Favorite movie - National Treasure Reviews

this is my all time favorite movie, it is funny, cool action, a big time clue movie, this was the first nicholas cage movie i have seen and i was impressed.

Masons aren't really this silly - National Treasure Reviews

Really. It's true. I went in watching "National Treasure" expecting an okay popcorn flick (you can't expect much more from Jerry Bruckheimer) and ended up watching a soggy morality tale about the Masons. Well, here's a little information about the Masonic Lodge. It is a charitable brotherhood of men who seek to make the world they live in a better place. The Indiana Jones mentality is something you will not find at a Lodge meeting, and Bruckheimer's feeble attempt tp capitalize on this is laughable at best. Nicholas Cage seemed way out of place here, hardly believable as a heroic character. And as we follow his exploits to find this quasi-mythological "treasure," we are reminded of the Indiana Jones trilogy. So much better, so much more fun and interesting.

No 'treasure' here. - National Treasure Reviews

Well, this film was recommended to me by several co-workers, so I figured...'What the heck.' What the heck was right! Total waste of two hours time and seven dollars, fifty cents of my hard earned money! Disney would have you believe that the Masons originated from The Knights Templar, who were supposed to have unearthed a massive treasure in the Middle East during the First Crusades. The Masons and the Templars are two individual societies, neither of whom have very good past reputations if one bothers to research actual history and not the sugar coated politically correct variation that Hollywood passes off as 'the 100% truth' in order to sell more tickets at the box office. Disney further stretches the credibility gap by implying that somehow, the Founding Fathers and their Masonic cohorts were able to transport all this treasure to America, during the height of a war with Great Britain, and hide it in a catacomb beneath a church on what is now modern day Wall Street. And taking a tired old cliche right out of practically every other treasure hunt movie, Disney reveals that... *GASP!* the key to the location of the treasure is hidden in a secret cryptographic message on the back of the Declaration Of Independance! Didn't a similiar scenario get used in 'Raiders Of Lost Ark' with the whole ancient medallion and staff pinpointing the Ark's location on a scale model of some ancient city? Hmmm, I thought as such! Futhermore, the pace of this film was so plodding and so predictable, that I very nearly fell asleep several times in the course of the two hours the movie ran. The only thing keeping me awake was the large Mt. Dew that I had to shell out an extra $3.65 for at the concession stand before the movie started. Basically, I found this movie to be Disney's blatant attempt to glorify Masons and pass them off as being "not so bad of guys after all" to the masses. The repeated visual references to the Masons throughout the movie made that perfectly clear. *i.e- the zoom-in shot to display the Masonic ring on the right hand of the senior FBI agent during the final scenes of the film.* Bottom line...NOT WORTH THE MONEY! Go read a book, search the Internet and educate yourself with the real truth behind our country's founding and the influence of secret societies upon our nation since then. To borrow a line from the 'Matrix'.... FREE YOUR MIND!

The real story - National Treasure Reviews

what is wrong with critics these days. they all seem to be looking for the PERFECT MOVIE and there is no such thing as the perfect movie. When i went to see if this movie was as BAD,as some people said it was, i was blown away this is the kind of movie that draws one into the movie and makes you want to find treasure your self. take my advice, this is a must see movie and i KNOW all of you will enjoy it!

Carmen sandigeo anyone? - National Treasure Reviews

Do anybody remember playing the extremely educating educational caper from Broderbund?s Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? or it?s American counterpart? Hmm? Its where you are given clues and tidbits that are scattered all around the globe or in America, where its directed to do two things, either to find out where the next destination is or who is the criminal you are trying to catch. This is only possible with a Fodor?s guidebook and your trusty brain as your arsenal to solve the mission. An Atlas wouldn?t hurt either. You are wondering why I am being so nostalgic right now, taking about an outdated computer game.... Basically this is what National Treasure is in a nutshell. Instead of hopping around United States of America finding clues in searching for a criminal, we are given clues as we are hopping around United States of America to find hidden treasure. Honestly, its like Carman Sandeigo translated to film. The Founding Fathers were not only leaders, countrymen and politicians, yet in their own way there were pirates. (Arr!) These prestigious men have concealed a vast treasure than spans for generations before it was bestowed on them. Thus to assure secrecy, they placed markers that are only known to them and to them alone. Successfully, this treasure haven?t been touched 2000 years since... Benjamin Franklin Gates, (Nicolas Cage: Jerry Bruckheimer?s typical everyman) is the latest in line of treasure hunters. He takes up the mantle after his grandfather John Adams Gates, (Christopher Plummer) instilled the legend of the treasure when he was a young whelp. Ben?s father Patrick Gates, (Jon Voight) a naysayer of sort, thinks this ?legend? is all just all a bunch of hooey and would not change his mind otherwise. The thing is all treasures must have a map. Oh Sure, there is a map alright for the treasure.... its on the back of the Declaration of Independence. When Ben?s relations go sour with once business partner now rival Ian, (Sean Bean) he turns to Abigal Chase (Diane Kruger) to explain his ?situation...? Even though National Treasure is entertaining for the allotted time, Jon Turteltaub treats his audience like were are one a city tour bus with only a couple of quips thrown in for good measure, and is banking a sharp turn whenever someone questions logic either to the nature of the complex riddles (since no one but Ben will solve) or the believability of the plot. Since National Treasure seemed to akin itself with the air of films like Raiders, The Mummy (1999) and King Solomon?s Mines, I was willing to forgive that hurdle. Basically National Treasure is a fun, yet... safe, globetrotting trip around America, where you know the fact that the heros are following the clues, although its fuzzy to make out the finer details. The competition are always one step behind their trail, the FBI, lead by Harvey Keitel (channeling the everyman by-the- book cop), holding the rear with a whinny naysaying parent (again...Jon Voight) in the caboose.

With a name like benjamin franklin gates... - National Treasure Reviews

has been looking for a buried treasure all his life. We enter the story learning that his we expect something big and rich to happen, and it does. Gates's 5XGREAT grandfather was given a cryptic clue by the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independance. That clue become the source of obsession and consternation for the Gates family throughout every generation until falling on the shoulders of the star of this movie, Nicolas Cage. Cage, at his best plays quirky characters and makes them seem real. In this film, he outdid his best. The plot has a steady twist and the story is just this side of unbelievable - you have been warned to sit down with an open mind and a willingness to be entertained. The supporting cast is just as interesting, pretty girls and oddball techies mixed with deadly mercenaries and a thirst for treasure by everyone involved. I walked out of the movie with a smile on my face because the story opens up a lot of possibilities and I am sure more than one little boy now has treasure on his mind and will spend the Thanksgiving holiday exploring for it. That in itself qualifies this as being a great movie. It's a great show that everyone in the family can enjoy - so rich in history you will want to spend some time with Google to try and determine what was made up and what was real. I expected Indiana Jones to show up at any moment - and then we get the best ending I have ever seen in a modern movie. This is one you will stay wide awake in, trust me.

Great spin on history - National Treasure Reviews

I loved this movie. I liken it to Indiana Jones' movies being based on the bible with this being patterened after US History. Fascinating.