National Treasure DVD Review (Nicolas Cage) Empire Movies

NATIONAL TREASURE DVD REVIEW

National Treasure
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

8/10

Liam

National Treasure is the latest action-adventure yarn from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. This time around, Bruckheimer re-teams with Nicolas Cage in the story of Benjamin Franklin Gates, the next in a long family line of treasure hunters seeking a fabled stash of historical artifacts that were hidden over time by the Knights Templar. However, there are a couple of problems. First, the map to the treasure is hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Second, he's in a race to find the treasure. While Gates is obsessed with finding the treasure because it's his family's legacy, his competition (Sean Bean) has less-than-honorable intentions. The result is an edge-of-your-seat roller-coaster ride through clues and history that never lets up until the end credits start to roll.

I saw this one in theaters and again now on DVD and really liked it. It's not going to win any awards, and it's a bit of a rip-off of The Da Vinci Code, but it's exactly what it was meant to be - fun.

Like the movie, the special features on this DVD are fun. They include a brief promotional making-of featurette with interviews with most of the film's major cast and crew, two deleted scenes, an opening scene anamatic and an alternate ending. Aside from the making-of featurette, these extras are also introduced by director Jon Turteltaub and are available with optional commentary by Turteltaub. But that's not all.

At the end of each of these features, you are given a combination of two characters. After watching all four features, you are brought to a new screen where you need to unscramble the letters to access the next set of features. Once unscrambled, you're brought to a new screen with more bonus features. They include Treasure Hunters Revealed which looks at some real-life treasure hunters, Riley Poole's Decode This! which is an extensive game voiced by Riley (Justin Bartha) from the movie (with another clue at the end), a brief featurette about the Knights Templar and a Verizon Bonus which includes a Verizon trailer as well as information about some National Treasure mobile phone games. Finally, there's also a Bonus Level Secret Code which can be used to access the final feature on this DVD - a bonus trivia track.

So, for those of you who can't wait for the movie version of The Da Vinci Code, check this one out while you're waiting. Or, for those of you who've heard of The Da Vinci Code but not read the book - read the book - then check out this movie. Either way, if you're looking for a movie that's a fun way to spend a couple of hours, National Treasure is worth a look.

Features
Alternate Ending with Optional Director's Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes with Optional Director's Audio Commentary, "National Treasure On Location" Making-of Featurette, "The Knights Templar" Featurette, "Treasure Hunters Revealed" Featurette, "Riley's Decode This" Featurette Plus Challenges, Opening Scene Anamatic with Optional Director's Audio Commentary

Video
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French Language Track

Subtitles
French, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
May 3, 2005

Rating
PG

Length
131 mins.

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