Brennan 0:00
You’re listening to Dodge Movie Podcast. Your hosts are Christi and Mike Dodge the founders of Dodge Media Productions. We produce films and podcasts. So this is a podcast about films. Join them as they share their passion for filmmaking.

Christi Dodge 0:17
Welcome back, everybody to the Dodge Movie Podcast. This is episode 122. We are going to be talking about National Treasure for the third week of June. National Treasure came out in 2004. We watched National Treasure on Disney+. So if you’re a Disney+ subscriber, then you too can watch it without paying any extra money. National Treasure was directed by John Turteltaub, who also did Cool Runnings and While You Were Sleeping in 95, and Phenomenon in 96. It stars Nicolas Cage Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha Sean Bean, Jon Voight Harvey Keitel and Christopher Plummer, the DP you may recognize this name Caleb Deschanel.

Mike Dodge 1:08
Any relation to Zooey their father?

Christi Dodge 1:11
Zooey and Emily.

Mike Dodge 1:13
Yeah,

Christi Dodge 1:14
Father of and he we know him his work quite a bit from the 83 The Right Stuff 84 The Natural 96 a big favorite of mine, Fly Away Home, the 2000 The Patriot and in 2004. He worked with Marty Scorsese on The Passion of the Christ.

Mike Dodge 1:37
Wow, quite an ouvre. When did he find time to father a couple of daughters?

Christi Dodge 1:42
It was cute. I was watching a thing just a little bit ago. And I could pick up I would say their traits. But it’s probably the other way I could see traits in him that they had either picked up or genetics,

Mike Dodge 1:55
Right. He has a good singing voice?

Christi Dodge 1:57
That wasn’t one of them. National Treasure was written by Jim Kouf. And he also did 1987 Stakeout and he worked on the Grimm series.

Mike Dodge 2:09
That’s right, a little local connection. He may have actually been here, right. As a show runner on Grimm, and if he wants to come back, I’ll buy him a sandwich.

Christi Dodge 2:21
So there was also a writing team of Cormac Wimberly and Maryanne Wimberly obviously related in some way, and it says the screenwriting team of Terry Rubio and Ted Elliott were hired by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to do an uncredited script polish for the film.

Mike Dodge 2:44
Yeah, I think that’s pretty common that a bunch of writers are brought in to do passes on it.

Christi Dodge 2:49
I know that National Treasure was under a Touchstone banner for a bit, but then it was toned down I get I think to get the PG rating and then and Disney approved and so they were then willing to put their moniker on it.

Mike Dodge 3:05
I wonder what was toned down. Was it violence? Or did Abigail have a topless scene we never got to see possible

Christi Dodge 3:11
I feel like my memory it was more for language. I’m sure some maybe some violence to the synopsis for this film is, A historian races to find the legendary Templar treasure before a team of mercenaries do I’ve got three taglines? The greatest adventure in history has ever revealed.

Mike Dodge 3:34
Hmm. Mediocre, okay.

Christi Dodge 3:37
In order to break the code, one man will have to break all the rules.

Mike Dodge 3:42
A little bit better. Very Hollywood high concept action film.

Christi Dodge 3:46
Yeah, I like it. And then the clues are right in front of your eyes.

Mike Dodge 3:51
No, too confusing?

Christi Dodge 3:53
Well, I think Do you think it’s referencing that eye that’s like,

Mike Dodge 3:56
Oh, absolutely. I know where they’re going and lots of clues. But I think as a tagline. I don’t think it serves the film.

Christi Dodge 4:02
So in doing research, you know, I always kind of troll. Well, maybe troll isn’t the right word.

Mike Dodge 4:07
Will troll as in fishing. Yes. Not as an Internet commenting,

Christi Dodge 4:11
Right. I troll the internet for mostly YouTube for interviews with the filmmakers of National Treasure to try to kind of gain information and there were there were so many and they were like sometimes half hour in length. I did not watch them but if you want to go down a rabbit hole there are many people who have made videos on the things that that they got wrong in this film.

The things that there was this one it was just really comical this guy was just kind of hate watching kind of in a sarcastic somewhat funny way. And he was saying at the very beginning when Christopher Plummer is telling little named Ben Ben little Ben about the clues that were left behind and right guy was like, Yeah, cuz we would definitely leave clues on money. That’s everybody handles every single day.

Mike Dodge 5:02
Great place to hide it. So question is where did this land relative to the book DaVinci Code, because it’s the same kind of sounds like that criticism. So in the beginning of The Divinci Code, the author says, like, all of the places listed here really exist there. And then I subsequently read someone say, like, yeah, they exist, but not in the necessarily format that he said or whatever.

To me, it’s, like a famous director once said, it’s just a movie. Right? Anybody who kind of saw the Nicolas Cage character, as an actual, like, historian is probably missing the point of this film. So I have for a Hollywood action movie, I think this is suitably accurate. Right? All that I expected, it makes sense within its own universe. It’s internally consistent. That’s all I care about.

Christi Dodge 6:01
So National Treasure predates the Da Vinci Code. The book, the first book was published in March of 2003 and the movie came out in 2006. This is this is 2004. So the book came out a year before National Treasure.

Mike Dodge 6:22
They probably were aware of it, but I don’t think they necessarily read it or studied it. But it just reminded me of that, in that there is a Knights Templar treasure and a puzzle. And I thought it was a ton of fun.

Christi Dodge 6:36
Yeah, yeah. A little bit of trivia on the back (of the constitution). There is not. There’s in fact, not a map.

Mike Dodge 6:43
Oh, okay. Someone check. That was good.

Christi Dodge 6:46
But somebody wrote at some point, but they don’t believe it was written in 1776. It says original Declaration of Independence dated fourth July 1776. And it appears on the bottom of the document upside down. They say they don’t know who wrote that. But they do believe that it did happen, It was a label that was added later.

Mike Dodge 7:10
But a little bit of research. I did and brace yourself listeners, I occasionally do some research generally not said that. They’re actually they did make copies. Right. There is like the, the I don’t think the one we have in DC was the original. I think they made a copy, like the day after, because it was like a working document. And they’re like, Okay, you know, write it out nice this time.

Christi Dodge 7:38
John, do better.

Mike Dodge 7:40
Yeah, get to work. However, I have to say, I think it’s such a wonderful idea that in retrospect, National Treasure is one of those films where I say, Why did no one think of this before? Because now you go well, of course, you would make a movie about some like, hugely famous historical document that involves all these clues. And you’d have to run around and get I mean, it makes tons of sense now, but before this movie came out, that was not obvious.

Christi Dodge 8:14
So why don’t you kick us off with your pickup line?

Mike Dodge 8:18
Okay, so brief digression. There’s a word penultimate, which I think means the one before the last. So is there a peninitial that is the one after the initial because the first actual line of dialogue we hear is, “Grandpa”. However, it doesn’t support my theory. So the second line from Christopher Plummer as Grandpa is, you’re not supposed to be up here. And I think that works much better for my theory.

Christi Dodge 8:50
It’s really well done too, because, the scene has been set for us that there’s a boy kind of tiptoeing around an attic. There’s a great thunder and lightning storm, to set even

Mike Dodge 9:08
never sneak around at three in the afternoon.

Christi Dodge 9:12
And there’s definitely I believe some music under Oh, too,

Mike Dodge 9:17
Yeh, this whole film, they really did a great job with setting the mood with the score. It is really present in the audio and it definitely keys the watcher into what’s going on, right.

Christi Dodge 9:30
I believe even he bumps something and something falls and so it’s like a little jump. And so when Christopher Plummer says that, right? The initial is Oh, no, he’s been caught or and now he’s in trouble. And then it’s just his sweet grandpa who says, you know, kind of sit down let me tell you a story.

Mike Dodge 9:51
Which makes me think that I have the years until I have grandchildren or to come up with some treasure hunt for them as well.

Christi Dodge 9:59
There you go.

Mike Dodge 9:59
Oh there you go, ole Grandpa Dodge used to be involved with the Knights Templar.

Christi Dodge 10:07
So I have a note here in our cinematography, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit what I’m about ready to embarrassed to admit.

Mike Dodge 10:15
Okay. All right.It’s a safe space

Christi Dodge 10:18
With only a few listeners. And hopefully today, none of my professors at film school are listening.

Mike Dodge 10:27
Why you shouldn’t slip me a note and I could say because they would think I did. Okay,

Christi Dodge 10:31
So we know we’ve said, we’ve long said that Hollywood is obsessed with blue and orange. Yes. And, and when we said that, in my mind, I was always thinking, sets, costumes, cars….

Mike Dodge 10:47
I first heard about it, in respect to movie posters.

Christi Dodge 10:51
Right, right. Yeah. So Caleb Deschanel was talking about how tonally you set up a movie. you balance it with orange light and, blue light. And like, even when he was talking about shooting a trailer, and, and I went, Oh my gosh, were are they talking about lighting?

Mike Dodge 11:16
Oh, it’s everywhere.

Christi Dodge 11:17
Okay, so it’s not just so I’m not completely out of it that I didn’t think of lighting, which should be the most obvious because those are your two choices of lighting is blue from like an LED or daylight or golden from like fire light and , tungsten.

Mike Dodge 11:37
So if you look at the complementary colors, right? Yes, purple and yellow don’t make sense. Red and green don’t make sense. So blue and orange work well,

Christi Dodge 11:45
And they work too because like the sun in the moon, right, the sun gives off a yellow glow and, and the moon gives off a blue glow. So it works for lighting. And I just am embarrassed that I didn’t even think of lighting even though I know that like those are the two like I know part of it. But it didn’t make that connection that like well, just sets and the costumes and the movie posters come from the lighting?

Mike Dodge 12:11
I hadn’t really thought that put those two and two together. But I was just thinking perhaps these are also Bruckheimer joints, but Days of Thunder and Top Gun they both have these very distinctive I can think of my head right shots at sunset and why cuz it’s this beautiful orange backdrop. And then the ocean with the sunset is blue and orange. Right.

We saw this. We talked about it with Greatest Showmen. When they’re on the beach of the sunset, she’s in the blue dress. So there is this really common through line and I hadn’t even thought of it myself. I was always thinking in terms of, you know, a tungsten light. With a warmer light is generally more appealing. It makes all of the pretty people who are actors look even prettier. But yeah, I didn’t even think of that. Right. The, the, the kind of the shadows, and that color could be the blue. Right? But then, okay, in La La Land, right. The blue night as they dance, right? So? Yes, right there.

Christi Dodge 13:12
Okay, so at the same time, I outed myself for being an idiot. I’m going to say I was a genius then. Because my very first film, I have that scene where I wanted her lit from the moon. Yeah. And then we went to indoors when she was lit with incandescent more yellow or orange tungsten type. Lighting. . So I to like Caleb Deschanel know, right.

Mike Dodge 13:39
No, because it works, right? I mean, that’s why they do it. It just works.

Christi Dodge 13:43
Right? And to balance it. Okay. So I just mentioned that. The cinematographer for National Treasure, he did a great job, because all the different times they’re kind of in caves, and you have the fire torches. And so not only does it create this beautiful amber look, but then it kind of flickers. And so you get organic kind of shadows dancing on the walls, and I really liked the cave scenes with the torches.

Mike Dodge 14:09
Right. So brief digression, we can come back to cinematography. But the speaking of the sets, I would love to see an interview with the art department for building that beneath the Trinity Church underground. I mean, when you see that, that is a physical set. That’s not CGI, and it’s got moving pieces and I hope they had a ton of fun building that.

Christi Dodge 14:34
And it’s based on in one of my videos I watched it’s based on an actual under the Trinity Church is like a tunnel system, complete with kind of like the catacombs. They are real dusty skulls down there and pathways and hallways and artifacts and they showed video from it. It was pretty cool. I mean, because you kind of go like there’s no way that would be under there.

Mike Dodge 15:01
And I think that the column with the gears and stuff maybe not but yeah, definitely catacombs and tunnels and totally cool.

Christi Dodge 15:09
It reminded me of Goonies, the under the restaurant that you know, place cavernous place that they all went to

Mike Dodge 15:18
Right. Now on the Oregon coast, we have naturally occurring caves. So but then circling back to the Davinci Code, right? There really are catacombs beneath Paris, where people were buried so there’s tons of skulls

Christi Dodge 15:30
And we have tunnels here under Portland, so

Mike Dodge 15:32
I guess it Yeah, yeah. Our Shanghai tunnels.

Christi Dodge 15:35
Okay, share with me what you loved about Caleb Deschanel’s work in this film.

Mike Dodge 15:40
Well, I want to first say it only ever rains at night in Hollywood. So that’s not his fault, but that’s because it doesn’t show up in daylight. It looks weird and no one understands why Nicolas Cage is wet.

Christi Dodge 15:54
And they close that street to wet it and have sorry Diane Kruger, yeah, to have her run across the street to where he was waiting by the van right close down that whole street in Washington DC.

Mike Dodge 16:07
Of all places, right. What I thought was fascinating was when they were shooting the first scenes when they’re in the Arctic. Right. So either they have some sort of breath fogger or I think it was actually that cold which tip of the cap to the camera department to be able to shoot in temperatures that cold is above and beyond.

Christi Dodge 16:27
Right, so they weren’t in the Arctic they were in Utah but it was you know, during winter and it was probably pretty cold.

Mike Dodge 16:35
Yeah, so there’s all kinds of physical problems with camera equipment when it gets cold so tip of the cap there my friend. I like his shot placement he has a ton of dirty shots and by dirty remember viewers what I mean is not sure what’s on the lens, but where you can see like Dan Kruger shoulder she’s talking to Nicolas Cage and then vice versa right and I like that from an image perspective because it puts the two characters connected it shows them connected and and I respond to that I like that quite a bit.

They have the heist preparation montage you know I love me a montage and heists I did have one little question is when they go to urban outfitters to get some some clothes. At some point. The hang Kruger raises to her tiptoes to talk to Nicolas Cage for some reason. And we have a closeup of her on her feet on her tiptoes. And it bumped me I have no idea why

Christi Dodge 17:32
Well, that, to me that motion is often often a kiss comes after that was that to just kind of subtly kind of informed the audience that these two are gonna get together or that he wants to,

Mike Dodge 17:52
or is possible that our DP was putting a little fanservice in for Quentin Tarantino with the foot shot. But more importantly, I wonder did the editor use that to cover something? It kind of it was just like, where did that come from? But you’re right, I did make a note was it like the old days when they would raise a leg to show VAVA Voom. But the foot chase in Philly was ton of fun. And I’m curious if they did Steadicam or dollies, and I think they may have dollied it which is really impressive. To do a foot chase. With dollies. It’s a lot of setup and teardown. So tip of the cap to the grips on that one.

And in general, I felt like National Treasure was shot a cinematically not as much an action film. I thought the way they captured the images, really, to me felt like we were dealing with the Declaration of Independence. This was a big thing. It was an epic thing. I thought that was a shot. Well.

Christi Dodge 18:52
Yep. I was very sad near the beginning of National Treasure when they basically ruined the Charlotte.

Mike Dodge 18:59
Oh, yeah. Sad.

Christi Dodge 19:01
I’m thinking of all the snarky things that one guy said in the video about the spy. I’m gonna link it in the show notes. Because for those who want to watch it, and it is pretty comical. So Riley says, oh, when they go to first when they go to first meet Diane Kruger and try to get her in on kind of like what’s going on in Hey, we want you to know somebody’s going to steal the Declaration of Independence. And so Nicolas Cage is explaining stuff to her, and she at different points of his story. Riley will speak up and he goes, yep, this is where we lost the FBI. Right. And then later he goes, and this is where we lost the Department of Homeland Security.

Mike Dodge 19:46
Yeah, those are funny lines

Christi Dodge 19:47
In Nicholas’s telling us hey, you need to be wearing shoes just like nobody is going to steal (the Declaration of Independance). A little fact. The security up until 2001 of where the Declaration of Independence was, was the same security system that was installed in 1957. So, actually, stealing the declaration would have been much, much easier, pre 9/11. Basically, once 9/11 happened, they revamped the whole security system of the National Archives. And so the filmmakers hired a police officer to help them with burglaries and figure out now with this super heightened security. How could someone possibly steal from the National Archives?

Mike Dodge 20:40
So here’s my thing. I don’t think that’s the real Declaration of Independence. I wouldn’t do that.

Christi Dodge 20:47
It never sees the light of day?

Mike Dodge 20:49
No, you’d have a replica made and you put it out, like the Mona Lisa, right? You don’t put that crap out where the hoi polloi can steal it. Duh!

Christi Dodge 20:58
You put it out, you put a duplicate out where the hoi polloi can see it.

Mike Dodge 21:03
Exactly. And then it’s a steal. You’re like, oh, no, they stole the Mona Lisa!

Christi Dodge 21:07
Are you telling me that the photo I have of the Mona Lisa is, is a photo of a photo?

Mike Dodge 21:14
I think it’s a photo of an incredible replica. At least I’m saying that’s what I would do. If I was in charge. I apparently don’t trust people.

Christi Dodge 21:23
Let’s see. I love how it feels almost like a heist movie.

Mike Dodge 21:26
Oh, yeah. I love a of heist.

Christi Dodge 21:27
It’s like a heist for good.

Mike Dodge 21:31
And so he has a line speaking of when they go and talk to Abigail, where he says, we’re more like treasure protectors. And I think that’s, that’s what makes it fun is there it’s like kind of like Leverage, right? Where they use their burglary skills for good.

Christi Dodge 21:50
I like this movie. So is there anything on writing that I missed? Because the only thing I free frequency jamming device, I don’t know why I need to make more detailed notes.

Mike Dodge 22:01
Right. So they use a couple of the old gags one of them is the “tell us another story grandpa” exposition at the beginning of National Treasure, which it was okay. But you know, how do you get out a lot of exposition. He’ll said the old car won’t start gag which I kind of not not the best work because when’s the last time that a modern automobile has not started and then started? If they don’t start? They don’t start right.

Christi Dodge 22:31
Right. But if you keep stepping on it, you keep and then this is the clincher. This is how you fix every car. You pound on the steering wheel.

Mike Dodge 22:39
Yeah, sure. I’m sure that helps. So that was maybe not not not not the best. But I made a note here that I thought that Benjamin Gates was the spiritual and not literal descendant of Indiana Jones, very much the same vibe of you know, this rogue archaeologists/historian who was getting into trouble. I never really understood how Sean Bean’s character knew everything. So whenever they went to a place without getting the same clue he was always there.

Christi Dodge 23:11
Except for it’s funny, because in that video, I keep referencing, the guy says, How did Sean Bean like go to all the trouble and hire Nicolas Cage. But then there was something in now I can’t remember. But something very early on that he didn’t know that he didn’t understand.

Mike Dodge 23:28
Some basic. So he was almost kind of like a deus ex machina but in a bad kind of way where the villain just constantly Yeah, but like you said doesn’t know everything now. And if he was that rich and that smart? Why did he hire a bunch of goons that look like goons? Like nobody put them in a bald cap and New York Knicks like jersey or something?

Christi Dodge 23:54
Wouldn’t you at least go get like kind of the rejects? That didn’t make it into the FBI? Because they would at least have the look

Mike Dodge 24:00
Right? Yeah. And they’d be like boring with was really nice haircuts. I don’t know. So that was kind of a little. But I did like from a writing perspective, how they use the parallel break ins to establish a ticking clock. Because oftentimes in movies, it’s like, oh, no, the security system will only be down for five minutes. So we will have five minutes to break in. very cliche. This though, was a race. They were literally racing against another team breaking in I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen that in the film. I thought it was very clever.

Christi Dodge 24:32
Very clever. Alright, we already kind of touched on a some a little bit of costume but it’s the definitely the sets I liked. The score would rise and fall. When we should be paying closer attention. I noticed like this is really important. We didn’t do this like right. It would definitely kind of maneuver our attention.

Mike Dodge 24:54
Yeah. Well, you may know this from your research, but I was curious. If they actually shot on the Capitol Mall, and if so, did they block off the entire Capitol Mall for the shoot?

Christi Dodge 25:10
No, I think those are just extras. That was one of the things that guy says, like first Grimm had talked about stealing the Declaration of Independence in the National Archives. Okay, now let’s go out to the Capitol Mall to talk about CLA. Like, you know, just there was no sense of secrecy, no operational security, just, you know, the iconography of Washington, DC and all the monuments and feeling the importance of that location.

Mike Dodge 25:37
Yeah, so I think this would be a fun experiment for someone to perform. I’m looking at you Superfan Ernie to actually go sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and talk about stealing the Declaration of Independence is anybody notices?

Christi Dodge 25:50
I feel like there’s some kind of like hyperbolic microphone that kind of, and there’s someone like sitting underneath Lincoln just listening to what people are saying,

Mike Dodge 26:02
But wouldn’t it be hilarious if somebody from the Park Service walked up and said Nicolas Cage called and he wants his movie back, Move along, move along.

Christi Dodge 26:13
Was there any head trauma in this? Speaking of goons,

Mike Dodge 26:18
I have to one is implied they taser a guard and he falls down and something he if you’re unconscious and you fall you probably hit your head. You don’t don’t protect yourself. But then Ben punches a goon during the Philly foot chase so that qualifies his head.

Christi Dodge 26:36
They said they were the first people to film in that tower and Philly. Oh, so there you go. And do we get a I was gonna say Diane Kruger now I do remember a name and Abigail do we get an Abigail and Ben smooch?

Mike Dodge 26:53
Smoochy smoochy smoochy we actually have two the second one is they kiss celebratory orally at 2:43. The first one is a little problematic. I don’t see why he kissed her and I don’t know if it was particularly consensual. I wrote down Ben kisses Abigail inexplicably, that 141:04

Christi Dodge 26:53
So that was before

Mike Dodge 27:19
Yeah, that was earlier in the film. And I didn’t feel like they had established that they were on kissing terms and he just kisses her. Kind of like well, things are gonna go south. I might not make it. So I want to grab a Smoochie before I go, but Hello. Got to ask permission there Ben.

Christi Dodge 27:36
How about a driving review?

Mike Dodge 27:37
All right. So I have to say you don’t see a lot of and by which I mean a lot of no other Tucker Snowcat 2000 XLs in films on his nice to see some Snowcat work that van chase tons of fun, not particularly realistic. And I gotta say, neither a 94 GMC Vendor or an 85 Grumman Olson Curbmaster are bullet proof. Common Hollywood problem bullets go right through cars.

The 2000 Cadillac Deville while probably a nice product placement is not what I would consider an inconspicuous vehicle. Now maybe that’s the only one Jon Voight had, but it’s pretty easy to track. And lastly, I was stunned when they were on the aircraft carrier museum ship. There’s a line of dialogue to meet at the F 16. And lo and behold, there actually wasn’t F 16. Which is kind of weird because the F 16 was only used by the Air Force. And that’s a Navy ship. But that’s not important right now.

Christi Dodge 28:37
There was an alternate ending that I found really…

What? How do you have an alternate ending to this film?

Okay. It wasn’t that dramatic. But I think in place of them being with Riley at the end, where he’s in the car. There’s two kids, and they’re standing in front of there in the National Archives standing in front of the Declaration of Independence. And one says to the other, “do you really think there’s a map on the back?” And the other one goes. “No, they just told us that to get us interested in history.” So I thought that was funny because there were a couple of videos that I watched about people kind of breaking down this film and what it got right and what it got wrong. And one person or a couple of them said, I really love this movie, and it really got me interested in history.

Mike Dodge 29:28
Right? So here’s the thing. I’ve been spoiled by those silly Marvel movies. That feels like a mid credits scene.

Christi Dodge 29:37
Yes, I wonder it would totally work for that and they did that and that’s why it just said it said alternate ending.

Mike Dodge 29:46
Yeah, yeah. And also glad they didn’t think though. I think that maybe that played out in well, I just meant not the biggest fan of mid credit scenes.

Christi Dodge 29:57
Right and then it pulls back in you see Ben and he’s kind of chuckles, “Oh those kids.”. And then he joins Abigail and then Riley’s there and, and they say something else. I’m like, let’s do let’s do this next or something really? Wait, you know, like,

Mike Dodge 30:16
Okay, now that’s making more sense that they would film that but it’s interesting again possibly. I don’t think it’s Bruckheimer that has Michael Bay, but at the end of The Rock, they have a similar thing where there’s a plot point don’t want to spoil in case anybody’s not seeing The Rock, where the very tail end of the movie is kind of like that. It’s a comic. Kind of in an amuse-buche, you know, palate cleanser. Curious?

Christi Dodge 30:41
Should we go to the numbers?

Mike Dodge 30:42
Let’s go to the numbers..

Christi Dodge 30:43
Before we go to the numbers really quick, I want to add, as part of you know, in the numbers, we talk about the ratings, and Roger Ebert gave this film two out of four stars, calling it “So silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay line for line. Academic David Bordwell, has expressed a liking for the film, placing it in the tradition of the 1950s Disney children’s adventure movies, and using it as a basis for an essay on seeing transitions in classic Hollywood cinema.” Source: IMDB.com So it’s a mixed mixed reviews on on this one, but

Mike Dodge 31:22
No surprise that Ebert didn’t like it because he and I disagree on everything.

Christi Dodge 31:25
Right. And we love this movie. Okay, this movie had a budget of $100 million domestically made $173 million. So just domestically, they made their money back. Adjusted for inflation today, that would be like $254.6 million. And worldwide, it brought in $331.3 million, which is a 3x return on their initial investment, which $100 million is a lot of money. So…

Mike Dodge 31:57
Well, in 2004 especially.

Christi Dodge 32:00
They were really banking on Nick Cage and this story.

Mike Dodge 32:04
Well, I I mean, I think it really it. And again, this is retrospect, you know, hindsight is 2020. But yeah, of course,

Christi Dodge 32:13
Right. It got a 6.9 So, um, let’s just say a seven out of 10 on IMDb. And critics did not like it very much at 46%. But audiences were with us. They gave it a 76% which even though that’s still like a mid C, I feel like audiences like this film.

Mike Dodge 32:34
Yeah, I would think so. This to me is really high quality for a summer blockbuster. Compared to the other stuff that they put out his tentpole films in the summertime. This one is way beyond.

Christi Dodge 32:46
Yeah. And I agree with that, that one that I just read that writer, it does kind of harken back and not in a not in a schmaltie way, but of like Escape to Witch Mountain.

Mike Dodge 32:59
Actually what I was thinking

Christi Dodge 33:00
Yeah, those. It does kind of have that, you know, a modern take on it. But it has that feel.

Mike Dodge 33:00
And I say this is a compliment and an insult, but it’s a family friendly film. You could take your kids to that and maybe they would get excited about the Declaration of Independence, right?

Christi Dodge 33:16
Oh, Grandma could go the 10 year old can go and the parents and everybody’s happy. Did it? Did it feel long to you? Because it’s over two hours at 2:11.

Mike Dodge 33:30
It did not feel long at all. I was surprised when I saw how long it was. I thought it was paced. Well.

Christi Dodge 33:37
Nice. And like I said it’s an action/adventure/mystery. We also mentioned it’s a Disney Pictures and a Jerry Bruckheimer films. Some of the filming locations were like we said Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia. The Arctic scenes, the snowy scenes were all done in Utah. Burbank, New Jersey. The Independence Hall rooftop was filmed at Knott’s Berry Farm. And the Charlotte set was in the Strawberry Reservoir in Utah.

Mike Dodge 34:08
Fascinating. One of these days? I should go back to Knott’s Berry Farm. No, I’m never gonna do that. I’ll just instead have fried chicken.

Christi Dodge 34:17
Yeah, let’s just go to Utah instead. I think that does it for this episode of A National Treasure. This wraps up our third week in June. I will be posting the graphic. I’ll give you a big clue because we only have had one guess and that one kind of has an asterix on it. No, no, we’ve had another Oh, no, correct. Yes. No, not a correct guess. Look at the graphic. It’s that’s where you’re really going to find your clue for this theme for the month. You don’t have to watch the movies. You don’t even have to listen to these podcasts other than to know just look at the graphic and that will help you out but never forget.

Mike Dodge 34:56
Dodges never stop and neither do the movies.

Brennan 35:00
Thanks for listening to Dodge Movie Podcast with Christi and Mike Dodge of Dodge Media Productions. To find out more about this podcast and what we do, go to dodge media productions.com. Subscribe, share, leave a comment and tell us what we should watch next. dodges never stop, and neither do the movies.