National Treasure (Blu-ray)
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Studio: Disney
Year: 2004
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 131 minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: PCM 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
MSRP: $ 34.99
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Review Date: May 10, 2008
The Film
3/5
Jon Turteltaub’s
National Treasure is another one of those “check-your-brain-at-the-door” thrill rides which producer Jerry Bruckheimer has made a specialty. Fast-paced with reasonably intricate plotting carrying the protagonists and antagonists from one major set piece to another, it’s fun, brainless entertainment. Along the way you might pick up some tidbits of American historical folklore and trivia, but the meat of the picture is strictly entertainment. Anything else is gravy.
Nicholas Cage’s Ben Gates is carrying on several generations of the Gates family's fascination with an ancient legend concerning huge amounts of buried treasure whose location was lost with the deaths of the Founding Fathers. Possessing a single clue about an old windjammer the
Charlotte, Cage and his confederates find themselves on a treasure hunt that carries them from the North Polar icecap to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and finally New York. Along the way, the script by Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley brings in touches of
The Da Vinci Code,
Raiders of the Lost Ark, and even
Oceans 11. It’s amusing poking through assorted historical facts from the Revolutionary War period, and even though the film is overlong, it manages to hold one’s attention pretty much because of some fine heroes and villains and due to Turteltaub’s breathless direction, even in circumstances that are eye-rollingly unbelievable.
Nicholas Cage has a way of delivering even the driest facts with that stone-faced sincerity that keeps an audience in his corner, and he’s assisted by lightly acerbic sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha). Part of their caper involves stealing the Declaration of Independence in order to get a glimpse at the back of the document, and he needs national antiquities expert Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) for that (and she also provides the lighter-than-air love interest in this PG concoction). For villains, we’ve got two of the best: Sean Bean (as smugly pompous as he was in
Patriot Games) as Ian Howe and the lethal David Dayan Fisher as his cohort Shaw. Jon Voight and Christopher Plummer play elder members of the Gates clan, and Harvey Keitel as the FBI agent hot on their trail keeps things humming.
Turteltaub stages some lengthy chase scenes well in the streets of Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, though he’s not able to disguise the fact that for major cities in our country, the streets and public sightseeing venues are surprisingly empty of people other than the characters in our drama. Bean’s character is also in possession of information that he’d have no way of getting ahead of time, all for the sake of keeping the plot moving. These are the kinds of lapses in plotting that a real masterpiece like
Raiders of the Lost Ark would have taken care of in the script stage before moving on to filming.
But for a mindless couple of hours,
National Treasure isn’t a bad deal. Yes, it could have been much better, but what’s here is entertaining enough.
Video Quality
4.5/5
The film’s 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is presented in 1080p on this Blu-ray disc using the AVC codec. Gorgeous flesh tones are the hallmark of this transfer which also boasts stunning black levels, some outstanding shadow detail, and excellent sharpness. Several scenes in low light situations may have the slightest decrease in dimensionality and impact, but those are minor inconveniences, and for the most part, the transfer is splendid. The film is divided into 19 chapters.
Audio Quality
5/5
Like all of the Jerry Bruckheimer action thrillers which Disney has brought to Blu-ray this year, the PCM 5.1 (6.9 Mbps) audio track is a stunning achievement. There’s tremendous surround activity, a wide, open soundfield that allows discreet effects a full spectrum of sound, and very strong subwoofer activity. Trevor Rabin’s music is used smartly in both fronts and rears where appropriate to really support the drama, and the sound design is never afraid to be quiet when the situation calls for it.
Special Features
4.5/5
Director Jon Turteltaub and actor Justin Bartha participate in a somewhat irritating
audio commentary. Obviously great friends, the two guys josh and needle one another rather than making a lot of salient comments about the making of the movie. Though some information is obviously imparted, their banter quickly becomes tiresome, and there are frequent gaps where no one has anything to say.
“Mission History: Inside the Declaration of Independence” is a BD-Java exclusive (in 1080i) which takes a line by line examination of the famous document and from there branches off into more than thirty featurettes referencing remarks the Founding Fathers made in the writing of that important declaration. Actor Justin Bartha is the guide to exploring this splendid Blu-ray exclusive, and there are glimpses from Disney's
Swamp Fox and
Johnny Tremain in the featurettes.
7 deleted scenes may be viewed together or separately and with or without director Jon Turteltaub's commentary. Together the 480i scenes run 16 minutes.
"Opening Scene Animatic" shows us a CGI representation for the film’s original opening cut down considerably in the finished film. This 480i featurette runs 2 ¾ minutes.
An
alternate ending which can be played with or without director commentary is presented in 480i and runs 1¾ minutes.
“Ciphers, Codes, and Codebreakers” is a fascinating featurette on the history of cryptology. It’s in 1080i (only one of three bonuses in high definition) and runs 11 ¾ minutes.
“Exploding Charlotte” is a 6 ½ minute 480i featurette detailing the location photography for the scenes dealing with the ship
Charlotte in its two principal sites: an ice storage warehouse where interior shots were filmed and in the Utah flats during winter where the actual explosion was rigged.
“To Steal a National Treasure” discusses the elaborate security system that was installed at the National Archives building in Washington after 9/11 which made the screenwriters’ job harder to plot a believable theft of the Declaration. This 480i feature runs 5 ¾ minutes.
“On the Set of American History” is a 6-minute 480i vignette in which the actors, director, and producer discuss the thrill of filming in actual historical locations in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York.
“National Treasure on Location” is basically the EPK for the film, repeating a fair amount of information found in the other featurettes as important personnel on the movie discuss location filming, their experiences working with the director, the staging of the chase scene, and the construction of the elaborate sets for the catacombs and the use of special effects to make them seem even more complex. This 480i feature runs 11 ¼ minutes.
“Treasure Hunters Revealed” is an 8 ½-minute 480i visit with some real life treasure hunters who scour the seas and explore the mountains looking for the riches they still hold.
“The Templar Knights” is a very brief 5-minute exploration of the history of the masons from Europe to America and the speculation about the possible treasure that may have been buried somewhere in the world. It’s also in 480i.
There is an available
pop-up trivia track which can be chosen to play during the film.
The disc offers 1080p
previews for
Wall-E and
National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The trailer for
National Treasure is not present on the disc.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
It’s not deep, but
National Treasure can be a fun ride through American history. If caper films are of interest, you could do worse than
National Treasure, and the Blu-ray certainly offers a fine package of extras to go along with the feature itself.
Also included in the package is a $10 rebate coupon for use when upgrading from the standard definition DVD of
National Treasure to the Blu-ray edition.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
Now all I need is a new receiver and to upgrade my S300 to a BD30K to get the full benafit of DTS-HD MA. 
