National Treasure
We dip once again into the treasure bin
Tags: National Treasure Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Dec 24th, 2007
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I am, along with my 15 year old son, the only person that I know that enjoyed National Treasure. I grew up with action films rated “PG”, back in a time before the “PG-13” rating. The whole genre of adventure films seems to have been forgotten in favor of action, and the notion of making things for as wide an audience as possible seems to be rather silly. When National Treasure came out a couple of years ago, it played right to the core of what I enjoy about movies – escapism. I don’t know why people didn’t like this film. It’s fun, doesnt’ take itself too seriously, has a good cast, and has a solid emphasis of the adventure over the action.
Nicolas Cage stars as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a treasure hunter and cryptographer. His quest for one specific item has driven him, and his family to a degree that doesn’t simply border on obsessive, it’s manic. What makes this quest seem alright is the rational way in which the quest is undertaken.
The events depicted are certainly fanciful, but there is a certain logic to them so that it all makes sense. The pace is rather quick and the two hours fly by. Sure, it may not be the most deep and meaningful of films, but it wasn’t meant to be. Many will decry this is pale imitation of the Indiana Jones films, which would be a mistake because that character is simply a distillation of the adventure heroes of times gone by, such as Allan Quartermaine.
What makes the film work is the cast. Everybody takes what could be a disposable, second rate piece of storytelling, and gives it a bit of gravitas. When Gates takes a water bottle to use as an improvised magnifying glass it’s not done with a tongue in check sensibility, but as a serious event. Yes, the whole of the cast is having fun, but not at the expense of the story.
This DVD takes everything from the first DVD release of National Treasure and brings it together with a batch of new material on the second disc. We get some additional deleted scenes as some commentary by director Jon Turteltaub. These are fine, but should have been folded into the main feature along with the previously release set. Four new featurettes help to round out the second disc, but they aren’t worth picking up alone.
Obviously designed to help promote National Treasure: Book of Secrets now in theaters, this release of National Treasure falls short. A commentary by the director and star would have gone a long way. Folding the deleted scenes into the film to create a (admittedly longer) “director’s cut” would have been fun to watch.
As it is, if you already have National Treasure you should pass on this unless you’re absolutely obsessive about the film. Even then, you may want to wait for the eventual Blu-ray release which should arrive alongside the home video release of the sequel in a few months.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Good family film that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator + Fun adventure |
6.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
| - The second disc of extras isn't worth the price for those that have picked up the film before | |
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A good film, but this is DVD marketing at its most base. The lower score is more reflective of the DVD double dip rather than the film itself. | |
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Tags: National Treasure
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Dec 24th, 2007 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
