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by R.J. Carter Published: December 18, 2007
And, to a degree, I was right. But a film can be another Freemason conspiracy treasure hunt story, and still be a darned fun one -- and that's what "National Treasure" is, a blending of Indiana Jones and Dan Brown for the American history buff. Timed to coincide with the release of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" comes this two-disc "Collector's Edition" of the Jon Turteltaub caper starring Nicolas Cage as the full-of-faith hero who knows in his heart that the Founding Fathers had and hid the immense treasure of the Knights Templar. It's a search that has occupied the last 150 years of his family line, including his grandfather (Christopher Plummer) as well as his father (Jon Voight), who eventually abandoned the search as a myth. Cage plays Benjamin Gates, and as the story opens we find him finding the answer to the riddle first posited to him by his grandfather years ago -- the location of a ship hidden away in the frozen arctic. Gates is accompanied by his tech-nerd companion (played by Justin Bartha, who's a vocal double for Patton Oswalt) and his financial backer, Ian (Sean Bean). When the clue turns out to yield no treasure but rather another clue, Gates is ready to call it in -- because the next clue is hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Ian, however, is undeterred, and is ready to steal the document. Gates theorizes that the only way to prevent Ian from stealing the Declaration... is to steal it himself.
The bonus features begin on the first disc, and begin with "National Treasure Hunt on Location," an eleven minute making-of featurette that includes the explosion of the ship, and also includes commentary from the director and principal actors. This is followed by about eight minutes of deleted scenes (with optional commentary by Turteltaub), a two minute opening scene shot in animatics, and the one minute alternate ending. But that's only the beginning. At the end of each featurette, the viewer is presented with a pair of letters (and instructions from Bartha). Once all four have been viewed, the viewer is given an input screen where the unscrambled letters unlock a new level of bonus features. (This unlock also provides a code so that the easter egg on the main menu -- the log book icon -- can take you directly to this level in the future.) Here, you'll find an eight minute documentary featuring interviews with real life treasure hunters, a ten minute documentary on the history of the Templar Knights, and the interactive study guide and game, "Riley Poole's DECODE THIS." In this feature, Bartha walks the viewer through hieroglyphics (followed by an exercise), cryptography (followed by another exercise), Morse code, invisible ink, and Paul Revere's lanterns. The final exercise involves finding another set of digits through a pair of fancy glasses like those used in the movie. Does this number open a level even deeper on the disc? Ah, that would be revealing too much! The second disc includes another set of deleted scenes, a twelve minute featurette called "Ciphers, Codes, & Codebreakers," yet another look at the blowing up of the ship, and the documentary, "To Steal a National Treasure," which includes commentary from producer Jerry Bruckheimer as well as Cage and others. This is interesting insofar as it discusses how the plot was originally scripted to create a believable theft of the Declaration of Independence -- and then how the script had to be radically altered when 9/11 happened and stricter security measures were enforced. Finally, there's "On the Set of American History," which seems to use up an awful lot of footage we already saw on the first disc. With "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" ready to hit theaters, this disc is a must-see to prime your excitement before setting off on the next adventure. Audio can be set to English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, or Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (c'mon, Spanish folks, upgrade your home theater systems!) Optional subtitling is available in English, French and Spanish. Previews on this disc include "101 Dalmations" Platinum Edition, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," and "Underdog." Additional selectable previews include "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," and "The Game Plan." |
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