Atom Movie Club: 'National Treasure'

With everyone in various stages of isolation and practicing social distancing, we launched our Atom Movie Club. What better way to celebrate our love of movies than watching one together and tweeting about it? This Thursday at 8pm EST/5pm PST, we’ll be watching a movie that’s free to stream and we’re inviting everyone to watch with us. You can join in on the livetweeting fun with the hashtag #AtomMovieClub.

This week’s movie: NATIONAL TREASURE (2004)

Check out the deets below:

National Treasure is currently streaming for free on Netflix. Sync up the time with the World Clock and hit play right as the clock strikes 8pm EST/5pm PST on Thursday, April 16th.

In order to prep you for the watch, we’re putting together this quick and handy guide to refresh your memory before our watch party.

Synopsis

Get ready for some pure Nic Cage fun in the 2004 movie that is The Mummy meets Dan Brown. For years, plenty of us have been clamoring for a third movie and recently, our prayers were answered. National Treasure may not have the culty crunch of his mid-90s action movies The Rock, Con-Air, and Face/Off or the cinephile love for his more respected films like Adaptation. and Leaving Las Vegas, or his recent horror surge with Color out of Space, Mandy, and Mom and Dad. But it’s definitely one of his most universally beloved. Who doesn’t want to see Nic Cage as a globetrotting historian?

Cage stars as Benjamin Franklin Gates, treasure hunter and cryptographer. For years, the Gates family has been a laughingstock in the world of historians because of their conviction that a fabled Templar stockpile of ancient treasures and jewels was hidden by the Freemasons during the Revolutionary War. Benjamin’s dad, Patrick (Jon Voight), gave up the quest years ago and is convinced his son is a fool for continuing to believe. But Gates, along with his assistant, Riley (Justin Bartha), discovers that the treasure is real and it requires stealing the Declaration of Independence and deciphering the secret map hidden on the back of it. Along the way, he recruits and eventually falls in love with Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), a clever historian and curator at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, ruthless rival Ian Howe (Sean Bean) is determined to find it first and claim the treasure for himself. And things get even more complicated because FBI Agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) is hot on their heels.

Major Characters

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) – Brilliant and eccentric, he is the last scion of the disgraced Gates family. He’s something of an outcast in the historical community as his oddball beliefs and obsession with finding the fabled lost treasure make him a bit of a laughingstock. But he’s brilliant, and his daring and unorthodox way of thinking turns out to be his greatest gift.

Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) – Abigail is a dedicated and intelligent archivist and curator at the National Archives. She initially writes off Gates as a lunatic, but when she accidentally gets caught up in the events he puts into motion, she starts to realize that Gates might be on to something. Soon, she trusts him and becomes a valuable member of the team, figuring out certain pieces of the puzzle that the other two can’t.

Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) – Hacker and computer genius, the sardonic Riley isn’t just Benjamin’s assistant and team tech whiz, but also his friend – though he’d likely never admit it. He’s dragged into the most dangerous parts of adventures grudgingly and isn’t a fan of being put in danger. While he might not be quite as brave as the other two, however, they rely totally on his tech skills and for him to be the voice of reason.

Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight) – Benjamin’s father and former treasure hunter. Benjamin and his dad have a strained relationship due to his dad giving up the search years ago after being disgraced. In his bitterness, he doesn’t support his son’s efforts to find the Templar treasure and it leads to an uneasy relationship between them. But he’s loyal to his son and ends up aiding Benjamin in his quest, wanting to support his son and repair the damage between them.

Ian Howe (Sean Bean) – Our film’s protagonist. Ian was a former partner of Benjamin and together, they searched for the next clue to the treasure. But Ian double-crossed Benjamin, stealing the artifact with the clue and leaving Benjamin and Riley for dead. Ian doesn’t have Benjamin’s deep historical knowledge as he’s in it for the money, but he’s beyond ruthless and willing to do things that the good-hearted Benjamin won’t.

Agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) – The FBI agent who investigates the theft of the Declaration of Independence and spends the rest of the movie trying to track Benjamin’s team down. He’s smart, dogged and determined to track down Benjamin. But he’s also intuitive enough to understand that more is going on than meets the eye and Benjamin might not be the worst threat.

10 Fun Facts & Trivia Bits

Diane Kruger did most of her own stunt work in the car chase scene.
The movie has a pretty strong tech bias: If you pay attention closely, you’ll notice Benjamin’s team all uses Google and the bad guys all use Yahoo!
In the scene where Ben and Riley are talking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the water in the pool had to be added in digitally thanks to the pool being drained for maintenance reasons at the time of shooting.
There actually is something written on the back of the Declaration of Independence, but it’s not a treasure map: Instead, it’s a line that reads “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776” upside down along the bottom edge of the parchment. Early in its life, the Declaration was rolled up for storage (it’s quite large at 29 3/4 in. x 24 1/2 in.) and the notation was likely written on the edge as a label to indicate what the parchment was.
Director Jon Turteltaub has said that the original rough cut was about 4 hours long – that’s almost twice as long as the final theatrical cut!
Ben, his father, Patrick, and his grandfather, John, are all named for different Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and John Adams.
No cameras are actually allowed in the National Archives due to the age of the documents – the flash from cameras damage them.
The Liberty Bell in the movie is made of styrofoam thanks to the real Liberty Bell not being moved from its glass pavilion on Independence Mall to the Liberty Bell Center until a few days after they’d finished shooting.
The movie was initially under the Touchstone Pictures banner. But after it got its PG rating, it moved under the Disney banner proper as it was deemed more family-friendly than anticipated.
Treasure-hunting must be a lucrative business: In the scene where Ben gives his watch to the cashier in the clothing store as temporary collateral, the watch he’s wearing is a Rolex Submariner Date diver’s watch, which retails for $8,550.