Directed by John Turteltaub

I thought I made a mistake in choosing to sitting down to watch ?National Treasure? so late at night. I thought, long film, after 10pm, I am sure to fall asleep. But, No! The film was so entertaining that not once did I drift off to dreamland. The storyline was unique and so easy to follow that you could just sit back and watch as the plot unfolded wondering how the film would end.

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), an archaeologist, has been obsessed with finding a national treasure since he first heard from his grandfather John Adams Gates (Plummer) that it existed. Ben?s father, Patrick Henry Gates (Voight) is sceptical and believes there is no treasure. It is just a myth and a wild goose chase. This treasure is believed to has amassed over many centuries by the Templar Knights and transported over many countries and was hidden by America?s forefathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Many of the forefathers of America were Freemasons.

A clue given to a distant relative of Ben?s by one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence stated that ?The secret lies with Charlotte?. After finding the ship ?Charlotte? in the Arctic Circle, Ben who has travelled there with Ian Howe (Bean) and good friend Riley Poole (Bartha) only finds a decorative pipe and a riddle that leads him to believe there is an invisible map on the back of the ?Declaration of Independence?.

Poor Ben and Riley are double crossed by Ian who tries to kill them and sets off to steal the historic document. However, Ben and Riley survive and try to tell both the FBI and Dr. Abigail Chase (Kruger) at the National Archives Building of the plan. Of course nobody believes him and so Ben believes the only way to protect the document is if he steals it so Ian can?t get his hands on it.

Ben and Riley do nab the ?Declaration? but in doing so have to save Abigail Chase from the clutches of Ian. She in turn helps them find out what is on the back on the document which inevitably leads to another clue. Can Ben prove all the doubters wrong and actually find the treasure whilst at the same time trying to prevent Ian and his henchman getting their hands on the vast treasure. As well as that obstacle, Ben also has to try to avoid being caught by the FBI, headed by Agent Sadusky (Keitel), who are now also on his tail?

If you loved films like ?Raiders of the Lost Ark? or ?Pirates of the Caribbean? then you are sure to love this one. ?Pirates? was also released under the Walt Disney banner and had the same executive producer in Jerry Bruckheimer so there are a lot of similarities in many respects. However, I would still rate Pirates at the better film mainly for the wonderful special effects and the brilliant performance of Johnny Depp. That said, this is still an excellent film and one of the better ones I have reviewed this year.

I don?t think I have really seen Nicolas Cage in too many bad films. He is definitely one of the best actors going around at the moment and his performance in this film is impeccable. He must enjoy working with Jerry Bruckheimer as he has completed three other films with him prior to this movie. Nicolas Cage nearly always gets the best one-liners but this time all the sarcastic comments are left for his co star in Justin Bertha.

The film was also graced with wonderful supporting roles from actors such as Harvey Keitel, Christopher Plummer and Jon Voight. Jon Voight contributed the most to the film however in his portrayal of Nicolas Cage?s daddy. Diane Kruger provides excellent eye candy for all the guys out there and Sean Bean plays a creditable villain.

Overall, this film couldn?t really lose. It has one of the best actors as its star, a wonderful storyline that may even give you a bit of a history lesson at the same time, the backing of Walt Disney studios and Jerry Bruckheimer as producer who not only makes wonderful movies but is also behind television?s C.S.I., Cold Case and The Amazing Race.

After watching this film I might have to start concentrating on our bank notes to see if they reveal something about our hidden national treasure. I can dream, can?t I! As there is no nudity, sex scenes or foul language to be seen or heard, this is a film for all the family to enjoy.

THE EXTRAS

Other than the obligatory Scene Selection, there are quite a few special features available on this DVD. They include:

1) National Treasure on Location. (11 minutes) This featurette focuses on the locations used during the filming. It was interesting to see that Utah was used to film the Arctic Circle scenes. The special effects are discussed and as usual we hear from the producer, director and main actors. Well worth a look!
2) Deleted Scenes (8 minutes) There are two deleted scenes, one titled ?Thomas and the President? and the other is an ?Extended Shaft Scene?. Both are good, they were probably just cut due to time restraints.
3) Opening Scene Animatic (3 minutes) This just shows how the animators saw the opening scene being played out.
4) Alternate ending (2 minutes) This ending was dropped because the film?s audience felt it left the door open for a sequel so it was changed to the one in the film.
Here you need to decode a message to get to the remaining extras:

5) Treasure Hunters Revealed (8.5 minutes) This is a documentary on real treasure hunters who search for treasure both on land and in sunken ships. It also discussed the modern ways of cleaning the artefacts they find under water.
6) Riley Poole?s Decode This (7 minutes) A bit of a history lesson as Riley Poole discusses the Rosetta Stone, Hieroglyphics and other ways of sending secret codes. There is a little game at the end using glasses similar to the ones used in the film.
7) Templar Knights (5 minutes) A short documentary on the Templar Knights and Freemasons. Another interesting history lesson, if it is all based on fact.

You will need the code from Riley Poole?s game to finally access the hidden Trivia Track which includes a lot of trivia about the film and it?s actors across the bottom of the screen if you care to watch the film again. I won?t tell you how to access it, you will have to do all the work yourself. Good luck trying to find the menu item that actually brings the final code up.

Overall, an excellent set of Special Features

CONCLUSION

?National Treasure? is the latest collaboration between Nicolas Cage and Jerry Bruckheimer and like Bruckheimer?s previous effort ?The Pirates of the Caribbean? is packed full of adventure, special effects and wonderful acting performances. Nicolas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, an archaeologist in search of a national treasure that his great grandfather was told about back in 1832. What he eventually learns is that the ?Declaration of Independence? may in fact have a map on it that will reveal all so he decides to steal this document so it doesn?t fall into the wrong hands, most notably Ian Howe, his double crossing partner who tried to leave him for dead. An excellent film for the entire family.