Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.. (Winston Churchill)
Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.. (Winston Churchill)
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Everyone dreams of finding treasure some time in their life; the anticipation, the adventure, notoriety and boundless wealth. This common dream has inspired films for centuries including Treasure Island, Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, to name but a few. National Treasure, released in the UK in December 2004, is the latest to hit the big screen.
National Treasure is set for the main in modern-day Washington DC. The script was put together by no less than nine witers.including Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv and Cormac & Marianne Wibberley.
Of course, there has to be a somewhat feasible story behind the existence of the treasure. The main character, Benjamin Franklin Gates played by Nicholas Cage, is the great grandson of a coachman to one of the Founding Fathers. He discovers the existence of a treasure. The treasure is the fabled ancient treasure found during the Crusades by the Knight’s Templar, passed to the Masons for protection and finally onto the Founding Fathers. The story is passed down from generation to generation of the Gates family
as each strives to find the hidden treasure. The plot is based on a very slight element of truth. It is known that the Knight’s Templar did uncover ancient artifacts in the tombs below the Old Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades. Here though fact ends and fiction then sets in. How and why the treasure was taken to America is left to imagination.
Benjamin Franklin Gates is just the person to achieve the family quest and find the treasure. He discovers one cryptic clue after another and is quick minded enough to solve the clues in a matter of minutes! . But he needs help (for the purpose of entertainment anyway). He enlists the help of a partner, billionaire and baddie Ian Howe played by Sean Bean, to fund his adventures that include diving in a sunken sailing ship in the Artic Circle: Howe betrays him when he thinks the treasure has been found wanting the treasure for himself. Then there is the lovely but gullible heroine and love-interest, National Archivist, Dr Abigail Chase played by Diane Kruger: at first unhelpful but is eventually won round. And least but not least is Gate’s trusty and loyal sidekick, Riley Poole played by Justin Bartha who like most good sidekicks provides most of the comedic roles in the film.
Now, every good adventure story has to have an exciting mix of disastrous falls, high speed car chases and gun fights. National Treasure will not disappoint with its combination of Indiana Jones type settings and situations juxtaposed with modern day shootouts and car chases. The action scenes are well shot and have enough tension to maintain interest.
The producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, has an impressive collection of action films behind him including “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Con Air”. The director, Jon Turteltaub, on the other hand has a somewhat different portfolio. His previous films are mainly of the sentimental variety including “While You Were Sleeping”, “Cool Runnings” and “Phenomenon”. So it is not surprising that National Treasure has the old bit of sentimentality thrown in: the opening scenes of the grandfather (Christopher Plummer) passing the tale of the treasure to the grandson (Cage) and the relationship between Cage and his father (Jon Voight).
Caleb Deschnel's cinematography combined with Norris Spencer's design produce a series of scenes through which the actors race to find the treasure. Whilst not stunning it is good contrasting between the scenes of the sunken ship frozen in the Arctic wilderness to the National Archive, Library of Congress and other historic monuments in Washington, D.C., the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Trinity Church in Wall Street and catacombs beneath Manhattan. It is this last scene that take us into the world of fantasy with collapsing wooden staircases and booby trapped tunnels.
Trevor Rabin composed a fitting soundtrack for the film complimenting the action well modulating through strong fast tempo action movements, nervous suspense filled movements and heroic stirring movements combining with a selection of music integral to the film. The Lindseys play two string quartets by Haydn including Op33 in E Flat (The Joke) which is rather fitting.
Rated PG for "action violence and some scary images", the film makes a good family film filled with enough adventure to fuel any young child’s imagination, enough of an enigma to keep the adults guessing and just enough action to maintain interest. Belief has to be suspended though as the historical aspect is barely enough to warrant significance. The script is quite humorous and the actors deliver good performances.
Whilst, I don’t consider this to be a brilliant film or one that will have the long-lasting appeal of Indiana Jones, it is worth seeing.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) Fast pacy spy adventure, with great music and some equally great stunts. (-) Stunts a bit far fetched - but you expect that with this sort of film.
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1972 - Action/Adventure - Director: John Boorman - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Ed O'Neill
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
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edge-of-your-seat adventure starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, and featuring amazing special effects and an outstanding supporting cast. As an obsessed treas...
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Advantages: A good, enjoyable script, with an excellent cast and decent direction. Good choice for all the family or just a friday night in Disadvantages: Justin Bartha will either annoy you or seem like the loveable fool
Advantages: Good escapism, quite action packed, one for conspiracy theorists! Disadvantages: Very American!, story is pretty far stretched and confusing (though still quite enjoyable)
![National Treasure [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78492886.jpg "National Treasure [DVD] [2004]")
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