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National treasure - Nicolas Cage, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Jon Turteltaub

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Ben Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is an archaeologist and adventurer looking for the legendary lost treasure of the Templar Knights, spurred on by the stories he was told as a young man by his grandfather, John Adams Gates (Christopher Plummer), 20 years before. John tells Ben the secret hiding place for the treasure is encoded on the back of the USA Declaration of Independence, placed there by none other than the founders of the United States of America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Ben's father, Patrick Henry Gates, is more than well aware that treasure hunting has been the curse of the Gates family and has soured on the entire idea. With the help of his best friend and partner in crime, a sarcastic, thrill-seeking computer expert named Riley Poole, Riley and his team careen from one grave predicament to another.

As an adult, Ben is contacted by Ian Howe (Sean Bean), a rich British adventurer who also dreams of finding the lost treasure. When Ben learns Howe's intentions for the treasure are less than the best, Ben comes into contact with Doctor Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), a pretty and young researcher involved in the preservation and display of the Declaration of Independence. At first, Abigail is sceptical of Ben and his wild stories but when Howe and his henchmen break into the National Archives, Abigail starts to believe. Taking the Declaration to Ben, Abigail becomes a partner in this crazy scheme, as they try to outwit Howe, as well as a team of FBI Special Agents, lead by Agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), charged with getting the Declaration back.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Adventure history Declaration of Independence treasure hunt map Knights Templar

Persons of interest

Nicolas Cage .... Ben Franklin Gates
Justin Bartha .... Riley Poole
Sean Bean .... Ian Howe
Diane Kruger .... Doctor Abigail Chase
Harvey Keitel .... Agent Sadusky
Christopher Plummer .... John Adams Gates
David Dayan Fisher .... Shaw
Oleg Taktarov .... Shippen
Stewart Finlay-McLennan .... Powell
Mark Pellegrino .... Johnson
Annie Parisse .... Dawes
Armando Riesco .... Hendricks
Jon Turteltaub .... Storywriter
Ted Elliott .... Screenwriter
E Max Frye .... Screenwriter
Lowell Ganz .... Screenwriter
Jim Kouf .... Screenwriter
Babaloo Mandel .... Screenwriter
Terry Rossio .... Screenwriter
Cormac Wibberley .... Screenwriter
Marianne Wibberley .... Screenwriter
Jon Turteltaub .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

National treasure official movie site
National treasure QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Visual Effects Society Awards 2005: Nominated: Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture - Treasure Room (Matthew Gratzner, Forest Fischer, Scott Beverly, Leigh-Alexandra Jacob)

See also National treasure 2
Studios and distributors:

Buena Vista International

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

National treasure is a B-grade action flick that marries Indiana Jones with Face/off. I'm not a big fan of Nicolas Cage as he ususally manages to mostly play himself, this flick is no exception.

By the way, when you have eight (8) screenwriters working on the same film you know it's going to come out dodgy.