DVD Reviews

Blu-ray Review: National Treasure

By Jeff Swindoll May 19, 2008, 14:44 GMT

Nicholas Cage knows that there’s gold in them thar hills and his family has been searching for it for ages.

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) is the great-great-great-great grandson of Thomas Gates. Thomas was given the clue to where a vast treasure was hidden by the dying Charles Carroll, the last remaining signer of the Declaration of Independence. Generations of the Gates family, including Ben’s grandfather (Christopher Plummer), have been searching for the treasure.

The clue is “the secret lies with Charlotte.” The interest seems to have skipped a generation since Ben’s father Patrick (John Voight) doesn’t believe in the treasure and thinks it’s a folly. Ben, and his computer expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), has led a team funded by Ian Howe (Sean Bean) to the arctic where they find the marooned colonial ship the Charlotte. Inside they find a Meerschaum pipe with another piece of the riddle. Ben deduces that the next clue lies on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Ben has reservations about the team getting access to such important documents, but Ian says that they’ll just steal it. Ben finds Ian’s partnership at and end and Riley and Ben barely escape the Charlotte with their lives. They try and warn every governmental agency that the Declaration is in danger of being stolen, but they’re dismissed as lunatics. They finally talk to Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) at the National Archives, but she takes them no more seriously than the rest. Ben decides that the way to keep the Declaration safe is the steal it before Ian can get his hands on it. Ben and Ian succeed in getting the Declaration during a large party at the Archives, but Dr. Chase ends up involved. Now Ben, Ian, and Dr. Chase have to discover the clues and stay one step ahead of Ian and his thugs and keep them from getting the treasure as well as keep ahead of FBI agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel). National Treasure does strain credibility in that the founding fathers hid a vast cache of wealth in such a complicated (and rather large) manner, but what it does offer is a kind of popcorn-laced fun that will have you putting that at the back of your mind as you go along for the thrill ride. National Treasure is a ride worth taking and the complicated plotline, though occasionally ludicrous, is an interesting one to follow. Conspiracy theorists will be delighted in the complex way that all that Freemasonry and the founding fathers fall into place in the tale of the treasure.

Don’t try and put too much reality in there though, just keep repeating to yourself that it’s all just a movie and munch on more popcorn. Nicholas Cage and the rest of the cast seem to be having a good time and this also helps things along. I’m also doing a review of the second film and I’ll also have to say that the first looks even better in comparison to the forced nature of the second film (more on that in my review of that one). It’s a good ride but those with history majors may want to turn off their brains and just be taken along for the ride. National Treasure is presented in 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a new commentary with director John Turteltaub and Justin Bartha that is only on the Blu-ray. Another Blu-ray exclusive high definition feature is “Missing History: Inside the Declaration of Independence.” It examines the document line by line and reveals hidden secrets (aka trivia and featurettes). The other high definition feature is the 12-minute “Ciphers, Codes, and Codebreaking” which is about the history of codes. The rest of the special features are in standard definition. Next are 16 minutes of deleted scenes with introductions and an optional commentary by Turteltaub. The “Opening Scene Animatic” runs 2 minutes and also has an introduction and optional commentary by Turteltaub.

There’s also a 2-minute alternate ending with introduction and commentary. The 6-minute “Exploding Charlotte” goes into how they blew up the colonial ship. The 5-minute “Steal a National Treasure” details the effects and design behind the key sequence of the film. The 6-minute “On the Set of American History” looks at the historical locations the film shot at. The 11-minute “National Treasure on Location” interviews the cast on the set. The 8-minute “Treasure Hunters Revealed” looks at some real-life treasure hunters and what they’ve found. The 5 minute “Templar Knights” goes into the history of the mysterious group. The film also features a pop-up trivia track. The film looks great on Blu-ray and the extras are impressive, especially with the new commentary and the Missing History game is pretty cool too. You might actually have some historical facts peppered in the film, but the story is one that you’ll not want to take too seriously. Just turn off your brain, pop the corn, and prepare for one wild cinematic ride.