a script by Jim Kouf.[5] By 2001, the project was relocated to Touchstone Pictures.[6]

In May 2003, Nicolas Cage was cast as the lead.[7] New drafts were written by nine scribers, including Cormac and Marianne Wibberley,[7] E. Max Frye, and Jon Turteltaub.[8] By October, Sean Bean was cast.[4]

National Treasure was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Utah. Most scenes were filmed on location, with the exceptions of the Independence Hall scene, portions of which were filmed at the replica of Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm, and the Arctic scene, which was filmed in Utah.[9]

The film's suggestion that the original Declaration of Independence still has clearly visible ink is inaccurate. The document's ink faded over time due to exposure to damaging lighting, with little ink still existing by 1876.[11][12]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2/4 stars, calling it "so silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line."[23] Academic David Bordwell has expressed a liking for the film, placing it in the tradition of 1950s Disney children's adventure movies,[24] and using it as the basis for an essay on scene transitions in classical Hollywood cinema.[25]

National Treasure was released on Disney DVD in May 2005. In keeping with the movie's theme, the DVD contains a "Bonus Treasure Hunt": viewers who watch the Special Features on the disc are rewarded with puzzles and codes that unlock more features.

To help promote Book of Secrets, a special collector's edition, two-disc DVD set of the movie was released on December 18, 2007. The set features a bonus disc containing additional deleted scenes and documentaries.[26]

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 green light in 2005. National Treasure: Book of Secrets was released on December 21, 2007.

In 2008, director Jon Turteltaub said that the filmmaking team would take its time on another National Treasure sequel.[28] In October 2013, Turteltaub confirmed that he, the studio, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and the actors all wanted to do a third film, saying: "We want to do the movie, Disney wants to do the movie. We're just having the damnedest time writing it. I'll bet that within two years, we'll be shooting that movie. I'd say we're about halfway there."[29] In May 2016, Cage confirmed the film was still in the writing process,[30] and in July 2018, Turtletaub reiterated that a script for a possible third film was "close", but Disney still was not completely sold on it.[31] In January 2020, it was announced that Chris Bremner, the writer of Bad Boys for Life, would write a new script.[32]

In May 2020, Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that, not only was there a third film in development with the original cast returning, but also that a Disney+ series was in the works with the same premise as the original, but focusing on a much younger cast.[33]

In an April 2022 "Ask Me Anything" thread on Reddit, Cage responded to a question about his involvement in possible future installments: "No, the priority was to turn it into a TV show so I would say probably not."[34][35]

The first film was a financial success at the box office.[1] While it was met with mixed reviews by critics, who compared the movie unfavorably to Indiana Jones and The Da Vinci Code,[2][3][4][5] audience response was positive, and the film has gained a positive legacy.[6][7] The second film was also met with mixed critical reception, and had specific criticism directed at its use of similar plot devices,[8][9] believability,[10] and pacing.[11] The film was met with positive response from audiences and made significant ticket revenue at the box office, and profit then and from further distribution for The Walt Disney Company.[1][12][13][14]

Benjamin "Ben" Franklin Gates is a member of a family of treasure hunters. At a young age, his grandfather tells him the legend of the hidden treasures of the Founding Fathers of the USA. His grandfather teaches him that the men and women of American history buried the treasure somewhere within the country and have hidden highly cryptic clues throughout various lands within the nation's borders.

Years later, after a dead-end in the family's momentum of discovery and generations of failed attempts to progress the research, the Gates family has publicly acquired a reputation of conspiracy theorists who profess myth. Ben, however, believes he has found a new lead to solve the mystery of the treasure, which will allow him to prove that his family's legacy isn't a joke. One of the clues lead him to believe a map is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. In a race to find the historical discovery and to preserve it in a national museum, Ben must outpace the villainous plans of his former associate-turned-enemy named Ian Howe. Meanwhile, the FBI grows suspicious of his actions. Upon learning that Ian intends to take the document and find the treasure for personal gain, Ben decides to steal the file himself in order to preserve it, as well as the national treasure.

Several years since Benjamin "Ben" Franklin Gates found the Knight's Templar national treasure and gained fame and wealth from a self-imposed minimal 1% finder's fee, the Gates family finds themselves once again defending their family name.

Competing scavenger Mitch Wilkinson claims that he has learned from a fragment of a missing page of John Wilkes Booth's diary, that the Gates family ancestor was a conspirator to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Together the Gates family contends with Wilkinson, who also states that hints to the whereabouts of the Lost City of Gold were found in the journal. Outraged by his familial claims Ben, his ex-girlfriend Abigail, and his best friend Riley (who has become a famous writer), travel the globe to France, England, and Washington, D.C. where their plans escalate. Along the way the team collect clues to redeem the family name, and to prove his honor.

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