In 1974, a grandfather tells a young boy about an ancient legend: a fabled treasure hidden somewhere in America, passed down from the Knights Templar to the Founding Fathers and the Freemasons. Thirty years later, Ben Gates, a historian and cryptographer, sets out on the hunt with his friend Riley Poole, backed by a wealthy Englishman, Ian Howe, whose intentions quickly prove very different from theirs. The most promising clue seems to be hidden on the reverse of a document of great national importance, and solving the puzzle forces Ben into risky choices that set him against the authorities and even his own family. National Treasure blends historical riddles with chases and heist-style tension, moving across landmarks throughout the United States.

How it was made

National Treasure was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Jon Turteltaub, from a screenplay credited to Jonathan Hensleigh, Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Jim Kouf and the husband-and-wife team of Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. Walt Disney Pictures released it alongside Saturn Films, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Junction Entertainment. Nicolas Cage leads the cast, supported by Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel and Christopher Plummer. Caleb Deschanel shot the film, William Goldenberg edited it, and Trevor Rabin composed the score. Production cost roughly 100 million dollars, a sum the film recovered comfortably at the box office. The picture mixes the pacing of classic adventure with the mechanics of a heist movie, and its visual approach recreates famous monuments and archives in a way designed to be accessible to a broad audience.

Reception and legacy

National Treasure opened worldwide on November 19, 2004. Critics were divided, praising its entertainment value while expressing reservations about the script. The film grossed about 347 million dollars worldwide, a notable commercial success. Trevor Rabin's score earned him the 2005 BMI Film Music Award. Its popularity led to a sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, released in 2007, and to a spin-off series, National Treasure: Edge of History, which premiered on Disney+ in 2022. Over time the film has become a reference point for family-oriented adventure cinema of the early 2000s, and its blend of history and action is still cited as a representative example of that subgenre.