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Features: Special Edition, DVD
From Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jon Turteltaub, director of Phenomenon, comes National Treasure. It's the thrilling, edge-of-your-seat adventure starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (1995 Best Actor, Leaving Las Vegas) as Benjamin Franklin Gates. Ever since he was a boy, Gates has been obsessed with finding the legendary Knights Templar Treasure, the greatest fortune known to man. As Gates tries to find and decipher ancient riddles that will lead him to it, he's dogged by a ruthless enemy (Sean Bean, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) who wants the riches for himself. Now in a race against time, Gates must steal one of America's most sacred and guarded documents -- the Declaration of Independence -- or let it, and a key clue to the mystery, fall into dangerous hands. Heart-pounding chases, close calls, and the FBI turn Gates' quest into a high-stakes crime caper and the most exciting treasure hunt you've ever experienced.
"...alluringly over-the-top without being overcooked." Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
"...whirls by in a satisfying torrent of chases, escapes and discoveries." Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
"A wholesome, headlong extravaganza..." Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
"...combine[s] the suspense of old Saturday morning serials with the gusto of producer Jerry Bruckheimer's action pics." Scott Foundas, Variety
"...the best thing about National Treasure is how clever it is." Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post
Editor's Note
American history gets a cool make-over in this Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedic action thriller. Nicholas Cage plays Ben Gates, the descendent of an early American patriot who has left him information relating to a vast treasure, hidden during the Revolutionary War by the Freemasons. A clue at the north pole sets things in motion, and Ben must use his formidable cryptography skills to decipher puzzles hidden in the most unlikely places--one appears on the dollar bill, and another is on the back of the U.S. constitution. Ben's unscrupulous former partner (Sean Bean) and his gang of thugs are also after the treasure for selfish, evil purposes. A plot to steal the constitution sets off a 13-colony-wide chase with all the trimmings: cops going after the wrong man, the rescue of a cute female cryptographer (Diane Kruger) who tags along for the ride, and Jon Voight answering the door in the middle of the night as Ben's disapproving father. High-speed editing and a clever script make this an enjoyable history lesson, with Cage's character masquerading as his own versions of Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, and an over-caffeinated Washington D.C. tour guide. He and Kruger demonstrate some fine romantic chemistry, and Justin Bartha gets off some legitimately funny lines as Ben's long-suffering sidekick. Last but not least, Harvey Keitel makes a very cool FBI chief.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | National Treasure: 2-Disc Collector's Edition - DVD Review By: Rich Knight - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 12/20/2007 2:12 AM | | When the Nic Cage vehicle, National Treasure came out in 2004, nobody expected it to be the massive, worldwide hit that it was ($347.5 million dollars sure is a lot of money). Sure, it was a big and flashy Bruckheimer blockbuster, but this was PG, stuffed with history, and didn't have a single pirate in it. ...read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 12/18/2007 |
| Running Time: 131 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 5562703 | | UPC: 00786936746594 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Uncut
"[G]reat fun....An ingenious, enjoyable romp..." 02/01/2005 p.103Sight and Sound
"[T]he freshest performance comes from relative newcomer Justin Bartha as comic-relief sidekick..." 02/01/2005 p.61-2 San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
Critics will slam "National Treasure" for not being good, but audiences will probably like it for not being bad. It has no ambition, little sense and false sentiment, but it does have velocity, high spirits and scale. It also has Nicolas Cage, either in a toupee or I want to know what he's been rubbing on his head. And it has Diane Kruger, looking a lot more like Helen of Troy here than in "Troy"...In short, it's a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and the fact that just saying that means something ... well, that means something. Like the moguls of old, Bruckheimer ("Con Air," "The Rock") is a producer with a signature style, one characterized mainly by the assumption that the audience is very, very impatient. So things keep happening, even if they shouldn't happen, each moment topping the next...To Turteltaub's credit, there are other touches, nice ones, that also seem directorial. In particular, Bean, as the villain, is portrayed as a friendly fellow -- not as a classic smiling villain, but rather as someone of spontaneously warm temperament...As for Cage, this is his fourth film with Bruckheimer, and he's beginning to look comfortable in this sort of movie. A little too comfortable. - Mick LaSalle
Reel.com 7 of 10
National Treasure, Jerry Bruckheimer's latest bid to woo the family audience, has much going for it: a nifty premise, a likable, idiosyncratic hero in Nicolas Cage, and some decently staged action sequences that keep the violence to a kid-friendly minimum. Yet, somehow, these elements don't cohere into a thrilling, edge-of-your seat adventure. Directed competently by Jon Turtletaub (Phenomenon)--a director not exactly known for his bravura command of the medium--National Treasure is an enjoyable enough popcorn flick that never sweeps you up into its exposition-heavy narrative. Despite appealing turns by Cage and co-star Justin Bartha, it lacks the vivid characters, dramatic tension, and buoyant wit of Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy...Only once, in a sequence set in a vast, subterranean chamber, does director Jon Turteltaub show any sort of flair for putting together large-scale action set pieces. Otherwise, he fails to make National Treasure anything more than a serviceably entertaining but ultimately forgettable bit of escapism; it's no treasure. - Tim Knight
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