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National Treasure
Directed by	Jon Turteltaub
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer Jon Turteltaub
Written by	Screenplay: Jim Kouf Marianne Wibberley Cormac Wibberley Story: Jim Kouf Oren Aviv Charles Segars Uncredited: Ted Elliott Terry Rossio
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	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	United Kingdom: October 15, 2004 United States: November 19, 2004
Running time	131 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$100,000,000[1]
Gross revenue	US$347,451,894 (worldwide)
Followed by	National Treasure: Book of Secrets

National Treasure is a 2004 adventure film from The Walt Disney Company 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 is the first film in the National Treasure franchise and stars Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, and Christopher Plummer. It is an adventure movie set in the United States about a search for a lost treasure, loosely based on the myth of a code on the back of the Declaration of Independence and involving stealing the document, which leads to a trail of clues and a back-story intertwined with the Knights Templar and the Freemasons.

Plot

The story centers on Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), a historian and amateur cryptologist with a mechanical engineering degree from MIT and an American history degree from Georgetown who comes from a long line of treasure hunters that believe 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 grandfather Thomas Gates (Jason Earles) in 1832 by Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, saying, "The secret lies with Charlotte." Ben is given this clue in 1974 by his grandfather, John Adams Gates (Christopher Plummer). Though John is too old to search anymore and his son and Ben's father, Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight), has stopped believing in the legend, Ben swears that he will take up the Gates family quest.

Thirty years later, using computerised 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 (he says he only wants to "borrow" it). This results in a standoff, during which the ship's gunpowder is accidentally ignited. Ian and his assistant Shaw escape and the Charlotte explodes with Ben and Riley hiding inside a smuggler's hold. After Ian rides off in their snowcats, Ben and Riley escape the Arctic as they walk to an Inuit village not far and take a flight back home.

Ben and Riley attempt to warn the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., but no one takes them seriously, believing the Declaration of Independence to be too heavily guarded to be under any threat. Ben thinks otherwise, 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 sees Ben with the Declaration and is tricked by him to take a replica that he just bought, but she is kidnapped by Ian, who thinks she has the real declaration, and Ben and Riley have to engage in a car chase to rescue her. Ian gets the Declaration, but then discovers that he took the replica. As Dr. Chase will not leave without the Declaration, and Ben will not let her leave with it, she is forced to go along with them.

Ben realises the FBI is likely already at his home. He and Riley agree that the only place to go would be his father's house, since he has Silence Dogood letters, written by Benjamin Franklin. Despite Patrick's disbelief in the treasure (he wasted 20 years looking for it and never found it), Ben manages to reveal an Ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration, with Abigail performing the test herself, since she is trained to handle antique documents. The ciphers referr to characters in the letters, which Ben's father donated to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Patrick is curious too, although very cynical about the clue and shocked when he discovers what they're running tests on.

The coded message in the letters leads them to Independence Hall in Philadelphia. They look at the clock tower on the back of a $100 bill for the time, but believe they are too late for the tower's shadow alignment (at 2:22) with the correct place to find the next clue. Riley points out that daylight saving time wasn't invented until after the image on the back of the bill was made (although he takes a while to do it, because he wants to take in the moment of knowing something that Ben and Abigail didn't). There they find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin inside a hollow 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, a feat not too difficult for Ben, a graduate of the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center. Using Patrick, 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. As the group explores the chamber, a structural collapse causes Shaw to fall to his death. When they arrive at a seemingly dead end, Patrick makes up another clue to keep Ian going, telling him a lantern is the clue that leads to the Old North Church in Boston, referencing Paul Revere's ride. Ian goes to Boston with his men, leaving everyone else in the caverns.

After Ian leaves, Ben reveals there must be another exit 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. While Ben is discouraged, the others all vow to keep looking, including his father, whose faith in the treasure was restored by the discovery. Ben then realises another 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 many periods of history.

When they leave through the second exit and the FBI arrives after Ben calls them, Ben discovers that the chief investigator, Special agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), is wearing a Freemason's ring. 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, and Ben not going to prison. 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 attempting to break into the Old North Church. FBI agents emerge from hiding and arrest them under charges of "kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." Ian realizes he was tricked, especially when he sees Ben nearby.

The film ends with Riley, Abigail, and Ben discussing another museum opening where they've been invited. Riley mentions that Ben was offered ten percent of the treasure's worth, but Ben says that would have been too much. The one percent he accepted, and split with Riley, was enough for Ben and Abigail to buy the mansion once owned by Charles Carroll (where Thomas Gates worked for him). Riley drives off in his new red Ferrari 360 Spider. Abigail gives Ben a map; he asks where it leads, and she gives him a suggestive smile and they run towards the house.

A film set for one of the final scenes

Clues and their meanings

• "The secret lies with Charlotte" — refers to a ship that ended up frozen and preserved in the ice cap north of the Arctic Circle.
• "The legend writ, the stain affected. The key in Silence undetected. Fifty-five in iron pen, Mr. Matlack can't offend" — Written on the stem of a meerschaum pipe. The pipe, found in a cask of gunpowder guarded by a skeletal captain, needed to be dipped in ink or a similar substance (in the film, blood is used) and then rolled across paper to read the clue, in the manner of a cylinder seal. The clue refers to the Declaration of Independence as well as the Silence Dogood Letters.
• Ottendorf cipher on back of Declaration of Independence — Cipher where the key is the Silence Dogood letters. The cipher was written as a series of numbers (separated by dashes): the page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line (disregarding spaces and punctuation). This piece of information is withheld from Ian at the beginning of the movie.
  • Ottendorf cipher solution — "The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow" — refers to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
• $100 bill — The image of Independence Hall on the back supplies the specific time (2:22) to be at Independence Hall to find the next clue. Ben and team go to Independence Hall at 3:22 Eastern daylight saving time because daylight saving was not established until World War I, as mentioned by Riley. Therefore, in 1776 when the painting was done, it would have been 2:22.
  

  

  Notice the time is 2:22
• Ocular Device — Found in a hollow brick carved with the Masonic Square and Compasses when the shadow from Independence Hall points to a specific brick in a nearby wall, the Ocular Device is needed to see the map in its entirety.
• "Heere At The Wall" and the Trinity Church symbol — Found on the map when viewed through the Ocular Device, refers to Trinity Church in New York City on the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway which was originally called "D'Heere Street" by the original Dutch settlers.
• "Beneath Parkington Lane" — Found on the map when viewed through the Ocular Device when the lenses are adjusted. This refers to a Master Mason entombed in the Trinity Church Mausoleum, his tomb concealing the entrance to the underground location where the treasure was hidden: a secret temple of the Masons.
• "Through The All-Seeing Eye" and the The Pipe — Pressing an eye engraved into the wall allowed the group to enter a hidden room, which was empty. As the final clue, the pipe was not only a clue to the Declaration of Independence, but it is also the key to unlock the treasure room. The bowl of the pipe needed to be placed inside an imprint in the wall, which then allowed the stem of the pipe to turn the lock. The pipe bowl was then pushed to unlock the room.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates
• Justin Bartha as Riley Poole
• Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase
• Sean Bean as Ian Howe
• Jon Voight as Patrick Henry Gates
• Harvey Keitel as FBI Special Agent Peter Sadusky
• Christopher Plummer as John Adams Gates
• Yves Michel-Beneche as Museum Boy
• Jason Earles as Thomas Gates
• David Dayan Fisher as Shaw
• Stewart Finlay-McLennan as Powell
• Oleg Taktarov as Victor
• Stephen A. Pope as Phil
• Matthew Li as Henry
• Hunter Gomez as Young Ben Gates

Reception

The film received a mixed reaction from critics, some of whom lauded it as a fun, straightforward family adventure, while others ridiculed its numerous implausibilities and unbelievable plot twists. Roger Ebert gave National Treasure two stars (out of four), calling it "so silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line."^[2] Academic David Bordwell has expressed a liking for the film, placing it in the tradition of 1950s Disney children's adventure movies^[3], and using it as the basis for an essay on scene transitions in classical Hollywood cinema^[4].

The film currently holds a 44% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus being "that National Treasure is no treasure, but it's a fun ride for those who can forgive its highly improbable plot."^[5]

Home video releases

Collector's Edition DVD

A special collector's edition, two-disc DVD set of the movie was released on December 18, 2007.[3].

Blu-ray Disc

Disney released Blu-ray Disc versions of National Treasure and its sequel, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, on May 20, 2008.^[6]

Soundtrack

Track listing

Sequels

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

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.

National Treasure 3

Director Jon Turteltaub said that the filmmaking team will take its time on another National Treasure sequel,^[7] but Disney has already registered the domains for NationalTreasure3DVD.com and NationalTreasure4DVD.com.^[8] 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.^[9] In an online press release Director Jon Turteltaub set a time table setting 2011 as the slated release date.^[10]

See also

Crew members altering the natural light for filming an indoor scene

• United States Declaration of Independence
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Beale ciphers
• Arnold Cipher
• Baron Ottendorf
• National Treasure franchise

References

External links

• National Treasure at the Internet Movie Database
• National Treasure at Allmovie
• National Treasure at Rotten Tomatoes
• National Treasure at Box Office Mojo
• The National Archives "Our National Treasure" website
• Nicolas Cage interview for National Treasure at Movie Hole
• Secret Methods and Techniques - Intelligence letters - From the collections at Clements Library

From Wikiquote

National Treasure is a 2004 film that follows Benjamin Franklin Gates, a man whose family has a history of searching for a near-limitless treasure, one his father (and just about everyone else) believes is a mystery. When he finally discovers a real clue, he must protect it, the treasure, and a precious national document from his former partner.

Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Written by Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv, and Charles Segars (story); Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley (screenplay).

Benjamin Franklin Gates

• If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

Dialogue

Ian: [about the Declaration of Independence] We could borrow it.

Ben: Steal it? I don't think so.

Ian: Ben, the treasure of the Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures.

Ben: Oh, I didn't know that. Really?

Ian: Look, Ben... I understand your bitterness. I really do. You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure,only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that.

Ben: How?

Ian: We all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine are limited to writing checks, do you? In a life, I've arranged several operations of questionable legality.

Shaw: I'd take his word for it if I was you.

Ian: So don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements.

Ben: No!

Ian: I could really use your help here.

Ben: Ian, I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence.

Ian: Alright. From this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance. [signals Shaw to ready gun to which Ben nervously laughs]

Riley: Hey!

Ben: What are you going to do? Are you going to shoot me, Shaw? Well, you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle; information you don't have, I do. I'm the only one who can solve it.

Shaw: He's bluffing.

Ben: We play poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff.

Ian: Tell me what I need, or I'll shoot your friend. [Shaw points gun at Riley]

Riley: Hey!

Ian: Quiet, Riley. Your job's finished here.

[Ben lights flare, Shaw turns gun back to Ben and looks astonished along with Ian]

Ben: Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up.

Riley: Ben?

Ian What happens when the flare burns down? [Ben looks questionably] You just tell me what I need to know.

Ben: You need to know... If Shaw can catch.

[throws flare, Riley squints scared, Ian catches it before it hits gunpowder]

Ian: Nice try, though. [coat sleeve catches on fire and drops flare on gunpowder]

Ben: A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite-and had their entrails cut out and burned! [brief pause] So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right... [nodding] what they knew was right.

Riley Poole: OK Ben. Pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over twenty million books, and they're all saying the same exact thing: listen to Riley. What we have here is an entire layout of the Archives: sort of builder's blueprints. We've got construction manuals, phone lines, water and sewage. It's all right here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it is surrounded by guards...and video monitors... and little families from Iowa... and little kids on their eighth grade field trip. And underneath an inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4 foot thick concrete, steel-plated vault that happens to be equipped with a electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial systems.

Ben Gates: You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb.

Riley Poole: Edison?

Ben Gates: And when asked about it, he said "I didn't fail; I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb," but he only needed one way to make it work: the Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?

Riley Poole: Delicious jams and jellies?

Ben Gates: No, that's where they clean, repair, and maintain all the documents and their storage housings when they are not on display of in the vault. Now, when the case needs work, they take it out of the vault and directly across the hall and into the Preservation Room. The best time for us or Ian to steal it would be during the gala this weekend, when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs; but we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there is much less security.

Riley Poole: Well...uh...Ian...Preservation, hmmmm. Oh this might be possible.

Ben Gates: It might.

Riley: [after Ben decides to steal the Declaration] This is... huge. [Beat] Prison... huge. You are gonna go to prison. You know that, right?

Ben: Yeah, probably.

Riley: Well... that would... bother most people.

[Abigail is freaking out, thinking that Ian has the Declaration]

Ben: They don't have it.

[Pulls the Declaration out to show her]

Ben: See, now can you please stop shouting?

Abigail: Verdammt! Give me that!

Ben: You know something? You're shouting again.

Riley: I'm pretty sure she was swearing, too.

Ben: Well, I probably deserved that.

Abigail: Just give me the Declaration!

Ben: You're still shouting. And it's really starting to annoy. You would do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance.

Abigail: If that's the real Declaration, what did they get?

Ben: A souvenir. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. Actually, I had to pay for the real one and the duplicate, so you owe me $35, plus tax.

Riley: Genius.

Abigail: What do you see?

Ben: 2:22.

Abigail: What time is it now?

Clothing Store Clerk: Almost 3.

Abigail: [sighs] We missed it.

Riley: No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because... you don't know this? I know something about history that you don't know.

Ben: I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley.

Riley: Hold on one second, let me just take in this moment. [takes a deep breath] This is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Well, except now, of course--

Abigail: Riley!

Riley: All right! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 p.m. now that means that in 1776 it would be 2 p.m.

Ben: Riley, you're a genius.

Riley: Do you actually know who the first person to come up with the idea of daylight savings time was?

Abigail and Ben: Benjamin Franklin.

[Riley stomps his foot in disappointment]

Ian: Hello, Ben. How are you?

Ben: Um, chained to a desk.

Ian: Sorry to hear that. I want you to meet me on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid. You know where that is?

Ben: New York.

Ian: Meet me there at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. And bring those glasses you found at Independence Hall. Yeah, I know about the glasses. We can take a look at the Declaration, and then you can be on your way.

Ben: And I'm supposed to believe that?

Ian: I told you from the start, I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it. And the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte.

Ben: I'll be there.

Ian: And tell the FBI agents listening in on this call if they want the Declaration back, and not just a box of confetti, then you'll come alone.

[they find a giant underground staircase]

Powell: How do a bunch of people with hand tools build all this?

Ben: The same way the built the pyramids, the Great Wall of China.

Riley: Yeah... the aliens helped them.

Abigail: You can't just leave us here.

Ian: Yes, I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue.

Ben: There isn't another clue.

Riley: Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?

[Ian Howe points his gun at Riley]

Ian: Don't speak again.

Riley: Okay...

Ian: The clue. Where's the treasure? Ben?

Patrick Gates: The lantern.

Ben: Dad...

Patrick Gates: The status quo has changed, son.

Ben: Don't.

Patrick Gates: It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue.

Ian: What does it mean?

Ben: Boston. It's Boston.

Patrick Gates: The Old North Church, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look.

Ian: Thank you.

Patrick Gates: Hey, you have to take us with you.

Ian: Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry.

Patrick Gates: What if we lied?

Ian: Did you?

Ben: What if there's another clue?

Ian: Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben.

Riley: [standing next to a statue in treasure room] It's a blueish-green man... with a strange looking gotee. I'm guessing that's signifigant. [approaches and embraces the statue]

[after finding treasure in the treasure room]

Abigail:[seeing Riley cry softly, staring into the distance] Riley, are you crying?

Riley: Look. Stairs. [sighs]

Riley: For the record, Ben, I like the house.

Ben: You know, I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met...

Riley: Someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful. [puts on a pair of sunglasses and starts the car] Could have had a bigger house.

Riley: [After they find the treasure] They offered you ten percent, man. Ten percent.

Ben: Tell you what- next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you call the shots.

Riley: What do you care? You got the girl. Enjoy your spoils while I sit on one percent. Half of one percent, actually. [Jumps into red Ferrari]

Ben: [Looking at Ferrari] I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley.

Taglines

• The greatest adventure history has ever revealed.

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

• The clues are right in front of your eyes.

Cast

• Nicholas Cage — Benjamin Franklin Gates
• Justin Bartha — Riley Poole
• Diane Kruger — Abigail Chase
• 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 Pope — Phil
• Annie Parisse — Agent Dawes
• Mark Pellegrino — Agent Johnson
• Armando Riesco — Agent Hendricks
• Erik King — Agent Colfax
• Hunter Gomez — Young Ben Gates
• Sharon Wilkins — Butcher Lady
• Yves Michel-Beneche — Museum Kid

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

National Treasure (film)

• National Treasure quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• The official National Treasure site