A Look Back #5:
'A Look Back' is a place where 'Movie Freak 77' reviews old movies, which he considers them one of his favorite movies. Hope you will enjoy these reviews.
And Don't Forget: 'ENJOY BEING MOVIE FREAKED!"
*Spoilers Alert
Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.
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| "National Treasure". |
A
perfect recipe for the creation of a new franchise blockbuster movie, 'National
Treasure' is one good rollercoaster ride that you would like to get in.
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| "Nicolas Cage". |
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| "Diane Kruger". |
'Benjamin Franklin Gates'(Nicolas Cage) is a historian and a cryptologist who
is a descendant of a long line of treasure hunters. His grandfather 'John Adam Gates'(Christopher Plummer) gives him, when he was young, a
clue that encourages him to continue the search for the treasure, a act that infuriates his father 'Patrick Gates'(John Voight). In the present time 'Ben' along with his friend computer
expert 'Riley Poole'(Justin Bartha) and 'Ian Howe'(Sean Bean) starts the
expedition the find a long lost ship in the arctic called 'The Charlotte'. But
when complications occurs 'Ben' and 'Riley' separate from 'Ian' and each start
to go in different paths but towards the same goal. An adventure full of
danger, adrenaline and history will take place, which even makes him followed by the FBI. Other characters include Dr.
'Abigail Chase'(Diane Kruger) who works in the national archives, 'Ian''s right hand man 'Shaw'(David Dayan
Fisher) and Agent 'Peter Sadusky'(Harvey Keitel).
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| "Justin Bartha". |
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| "Sean Bean". |
Usually a fan of such adventure/heist movies, it was only a matter of time when
Walt Disney Studios was going to launch one of its own. What is good about this
movie is that it doesn’t take itself too much serious. Yes the story gets
influenced from American History and merges and includes events that suits best
the trajectory of making an enjoyable movie and one that can be appealing to an
international audience, who doesn’t necessarily knows that much about this
history. All of this is put in a context of fun and adventure style to allow it
to be at the same time a generic Hollywood movie leaning towards the box office
success and people agreeableness rather that the critics approval, which is
fine to people who like such movies. "Jerry Bruckheimer" once again created a new franchise that made its mark in Hollywood.
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| "Henry Keitel". |
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| "Jon Voight" and "Nicolas Cage". |
Director "Jon Turteltaub", who at the time was known for directing
'Cools Running' and 'Disney's The Kid’, did an exceptional job considering it
was his first attempt at such movie genre. What is good is that the focus on
the story and its 'one step after another' approach was a good approach to be
taken. His directing style suited well the movie. "Ted Elliot" and
"Terry Rossio" both known for being screenwriters for 'Shrek' and
'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl' did a very good job
with the story making it simple as it could have been without overstuffing it
with facts and theories that may make audiences lost. They were also helped by
"Cormac Wibberley" and "Marianne Wibberley"('Bad Boys II'). The
score did a fine job enhancing the experience of the adventure, which was
composed by "Trevor Rabin"('Deep Blue Sea).
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| "Christopher Plummer". |
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| "Diane Kruger", "Nicolas Cage" and "Justin Bartha". |
Overall the trajectory the story takes was at some level predictable but had
enough historical and factual baggage to make interesting and fun to watch,
especially in the first part of the movie when the clues were being found and
connected. It included a certain new and special factor that no other big budget
movie had before. This was my personal favorite part, since the second half,
while not bad still took and 'Indiana Jones'-like path which wasn't that interesting.
The big action parts and set pieces were satisfactory yet not at the same caliber
as similar movies. My personal favorite scenes were the whole scene of stealing
The Declaration of Independence, seeking refuge at 'Patrick Gates' House and
the whole scenes that included searching for the clues that were hidden.
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| "Sean Bean" and "David Dayan Fisher". |
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| "Nicolas Cage", "Diane Kruger" and "Jon Voight". |
The
cast was one of my all-time personal favorites. "Nicolas Cage" was
able to create a character that was able to relate too many in the sense of
trying to achieve personal goals. The likeness that he gave to this character
was very fitting. "Diane Kruger" is one of my favorite actresses also
brought to life her character, even though same as the other characters it
lacked the development needed. "Sean Bean" brought a very good foe
and villain to the movie using his astounding acting skills. "John
Voight" performed an acceptable job, while fairly balancing emotions and
comedy when needed. "Justin Bartha"'s character was the comedic relief
of the movie in which he does appropriate job. "David Dayan Fisher"
perform what is needed from his character, while the importance of "Harvey
Keitel"'s character should have been much more but nonetheless he brings
flair to it. "Christopher Plummer"'s inclusion was enjoyable.
In
the end, 'National Treasure' is one of the enjoyable movies that propelled the
'National Treasure' franchise and led to the release of its sequel 'National
Treasure: The Book of Secrets'.
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| 'National Treasure'. |
-'National Treasure' Info:
-Release Date: November 19, 2004.
-Starring: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, John Voight, David Dayan Fisher, Harvey Keitel and Christopher Plummer.
-Studio(s): Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Saturn Films.
-Directed by: Jon Turteltaub.
-Screenplay by: Ted Elliot, Terry Russio, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley.
-Music by: Trevor Rabin.
-Running Time: 131 minutes.
-Budget: $ 100,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 173,008,894.
-Foreign: $ 174,503,424.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 6.8/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 45%.
-Metacritic: 39%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 7.8/10.
-'National Treasure' Trailer:
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