National Treasure and Book of Secrets Review

Hello and welcome to the fifth episode of MWIRE,

movie weekend review. Today we're going to be

discussing the national treasure films. I am

TFU and Mike and as usual I'm joined by Steve

Megaton. Hello. Howdy. How are you? Fairly well.

Wow, five episodes. Yes. Wow. We've had a lot

of content so far. Oh boy. So what's been going

on with you? Well, the dealership started its

annual tent sale and of course I'm all over Hell's

Acres helping set up the financing area. and

then various other aspects of the entire sale,

which can kind of suck, but overall it's not

that bad. After paying bills, I had some money

left over, which I should probably have used

for food, but I went on eBay shopping spree.

I got the Darkwing Duck DVD sets. I got a...

few comic books. What did I get? I got Nemesis

Prime, the SDCC exclusive from last year which

came in the mail today. Actually I ordered and

thank God they were pretty fairly cheap to order

but I just ordered the soundtrack and score for

Mission Impossible which is next week's episode

because there are songs on there that I want

to put in the episode because I think they're

really cool. Tunecast episode 10 just released.

To everybody who has or hasn't listened to that

yet, first of all, go listen to it. Second of

all, sorry that it's four and a half hours long.

Yes, it is very long, but it's good. It's the

10th episode. It's He -Man and She -Ra. Yes,

same defense I had for episode 16 of TFJUMP podcast.

It's not going to be an everyday thing, but when

it's something that special. you know, more than

two hours is needed. Yes. And like I told you

off air a while ago, if I hadn't included those

bonus clips from the DVD, it was only going to

be two hours and 12 minutes of discussion. So

I think we're going to get right into our discussion

today. So we will be right back with National

Treasure. Benjamin Franklin Gates, you are undertaking

the duty of the family Gates to find the most

spectacular treasure in history. It grew throughout

the ages and moved across continents until it

was hidden by America's founding fathers who

left clues to the treasure's location right before

our eyes. The unfinished pyramid, the all -seeing

eye, are telling us something. Keeping this treasure

safe, Benjamin, is your destiny. You're treasure

hunters, aren't you? We're more like treasure

protectors. All his life, Benjamin Gates has

searched for a treasure no one believed existed.

Don't you get it, Ben? The treasure is a myth.

Dad, I refuse to believe that. But what he thought

was the final clue... 108 years of searching

and I'm three feet away. ...is only the beginning.

The Declaration of Independence. You think there

is a treasure map on the back of the Declaration

of Independence? The map is invisible. Why would

we make this up? Where's your proof? We don't

have it. Worley, get down! Did Bigfoot take it?

What about the map is bound to get out? Ian's

gonna try to steal it. Ninety seconds. The only

way to protect the Declaration is to steal it.

What? I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.

Ben? From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director

John Turtletow. It is surrounded by guards and

video monitors and little kids on their eighth

grade field trip. You will go to prison, you

know that, right? Yeah, probably. Okay, go! Get

out of there. Get out of there now. He's got

the bloody map. The clues of ten generations.

There's more of the riddle will reveal the mystery

20 centuries in the making once they go down

the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first Tell

me what the next clue is Nicholas Cage National

Treasure All right, we're back and today on my

episode 5 we're gonna be discussing the damage

discussing national treasure And it's sequel

book of secrets. I love these movies before before

we even get to the plot by plot, you know points

free film I absolutely love these films Yes,

you know, honestly these should be shown in in

high school history classes American history

classes because it gives you, you know, yeah,

okay, treasure hunting, whatever, but I mean,

it gives you a history lesson of America. Even

though the ultimate goal is to find a treasure,

it's super, super awesome. But it's time -spanning

at the same time. What do you mean? Well, I mean,

it jumps from generation to generation through

what this family's experienced in how far back

this treasure's been hidden. Oh, yes, very, very

much so. Before we actually get into the film

discussion, I do have the two disc collector's

edition of both films, but on the first film,

it has tons of DVD extra features. It's got two

discs. It's got all new deleted scenes, ciphers,

codes, and code breakers on the set of American

History to Steal a National Treasure Exploding

Charlotte. You know, it's got four feature gems,

National Treasure on Location, The Night's Templar,

Treasure Hunters Revealed, Riley's Decode This.

You know, it's just an awesome DVD to have and

anybody who's anybody who likes these types of

films should have this. It's all yeah, no question

super super cool. I mean these are films again,

you know I know it's been a long time and my

audio didn't get in on the lost TFG one supplemental

three for Beverly Hills cop to a Beverly Hills

cop but These are films that I can watch When

I want something to laugh at something, you know,

that's action -packed, you know Yeah, they're

just so awesome Yeah It's a really good movie

series, and the dynamic that all these characters

and how they portray the characters are really

good. Oh, yeah. Very much so. So I think we're

going to get into the plot of the first film.

The story centers on Benjamin Franklin Gates,

who is played by Nicolas Cage, a historian and

amateur cryptologist with a mechanical engineering

degree from MIT. an American history degree from

Georgetown, who comes from a long line of treasure

hunters that believe in a legend of the fantastic

treasure trove of artifacts and gold hidden by

the founding fathers of the United States. And

forgotten to all but a few, the first clue was

given to Ben's great -great -great -great -grandfather

Thomas Gates. Wow, the young Thomas Gates was

played by Jason Earles? Holy crap! Freaking Hannah

Montana! reference, holy crap, in 1832 by Charles

Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration

of Independence, saying simply the secret lies

with Charlotte. Young Ben has given this clue

in 1974 by his grandfather, John Adams Gates,

who is played by Christopher Plummer. Though

John is too old to search any more and his son

Patrick has stopped believing in the treasure,

Ben swears that he will take up the Gates family

quest. What did you think of the beginning scenes?

the story and all that stuff. Honestly, I liked

how they were talking about the beginning part

where the grandfather's telling young Ben. No,

I thought that was really cool. It was like he

was passing down a tradition that was from the

family and even though his son didn't believe,

his grandson was completely enthused by it. And

you could tell he was gaining a passion for it.

Oh, yeah. And I do have to say something about

the character of Patrick Gates, the father, who

is played by John Voight. He eventually gets

into it, even though when Ben is a child, he

is pretty much lost all interest. As the film

progresses, he gets into it. We flash to 30 years

later using sophisticated computer Arctic weather

models Ben with his friend Riley Poole played

by Justin Bartha and Financer Ian Howe played

by Sean Bean find the wreckage of a colonial

ship the Charlotte containing a Mearsham pipe

engraved with a riddle after examining the riddle

Ben deduces that the next clue is on the back

of the population of Independence While Ben sees

gaining access to such a highly guarded artifact

as an obstacle, Ian finds no problem in stealing

it. This results in a standoff during which the

ship's gunpowder is accidentally ignited. Ian

and his assistant Shaw escape and the Charlotte

explodes with Ben and Riley inside nearly killing

them. They attempt to warn the Department of

Homeland Security, the FBI and Dr. Abigail Chase

played by Diane Krueger. at the National Archives,

but no one takes them seriously, believing it

to be too heavily guarded and to be under any

threat. Ben thinks otherwise, however, and decides

to steal it to keep it from Ian. Ben and Riley

manage to steal the declaration during a 70th

anniversary gala just before Ian arrives. Dr.

Chase, who is tricked by Ben into taking a replica,

is kidnapped by Ian, who thinks she has the real

one, and Ben has to engage in a car chase to

rescue her. As she will not leave without the

declaration, Ben will not let her leave with

it. She is forced to go along with it. I know

that was a little bit long -winded, but it just

kind of folded all together because it's on two

separate pages, and the vamp that I added inside

nearly killing, the vamp isn't there. But anyway,

I love the, you know... I just can't say enough

good things about the movie overall, but this

scene here, just setting it up and actually plotting

to steal the Declaration of Independence, that

was just super cool, especially how they showed

how it's stored when it's not on display, and

even when it's on display, all the security measures

that they take to ensure its safety. It's just

so awesome. What did you think? Yeah, like I

think it's funny how he's just like well, we're

just gonna steal it You know just out of the

blue and he's like, well, how are we gonna protect

it? Oh, we're gonna just take it We're gonna

get in there. We're gonna go during this event

and kind of nonchalantly break in there steal

it and then sweat swap it out and You know that

it's just It's just pure awesome that they would

go and do that in the first place. The thing

about that scene that isn't said in the synopsis

during that scene, Ben, after he couldn't get

the declaration itself, the actual document out

of its casing, so he took the entire casing.

and just as Ian arrived Ben was walking down

the hallway running backwards down the hallway

to get to the elevator and they shoot Ben and

it was already mentioned that that the glass

is bulletproof so he just holds the document

up to not not get shot I thought that was just

so funny Ben and Riley agree that the only place

to hide from the police would be at the home

of Ben's father, Patrick Henry Gates played by

John Boynt. Despite his father's disbelief in

the treasure, Ben manages to reveal an Ottendorf

cipher on the back of the declaration referring

to characters in the Silence Do Good letters

which Ben's father donated to the Franklin Institute.

The coded message in the letters leads them to

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where they

find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin.

Inside a hollow brick from the building, Ben

examines the back of the declaration with the

glasses to find another clue. After a short chase,

Ian gets the declaration from Riley and Abigail

and the FBI arrest. You know again the you know

this whole chase to find these clues it the action

in this movie is just so It's high intense, but

it's not so high intense where it's put you on

overload Well, it's comedic, but it also keeps

you at the end of your seat. Oh, yeah very much

so Very very much so When the FBI attempts to

use Ben as bait to get the declaration back,

Ian arranges to have him escape by jumping from

the deck of the USS Intrepid into the Hudson

River. A feat not too difficult for Ben as a

graduate of the Navy Diving and Salvage Training

Center. Using Patrick, Riley, and Abigail as

leverage, Ian forces Ben to interpret the clue

on the back of the declaration of reference to

a secret chamber under the Trinity Church in

New York City. During this time, a structural

collapse causes Shaw to fall to his death. When

the group arrives at the seemingly dead end,

Patrick makes up another clue to keep Ian going,

telling him that a lantern is the clue that leads

to the Old North Church in Boston, referencing

Paul Revere's ride. Ian goes to Boston with his

men, leaving everyone else to die in the caverns.

This scene, this was a set that they built. That's

insane. For this scene. Originally, on the deleted

scenes on the DVD, originally, the scene was

actually longer, but it was unneeded. Just, you

know, basically having to trek almost all over

the United States to find these clues, or not

really all over the US, but the main, you know,

tying it into history, tying it to Benjamin Franklin.

tying to you know the liberty bell and all that

stuff it was just just amazing um... i like how

they how they added the paul rivers right in

there to to trick in because you know it's just

cool what did you think of of the the cavern

scenes uh... yet the the the whole like aspect

of it was pretty cool. I like how Patrick actually,

you know, does something other than just kind

of stand there and say, you know, this is a bad

idea, don't go after the treasure and, you know,

and he's just kind of stuck in the middle of

the whole mess, even though he doesn't really

want to do it anymore. Oh, he's into it though.

I mean, he really starts getting into it. Well,

yeah, he starts getting into it again, but he

didn't want to at the very beginning though.

Yeah. So after Ian leaves, Ben reveals that there

is another exit that must be through the treasure

room. They find a secret passage into another

chamber. To their disappointment, they find it

empty and assume that the treasure was already

moved. However, they realize a secondary exit

must have been created in case of cave -ins.

Ben examines the walls of the room to find a

hole in the shape of a pipe from the Charlotte.

This lock opened the door into the true treasure

room containing artifacts from all periods of

history This scene when they realized that they

have to use the pipe the actual the pipe bowl

and the pipe handle to turn the thing and then

he lights the the oil and And the fire troughs

come out and you just see all this treasure That

scene it is so awesome. Oh, yeah And just seeing

the look on Ben Gates' face and his father's,

and they're like, yeah, we found it, we found

it. As they leave through the second exit in

the FTIRI, Ben discovers that the chief investigator,

Special Agent Peter Sadusky, played by Harvey

Tytel, is a Freemason. Ben proposes to give the

treasure to various museums around the world,

with credit being given to the entire Gates family

and Riley, with Dr. Chase not being penalized

for the theft of the declaration. However, Sadusky

says that someone has to go to prison for the

theft of the declaration. So they fly to Boston,

where Ian and his men are breaking the law to

gain entry to the Old North Church. FBI agents

emerge from hiding and arrest them under the

charge of kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing

on government property. The US government offers

Ben and his friends 10 % of the treasure, but

Ben only takes 1 % and splits it with Riley.

With his share, Ben and Abigail buy a mansion

once owned by Charles Carroll, and Riley buys

a red Ferrari 360 Spider. Ben and Abigail, who

have developed a romantic interest in each other,

share a kiss, after which Riley drives off in

his new sports car. The film ends with Abigail

giving Ben a map. When he curiously asks what

it leads to, she just smiles in a suggestive

grin. One of the funniest things I thought after

they found the treasure and they were going back

up, was uh... when they break because they go

they go down when they go down into it and what

many of them are still with them they go to one

they come back up they come up to another creptin

maintenance guys like and then just you have

a cell phone i can use which i thought that was

a really really really funny uh... what did you

think of these uh... spinal cord point I like

how they, you know, obviously tying into the

last part, tricked Ian into going all that way

just so that they could actually get him arrested

was awesome. And the scene where Riley buys the

Ferrari, which is a constant throughout this.

You know there is yes. Yes through the series.

Although we have yet to find out what it's going

to play You know what funny scene it's gonna

be in the third one, but But yeah, this is just

the whole thing overall it was it was very comedic

and serious and it also tied into a lot of history

so it was a very interesting and Exciting movie.

Oh, yeah very much so and I you know Before we

get into any of the other information really

wanted to play the... I got a music cue from

when Ian gets arrested. I love this music cue

and I know it's going to skip but it won't in

the final edit. I love that. It's right when

Ian is getting arrested and Ben comes out from

the shadows of another building. And Ian just

shakes his head. Yeah, just because he just got

pwned. Yeah, pretty much he did. I'm going to

go into the clues and their meanings really quick.

And I think we may have to split this discussion

up. I'm not really sure, but I'm going to go

into some of the other information. If you want

to, we can just. alternate on these. The secret

lies with Charlotte refers to a ship that ended

up frozen and preserved in the ice cap circle.

I'm wondering if, I mean I know that that's what

that refers to, but I'm wondering if that's still

there. There's only one way to find out. The

Wikipedia. Go look for it. Yeah, it must still

be stuck there because it says nothing about

it being moved. The legend writ... I was going

to say the legend has it that the ship may contain

a key to a Freemason legend. Oh, cool. The legend

writ, the stain affected, the key in silence

undetected, 55 and iron pen. Mr. Matlock can't

offend. Written on the stem of a Merchant pipe.

The pipe found in a cask of gunpowder guarded

by the skeletal captain needed to be dipped in

ink or a similar substance in the film, Blood

is Used, and then rolled across paper to read

the clue in the manner of a cylinder seal. The

clue refers to the declaration of independence

as well as the Simon Stigard letters. uh... which

were really didn't mention the sounds to the

letters they were letters were written by benjamin

franklin in who created this woman and some which

i thought that was really cool you know people

back then even used um... pseudonyms you want

to take the next one they give me the one that

nobody can pronounce and or safe And back of

Declaration of Independence, the ciphers were

the key for the silence, do good letters. The

cipher was written in a series of numbers separated

by dashes. The page number of the text, or the

key text, the line of the page, and the letter

in that line, disregarding spaces and punctuation.

This piece of information is withheld from Ian

at the beginning of the movie. Yes. And that

also goes back to It's kind of like more, you

know, obviously these movies are based on codes

and hidden messages and stuff like that, but

it also could also be considered Morse code too.

The undercypher solution, the vision to see the

treasure pass comes as a timely shadow crosses

in front of the house. A fast and still refers

to Independence Hall in the Liberty Hall. The

$100 bill, image of Independence Hall on the

back, supplies the specific time, 2 .22 to be

at Independence Hall to find the next clue. Ben

and the team go to Independence Hall at 3 .22

Eastern Daylight Savings Time, because Daylight

Savings was not established until World War I,

as mentioned by Riley. Therefore, in 1776, when

the painting was done, it would have been 2 .22.

And there's also an image with this that shows

Independence Hall on there. You can take the

next view if you like. The ocular device found

in a hollowed brick carved with a Masonic square

and compass when the shadow from the Independence

Hall points to a specific brick in a nearby wall.

The device is needed to see the map in its entirety.

Here at the wall and the Trinity Church symbol

found on the map when viewed through the ocular

device refers to the Trinity Church in New York

City on the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway,

which was originally called De Heer Street by

the original Dutch settlers. Very cool. You know,

and again, this all goes back to tying everything

into history and it's just amazing that that

they were able to do this and, you know, as we

said before with the ship, you know, apparently

there is a ship. You know, you never know. I

mean, somebody could find something. Well, you

know, it had to take a massive amount of historical...

Research. Yes. Thank you. Beneath Parkington

Lane, found on the map when viewed through the

ocular device, when the lenses are adjusted,

this refers to a master mason in the church mausoleum,

his tomb sealing the entrance to the underground

location where the treasure was hidden, the secret

temple of the masons. And the final one is through

the all -seeing eye and the pipe. Pressing an

eye engraved into the wall allowed the group

to enter the hidden room, which was empty as

the final clue. The pipe was not only a clue

to the decorations dependent, but it was also

the key to unlock your room. All of the pipe

needed to be placed inside the imprint of the

wall and then allow the stem of the pipe to turn

the lock. The pipe bolt then pushed to unlock

the room. And again, you know, just working all

this stuff into a story is just super, super

cool. I think we can move on to the cast. The

cast in this movie is just awesome. You know,

I mean, people may not like Nicolas Cage or whatever.

Some people do, some people don't. But for these

films, nobody else could play that character.

Oh no, he's perfectly fitting for the entire

character. Oh yeah, very much so. And then having

Justin Bartha as Riley Poole as kind of a comedic

foil to Ben's seriousness, it's just... I don't

think awesome can be said enough for this movie.

No get Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase Sean Bean

as Ian Howe actually the last time I saw a movie

of his was Now that I thought about it once I

watched this the other night Was Goldeneye he

played Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye he was also

the traitor in Lord of the Rings I don't watch

those movies, so those movies suck. Anyway, you've

got John Voight and Harvey Keitel, who, I mean,

just dropping their names, everybody knows who

they are and what kind of film career they have.

Then you have Christopher Plummer, Jason Earls,

which, again, Hannah Montana reference. And there's

a few other people that really aren't that important

to mention. So I think we're going to take a

break and then come back and discuss the rest

of the first movie. So we'll be right back. I

guess now we can talk about the reception of

the film and the home video releases as well.

As far as the reception, the film received a

mixed reaction from critics, some of whom...

lauded it as fun straightforward family adventure

while others ridiculed its numerous implausibilities

and unbelievable plot twists. Roger Ebert, who

is a bastard, gave National Church two stars

out of a four. It's so silly that Monty Python

version could use the exact same screenplay line

for line. The film currently holds a 43 % approval

rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus being

that National Treasure is no treasure, but it's

a fun ride for those who can forgive its highly

improbable plot. Yeah, with with like piles of

shit that are flaming and Yeah, because this

movie was pretty damn good, and I think that

the second one was even better than the first

one Yeah, being that they both had awesome just

Full times and a great cast. Oh, yes very much

so You know And again these critics are probably

people You know, even Roger Ebert, who again,

is a bastard. And a douchebag. Yes. He, you know...

What do these people consider good films? I mean,

seriously. I'm sorry. Not everything can be a

slumdog millionaire or what the hell ever. Sucks.

Sucks slumdog. Well, whatever the hell they have

at the Academy Awards every year, films that

we've never even heard of. You know, and I've

brought this up before, you know, this year's

Oscars, I only knew, out of all the ones that

won, I only knew, I think, two. And that was

the Dark Knight, which won for a special effect

or music soundtrack, or won for something. And

Wall -E, which won for, I think it won an animation

award. But, you know, I don't know, these fucking

people. So the home video releases. As I said

before, the collector's edition DVD, a special

collector's edition two disc DVD set of the movie

was released December 18, 2007. Disney released

a Blu -ray disc versions of National Treasure

and its sequel, National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets

on May 20, 2008. You know, and as I said before,

both DVDs have tons of special features talking

about each film. So yeah, and then there's the

soundtrack Which I don't have but I'll get eventually

moving on to sequels here You might have to read

this because I'm about to go into a coughing

sit here already then Yes The the sequels for

this movie they well they have one out so far

In National Treasure the book of secrets which

we'll be covering next, and they also have in

the works currently National Treasure 3, which

is not subtitled at this point in time. Although

the DVD commentary stated that there were no

plans for a sequel, the film's box office gross

of an unexpected 347 .5 million worldwide warranted

a second film. Which was given the green light

in 2005 National Treasure Book of Secrets on

DVD known as National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets

was released December 21st 2007 You know the

second one which we will be getting to here shortly

I was actually shocked to even learn that they

were doing a Second one. I wasn't shocked. Well

I hadn't heard anything, you know, after I saw

the first one, it had been two years since I

saw it initially, I didn't have it on DVD then,

you know, and I wasn't like shocked in a bad

way, I was shocked in a good way, I'm like, oh

wow, like yeah, oh yeah, I'm definitely going

to see that, and I actually went that Friday,

1221 .07 to go see it. As far as the third one,

director John Turtletob said that the filmmaking

team will take its time on another National Treasure

sequel, but Disney has already registered the

domains for NationalTreasure3DVD .com and NationalTreasure4DVD

.com. Though the second film ended with the question

about page 47, the president's book of secrets,

Turtletob responded in a press interview that

the idea was not set in stone as the basis for

National Treasure 3. In an online press release,

director John Turtletop set a timetable sitting

2011 as slated release date, which isn't so far

away. No, actually there's a lot of movies coming

out for that year. Well, yeah, there's a lot

of other films. I can't name any off the top

of my head. I think it would be an awesome twist

if they tied you know what you know We don't

know obviously and you know we're gonna be getting

into the second film here in a second But we

don't know obviously what was on page 47 But

just the fact that it's mentioned at the end

of the film I would hope that if the story is

gonna progress into something else that they

bring that up At least bring it up for film continuity

Do you have any final thoughts on this first

film? Definitely see it. It will also help with

the understanding of the second film, but I would

definitely recommend watching this movie. Yeah,

I would too, but I wouldn't necessarily say you

have to see the first one to see the second one.

Well, no. It's probably good that you do, but

because they set up two different stories and

They go back and say, oh, well, Thomas Gates

was a co -conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.

It's two separate stories, two separate treasures,

but it still is good to see the first before

the second just because of the film continuity

as far as the characters and stuff like that.

Also mentioning, going back to your National

Treasure 3 thoughts. I guess Disney has registered

domains for not only the third one, but a fourth

possibly. It says that the plot line also could

send the Gates family off to Easter Island and

beyond in search of Atlantis. Yeah, that's been

a question about it, or that's been a rumor for

it, but I don't know about that. Eh, who knows.

Who knows. So, out of ten, I would rate the first

film a ten, just because I like it so much. And

what would you rate it out of ten? I would rate

it, yeah, I would probably rate it a ten as well.

Alright, we are going to move on to the second

one, National Treasure II, Book of Scents. A

man only has one lifetime. But history can remember

you forever. Ladies and gentlemen, I present

to you one of the missing pages from the diary

of John Wilkes Booth. Your great -great -granddaddy

planned the assassination of President Lincoln.

It can't be. We cannot have him remembered as

a conspirator in the assassination of the man

who brought this nation together. I need to see

the page. Look at this. There's a symbol stamped

into the page. The eagle clutching the scroll.

Do you know what it means? The President's secret

book. Come on, it's a myth. It contains all of

our nation's secrets. The JFK conspiracy and

Area 51. This book could prove my grandfather's

innocence. All I need is a few minutes with the

President. The Secret Service is never gonna

leave you alone with the President. Well, you

never know. I'm sorry, Mr. President. I need

to ask you a question. Code one! Code one! The

book exists. But you are now number one on the

NSA, the CIA, and the FBI's most wanted list.

Is that for us? Oh, hello. This symbol designates

the secret tunnel that will lead us to the greatest

traitor of all time. How fast can we get to Buckingham

Palace? Someone else knows about the book. You've

got to find where that leads before they do.

What's the final clue? Another Gates family quest.

Wait, that could be a horrible trap. I'm sorry,

I couldn't resist. National Treasure Book of

Secrets. Riley, what do you see? Death and despair.

Mostly death, though. A little despair the last

few seconds, but then a hard sudden death. Alright,

up next in the fifth episode, today we're going

to be talking about National Treasure 2 Book

of Secrets. Let's see, it's a 2007 adventure

film. It's a sequel to the 2004 film National

Treasure. It was directed by John Turtletop and

produced by Jerry Brockheimer. We didn't really

mention Brockheimer in the first film discussion,

but again, Jerry Brockheimer is one of those

producers, directors, whatever, creators of stuff

that is just awesome. Oh yeah. He just is. everything

that man touches is almost gold yellow he touched

parents of the caribbean and you didn't like

that too much so well with the exception of parts

of the caribbean because i don't like the story

i mean i don't you know just because i don't

like the movie itself i'm not saying that jerry

didn't do a good job on all you know it's just

not my thing you know why are you about that

one later but it's basically a pirate version

of national treasure so It's a more horrific

version of National Treasure. Anyway, it was

stated in the first film's commentary that there

were no plans for a sequel. Oh wait, that's some

information. The film premiered in New York City

on December 13th, 2007 and was released in the

Middle East on December 20th. Korea and Taiwan

December 19th and was released in Australia on

December 20th. The film opened in the United

States, Canada, Japan, Spain, and Italy December

1st. It was released in Germany and the Netherlands

on January 24th, 2008 and released in the United

Kingdom and Denmark on February 8th, 2008. This

movie, you know, this sequel... I was so excited

for this when I first saw the trailer, as I said

earlier in the episode today, that I was actually

shocked to even see that a sequel was going to

be coming out, and then once I saw the trailer,

I just kept watching it and watching it and watching

it, and I'm like, okay, yeah, December 21st can't

get here fast enough. I'm just going to, because

I have the 2Disc Collector's Edition, I'm just

going to run down the special features and then

get it out of the way. There's audio commentary

with Kirk John Turtletop and actually avoid deleted

scenes the treasure reel bloopers and outtakes

Secrets of a sequel the book of secrets on location

street stunts creating the London chase Inside

the Library of Congress underground action cover

story crafting the president's book evolution

of a golden city and Knights of the Golden Circle

You know again woods With the first one and this

one You can for me. I can't say enough good things

about these films They're just yeah, what are

your initial thoughts? I like well, basically

I like the intro for the movie And I watched

this one more recently than the other one which

was earlier this week and I watched this one

today, so But I like the intro to the movie overall.

I like how it jumps back to, again, the ancestors,

as well as giving the basis for what this film

would be about. Overall, I like this entire series,

like the entire National Treasure series, because

it does get your attention and leaves a little

bit of comedy in there for you. one of those

movies that you're at the edge of your seat but

not enough to like fall face -first into the

floor. But it's a really awesome movie series.

Oh yes, very very much so. So we're going to

get into the plot here. Five days after the end

of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth and Michael

O 'Loughlin Both members of the Knights of the

Golden Circle, KGC for short, enter a tavern

and approach Thomas Gates, Ben Gates' great -great

-grandfather, a well -known puzzle solver to

decode a message written in Booth's diary. Thomas

recognizes the message, is using the Playfair

cipher, and begins to translate it. While he

does so, Booth leaves for Forge Theatre to assassinate

President Abraham Lincoln. Thomas solves the

puzzle, a clue to a treasure map, and realizes

the men are still loyal to the Confederate cause

and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure.

A fight breaks out and Thomas rips several pages

from the diary and throws them into the fire.

Thomas is shot and the gunman attempts to retrieve

the pages but only obtains a page fragment. As

Thomas dies, Thomas tells his distraught son

Charles Gates the debt that all men pay. In these

first initial scenes, again, like you said, I

thought that it was great how they're going back

to the ancestors and showing a different story

but with the same characters as far as the family

lineage for the Gates family. You know, it's

it's just awesome seeking a Seeing the Lincoln

assassination. I mean even though even though

this was staged, you know for those of us who

weren't alive back then Yeah, obviously, you

know, yeah. What do you think of these initial

scene? Well, I did like how Again, they had them,

you know Thomas Gates translating and How is

sitting there you're just kind of with them and

they You could tell that something kind of fish

she was going on when they had them decode the

message and Yeah, it was just kind of nice nod

showing at what time and place this Story took

place Yes, very much so Over 140 years later,

Ben Gates, played by Nicholas Cage, is telling

his great -great grandfather's story at a civilian

heroes conference. Black market dealer Mitch

Wilkinson, played by Ed Harris, who, you know,

we didn't really talk too much about Sean Bean

in the first film as far as being the villain,

but the villains for these films are awesome

cast and great characters. Oh yeah, no doubt.

You know, you can't go wrong with Ed Harris as

a villain. No. He shows one of the 18 missing

pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary with Thomas

Gates' name on it, convincing everyone that Thomas

was not only a conspirator, but the grand architect

of the Lincoln assassination. Ben sets out to

prove the innocence of his great -great -grandfather.

Using spectral imaging, Ben discovers a cipher

pointing to Edward Laboulaye hidden on the back

of the diary page. He travels to Paris where

he finds a clue engraved on the torch of the

scale model of the Statue of Liberty. I don't

know how to pronounce that, referring to the

two resolute desks. This you know after the time

split you know going into the future. I'm like

you know before we even see Mitch I'm like oh,

okay, so they're they're still you know going

around and explaining the story and you know

from the first film and they're still doing museum

appearances from the first treasure and everything

else and then of course you have Mitch coming

in and basically Throwing a giant fucking wrench

into the works Yeah What did you think of these

scenes here? Well, it was nice seeing that, you

know, how they kind of connected to the first

movie with Ben Gates and Patrick standing there

talking and then Mitch played by Ed Harris. You

know as you said throws a monkey wrench and things

and You know Patrick's going no, that's not right.

That's not what my grandfather told me You know

just like even though it's not physical evidence

Whereas what Mitch has is but it's not entirely

the truth Yeah, yeah He's like are you calling

my grandfather a liar? No, but are you calling

my great -great -great -granddaddy a liar? He's

like, yes, yes, I am. So then Ben heads to London

to look at the desk at Buckingham Palace with

the help of his friend Riley Poole, Justin Bartha,

and a strange girlfriend, Abigail Chase, played

by Diane Hoover from The Queen's Desk. He obtains

an ancient wooden plank. And we must say, after

the confrontation scene at the conference, you

know we see riley in i believe it's a boarders

he's got his book though you know uh... was thirteen

secrets so i don't know i forget the title of

the book right now uh... but he's sitting there

signing the book in two girls come up one uh...

are you that treasure hunter no yeah also you're

going to know i'm i'm the other guy i'm really

good aren't you are going to make sure what's

up soon are you uh... are you really poor And

she says, are you Ben Gates? Yeah. Do you have

a red Ferrari outside? Yeah. It's being towed.

And the next thing you see Riley running down

the street, that's my car. And then you see him

walking from there to his house with his giant

cardboard make of himself from the book signing.

and all the books that he didn't sell and Ben's

sitting there saying he needs his help and Riley

goes on and on about how apparently you're supposed

to pay taxes on the car and something about his

accountant setting up a false account somewhere

which you know it just goes to show you the whole

comedic angle of these films which is really

super cool and i actually have um since we did

start talking about buckingham palace i do have

the buckingham palace scene and sorry in advance

steve but it probably will oh now look what you've

done you brought the little bobby's down on us

you take the mrs outside i'm staying right here

good afternoon sir hello Been drinking, have

we? Just a nip. Just popped down to the pub for

a pint. Did him all right. Going to arrest the

man for that. Going to detain a blighter for

enjoying his whiskey. It's all right, that's

enough, sir. Bagels and mash, sir. Bombs and

squeak. Smoked eel pie, sir. Haggis! Thatch it!

Dismount the banister! I've got a lovely bunch

of coconuts! Here they are, standing in a row!

Small one, big one! Some as big as your head!

That... was brilliant. That scene was so funny

with Cage just going on and on and on and on

to create a distraction. So meanwhile, Wilkinson

has broken into Patrick Gates' house and has

cloned Patrick's cell phone and alerted track

band's whereabouts. Wilkinson eventually obtains

the wooden plank, but not before Ben manages

to photograph the symbols carved into the plank.

At Ben's insistence, Patrick reluctantly asks

his ex -wife and Ben's mother, Dr. Emily Appleton,

played by Helen Mirren, a professor at the University

of Maryland, College Park, for help in translating

the symbols. She does so. but points out that

some of the glyphs are partial, leading Ben to

conclude that another plank must be hidden in

the other resolute desk located in the Oval Office.

Ben and Abigail coax Abigail's new love interest,

Connor, a curator for the White House, into letting

them into the office to see the desk. Ben discovers

that the second plank is missing. but he does

find a stamp bearing the seal of the book of

secrets. Riley tells Ben that the book of secrets

contains documents collected by presidents for

the president's eyes only covering such controversial

subjects as the JFK assassination, Watergate,

and Area 51. The whole scene that I just played

plus everything else went when they're in Buckingham

Palace and then they go to the chase. That is

just so awesome to see that stuff. And you know,

Turtletop even said in the first film, Special

Features, you have, and he might have said it

in these too, you have to go to the locations

for most of the, you know, for the film's story

because you can't fake this. No. Not at all.

So I really enjoyed that they went to the actual

historical locations. What did you think of these

scenes here? Well, I did like how he did the

distraction. I liked the fact that they actually

went to the locations and how long it took them

to find the wooden plank within the desk was

quite hilarious. Very much so. Alright, so up

next we have Ben crashes the president's birthday

party at Mount Vernon. Where he meets the president,

Ben convinces the president, Bruce Greenwood,

to follow him into a secret tunnel under the

house where he confronts him about the book.

The president sympathetically warns Ben that

his actions will be interpreted as an attempt

to kidnap the president, confirming the conclusion

Ben and his companions have already reached.

Ben is now wanted for committing a federal offense.

Ben convinces the president to reveal the location

of the book, which is at the Library of Congress.

The president also tells Ben to read page 47

along with the information he needs. And again,

the whole thing with the president's book. This

was an awesome plot line, I thought. Oh yeah.

The fact that, you know, whether there's an actual

book in real life, we don't know, but You would

assume that as each president, you know, as it's

passed down, as president from president, you

would assume that they pass information to each

other. Oh, yeah. My only thing about that is,

though, what about the ones that have been assassinated?

Lincoln, you know, that's the only plot hole.

Well, maybe they just put, I'm going to see a

play tonight. But that's the only plot point

I can see. are the only plot hole that I can

see in having the book because you have so many

presidents that were assassinated or killed or

whatever or you know or just died. If it's for

presidents eyes only how can each of them pass

it down when not all of them were still alive?

Well because usually and not all of them but

some of them that were assassinated at least

did their their big memorable thing before they

died so they could have recorded it prior to

getting assassinated and then when their vice

president takes over they just read it. Right

and I understand that but what I'm saying is

is you know they say in the film it's passed

down from each president to each new president

so you know obviously It's either given to them

or a note somewhere says it's in this secret

location or blah blah blah. So if it's been passed

down, how could it possibly have done that when

some of them... If this is supposed to be for

president's eyes only, you can't just leave a

post -it note on your desk saying, my book is

here, you need to go find it so you can make

it your book. Do you see what I'm saying? Oh

yeah. Well, yeah, they wouldn't want just some

random person to be like, oh, the president's

diary. Exactly. So that's what I'm asking. How

is that possible? Nuclear missile codes? Oh,

OK. Excuse me. It's a good thing Bush was too

busy choking on crackers instead of reading that

book. So, in the book, Ben finds a picture of

the missing plank from the desk, an entry by

President Coolidge, who found the plank in 1924,

had it destroyed, and commissioned Gutzon Berlogum

to carve the Mount Rushmore to erase the map's

landmarks in order to protect the treasure. Ben,

Riley, Abigail, and Patrick head to Mount Rushmore

where they meet Mitch who has kidnapped Ben's

mother. Mitch helps them find the entrance of

the cave containing the legendary Native American

city of gold, Sibola. Once inside, they encounter

several traps and everyone gets separated. Eventually,

they find the city of solid gold behind Mount

Rushmore. However, in order to leave the city

of gold, one person has to stay behind to hold

open the escape path. Mitch sacrifices himself,

asking Ben to give him the credit for finding

the treasure. um... you know excuse me and you

know the great thing about these scenes is again

the history that both films show all the historical

landmarks going to mount rushmore and finding

a hidden city of gold that's just awesome yeah

i like how they they they touched on some of

the big uh... landmarks that have been major

parts of this country and of the world in general.

It was just great seeing how they would, you

know, tied it all together and made it all one

big continuing treasure map. Oh yeah, very, very

much. Excuse me, very much so. And then I have

the, I have the clip where Ben sticks his hand

in the little, where he goes to surrender his

hand here. I am sorry, I couldn't resist. Which

is in the trailer and that scene is just so funny.

That just shows you how comedic Nicolas Cage

can be and how comedic the character every now

and then of Ben can be as well. Well I mean they

wrote it in there and they gave him the opportunity

to actually be funny. Usually he plays a serious

role. At the end of the film, Ben clears his

family name with the discovery it is cleared

of all charges. When the President tells everyone

that Ben saved his life, Ben also ensures Mitch

receives joint credit for the find. The President

then asks Ben about what he read on page 47 of

the Book of Secrets, to which Ben replies, it's

life altering, sir. And then I have that clip

as well, the President's book. Here it is. Man,

I am curious about that favor I asked you. Any

report regarding what's on page 47 I believe

I can help with that sir, so it's good life altering

sir What's on page 47 are you talking about the

book What book Yeah, he's like what what book

is like, you know, no one's supposed to know

about this those guys did uh... well just i mean

that they knew but they didn't know it was on

page forty seven just been new on page forty

seven uh... going into the cast really quick

or will wait for you know that you have any final

thoughts on the on the second film uh... overall

i'd like this movie a lot better in the first

one i like how uh... entitled the presidency

and uh... various hidden uh... skeletons all

the closets of everybody Just just the overall

landmarks in this movie were a lot better and

I like just overall how the characters grew and

Expanded and you know, you've seen some of the

old characters and some newly introduced but

once present in this timeline Re Basically we

get together and all combine their efforts into

getting this treasure and their family name cleared.

I do have to say something about Ben's mom. I

thought she was dead. Because in the first film,

John Voight says, I had your mother for 32 years

or whatever it was. In the first film, it made

it sound to me that she had passed away. And

then now they're just separated, divorced, whatever,

which, you know, I like the addition of the mother.

It gives more comedic timing to the father, but

I don't know. I'm reading too much into it. Yes,

maybe. The main cast, as we've said before, Nicholas

Cage, John Voight, Justin Bartha, Diane Kerber,

Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel, and Helen Mirren. Again,

even though, you know, All of these the exception

of two are are returning It's just awesome portrayal

of every role You know, you got Ed Harris is

the villain. Oh, yeah, you know, he is he is

set in his position He knows that this is this

is to be true the same thing with the Gates family.

They know their version is to be true The effects

for first showing the city of gold and all that

stuff that that was just awesome That was a set

that they built well It shows on the DVD how

they built that set Which is really really cool

I guess we can move into the reception here.

Critics initially gave the film mixed reviews

just like the original. Rotten Tomatoes reported

that 32 % of critics gave the film positive reviews

based on 101 reviews. Metacritic reported that

the film had averaged score of 48 out of 100

based on 25 reviews. While British film critics

disputed the implication of British involvement

on the Confederate side in the Americans of war.

It opened number one with $16 ,739 ,339 on its

first day and total gross in its first weekend

was $44 ,733 ,772. The third largest Christmas

opening reached $100 million mark in eight days,

half the time it took the first film. It stayed

number one for 17 days before dropping to number

two and grossed $457 ,364 ,600 worldwide making

it the ninth highest grossing film of 2007. And

again, fuck the critics. I mean, I know that

we're critiquing it ourselves, but we're, you

know, we actually like the movie where, you know,

we don't have giant sticks stuck up our asses

like Roger Ebert and all his cohorts there. Well,

yeah, and as I stated in the last episode, They're

all pretty much douchebags because they go to

these uninteresting Movies for the most part

and they all seem to flock towards the same kinds.

They have no diversity They don't care for any

type of action movie any type of Ventures they're

all pretty much towards these dry stale Same

styled story much so And, of course, the British

film critics disputing the implications of British

involvement on the Confederate side in the American

Civil War. That's just funny. That's just funny,

but I can see that that would be possible. Oh,

yeah, because... Well, no, I mean, yeah, but

not even that. The fact that... Why wouldn't

the British help them? Because they were trying

to keep these states divided. So if we have divided

states, Britain can take over again. Well yeah,

but it was a historical fact too, so... So this

one actually has novelizations to it. I did not

know that. Disney Press published an official

novelization of the screenplay titled National

Treasure 2 Book of Secrets, the junior novel,

on November 6, 2007. Parts of the story in the

novel version... differ slightly from what was

actually filmed, owing to changes being made

in the screenplay prior to and during production.

For example, the novel Ben and Abigail photograph

the wooden plank found hidden in the Queen's

desk and leave it behind with the car chase following,

but in the movie they take the plank with them

on the chase. Also published on the same day

as the official novelization was a companion

youth novel, Changing Tides, a Gates family mystery

by Katherine Hapka. Its story is set in England

in the year 1612 and is the first in the series

to plan historical novels about the Gates family.

The epilogue from Changing Tides is included

at the back of the National Treasure Book. The

second youth novel by Hapka, Midnight Ride, a

Gates family mystery, was published on March

8th, 2008. I did not get into these. I haven't

actually been into movie novelizations for a

number of years. It's not that I don't like them.

I just haven't just haven't number one had the

money and number two it's been a while since

I've actually been to a bookstore since I do

all my shopping online for the most part. Well

see this is what I do because I normally go to

Walmart every now and again And I found that

that's the cheapest way for me to get a hold

of these nebulizations Being that if I go to

like my local borders or a bookstore. It's gonna

cost me I believe the sticker or the barcode

on the back of them now is as high as $7 .99

Which is ridiculous because when I started buying

books they were $4 .99 So I go to Walmart and

buy them now and it's five dollars before tax

and so I see that as a much cheaper cost to me

and I only get it for specific movies for instance

as everyone knows I've been a pretty big yes

well I've been a pretty much a hater towards

the entire new movie until I read that book and

then it changed me on my opinion of it, but I

mean, I... I know a lot of novelizations, but

it has to be a movie that I'm going to go out

and buy anyhow, or I like the franchise of or

knew of before. I think that was my main thing

with novelizations back when I read them a lot.

I would get them because the movie was out, or

I saw the movie, or I read the book then saw

the movie, you know, whatever. I used to actually

collect them. I don't have any more of them now,

but... Used to you know I had the I had the turtles

novelization for I think two of the three films

I had you know I had so many of them anymore

As far as the DVD release national treasure book

of secrets was released on DVD UMD and blu -ray

disc on May 20th 2008 June 2nd, 2008 in the UK.

The film has been retitled National Treasure

2 Book of Secrets for all three releases. The

film's official website has also been changed

accordingly. You know, as I said in the beginning

of the discussion for this film and for the first

film, it's just awesome seeing how these films

are made. Even, you know, even with going to

the actual locations, I'm probably, before we

do the closing, I'm probably going to include

the special features cover story crafting the

president's book. Because I thought that was

an awesome plot point. Even though I found a

plot hole in it, that's just an awesome plot

point for this movie. Well, yeah, I love that

that mysterious book is being as well Do you

have any overall final thoughts on both of the

films the whole series all together? The entire

dynamic and the adventure of the the whole series

is a fun and you know light series it's Something

that, if you're a history nut, even though some

of this is fabricated that we know of, being

that we don't know if any of this is actually

in existence, it's still one of the overall,

if you're a big history nut, check it out. Just

the overall dynamic of the characters in the

plotline is is fun and Interesting along the

entire movie. I don't find myself looking at

the clock when I watch very very much And I do

have to say about the first movie. I wanted that

that satchel He had that tube that he I wanted

that that was so freaking cool. I so wanted that

thing Yeah, overall these films are you know

as we've said just super super awesome everyone

should at least watch them once give them a chance

if it's not your thing cool if it is you know

great but if you're looking for a good you know

family -friendly type of adventure film that

you know you know like Steve said put you on

the edge of your seat but doesn't kick your ass

out of your seat you know go watch these these

are just awesome So, up next you're going to

hear some special features and then we are going

to go into the closing. We'll be right back.

We pretty much make our living on crazy. Just

got a point. Thank you for joining us here on

Movie Week in Review. There are several ways

to get in contact with us or leave feedback for

the show. The first is you can visit the www

.geekcastradio .com and find all the other G

-Sharon podcasts there. You can also comment

through Facebook and through the website on the

episodes. The second is you can stop by PredaconEmpire

.com slash CafeSpark and get all your GCR and

Transformers discussion topics there. The third,

you can leave the show feedback on iTunes. Please

do this. We need reviews, people. Even if it's,

you know, oh, these guys are too analytical or

whatever, just give us reviews. It would really

help the show. Yes. Yes. The fourth is you can

visit the earth -2 .net forums and find our threads

for the shows in the self -promotion section.

And the fifth is the email address, which is

gcrnmyer at email .com. You can also check out

our friends at This Week in Geek. They'll be

talking about Jurassic Park on their live episode.

We're not exactly sure when that will be airing.

I know that they were going to record it tonight

when we're recording MYR Episode 5. And I believe

Mike Dodd also told me that they were going to

be doing new Twig DVD reviews and Geek Gamers.

I'm not sure when those are going to... Going

to air, Mike did not give me any more details

on that. You can also follow us on Twitter. The

show name there is GCRNMWire. Mine is TFG1Mike

and yours is what? SCP -21. We hope you enjoyed

this episode of MWire and we wish that you will

join us next time when we will be reviewing the

Mission Impossible franchise.