One of the surprise blockbusters of 2004, National Treasure evokes images of the Indiana Jones trilogy with its adventurous search for a mysterious hidden treasure. But more than likely, the film is the result of the massive commercial success of a "quest for the holy grail" novel entitled The Da Vinci Code.
Since its release, Dan Brown's book has sold over twenty million copies, and its plot concerning a historian-turned-treasure hunter who uncovers ancient clues put in place by the Knights Templar and the Masons that hold the key to a treasure of unimaginable consequences from the era of the Crusades while doing so with the aid of a beautiful woman curator of the very archive which holds the crucial clues to its discovery, all while an evil competitor who seeks the treasure for himself follows on his heels - whew!- is a plot device that's eerily similar to Dan Brown's bestseller. But National Treasure takes place in the United States instead of Europe, so you can rest assured that the book's success had nothing to do with the movie's production (wink, wink). Anyway, regardless of its origin, National Treasure is an entertaining adventure more than worthy of a movie-goer's time.
National Treasure follows the exploits of Benjamin "Ben" Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), the youngest in a long line of historians who believe that America's Founding Fathers were the guardians of a massive treasure dating back to the era of the Crusades. Despite his father Patrick's (Jon Voight) pessimism, Ben investigates a clue provided by his grandfather John Adams Gates (Christopher Plummer) - a clue handed down by their distant relative Charles Carroll, one of the last surviving signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Working with his employer Ian Howe (Sean Bean), Ben unlocks the mystery of the clue which leads to his belief that a treasure map is encoded in invisible ink on the backside of the Declaration of Independence.
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Article comments
1 - r.skelly
I have been searching for conclusion to "National Treasure". Is there an ending and when will it be shown?
Thank you, Randall Skelly.
2 - rlsbee
There was a TV Show about the original National Treasure movie. It was shown on the History Channel or Discovery, I'm not sure which. I've looked evrywhere and have written to both Channels looking for a copy of that TV show. I've also hoped that a version of the DVD would come out with the show as an 'extra'. So far, no luck. Anyone know where I can get a copy of that show?
3 - undapar
What was the name of the original movie featuring references to the free masons? I felt the recent sequal was more Raiders of the lost ark than a sequal to the original, which I thought was great.