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Film Title: National Treasure (2 Disc Collector's Edition DVD)

 Best for ages: 8 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 2004

DVD: 2007

Rated: PG (US, Canada ) U (UK)

SYNOPSIS

   Nicolas Cage plays Ben Gates a treasure hunter whom is looking for a treasure that was hidden years ago by the forefathers of America. Ben knows that their is a treasure because it's been a family secret for some time.  However all his ancestors before him have failed to find the treasure only acquiring clues to it's location.  When Ben and his team come across a big clue in the artic, Ben's partner Ian Howe (Sean Bean) turns on him and tries to leave him for dead.  But Ben knows that the item in which they acquired has given them a clue to where the treasure map is located; on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Now in order to prevent the men who tired to kill from finding the treasure Ben must try and steal the Declaration of Independence in order to protect the treasures secret location. With the help of Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) the curator of the National Archives, and his friend Riley Poole: (Justin Bartha) they set out on an adventure to find the treasure and protect the Declaration of Independence from Ian Howe and his henchmen.

VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language

   Violence

   There is some mild violence in National Treasure, but nothing over the top and graphic. There is a big gun fight at the beginning of the film that follows up with a big explosion. There are also a few gun shots fired at Ben and company while they are traveling from city to city in search of clues, but no one gets shot or killed in the film at all.  The only death in the film is when one of Ian's henchmen falls to his death, he's shown falling but we never see him hit the ground.  There is also so pushing and shoving and fighting in the film, as well as a high speed chase scene as well.

   Graphic Content

   There is not much in terms of really graphic images in this film.  At the beginning of the movie the only blood we see is that of Ben Gates pricking his finger in order to draw blood to wipe on a relic he found in order to find a clue. There is also a few corpses in the film when the crew breaks into a tomb, and there are a few moral issues in the film.  First issue is the problem between father and son which is shown between Ben Gates and his father played by Jon Voigh, Patrick Gates. They pretty much don't see eye to eye on certain issues and this might be hard for young children to understand.  There is also the issue of thievery when the  Declaration of Independence is stolen. There are also a few light issues as well throughout the film but nothing that is really so bad that it's too over the top that it becomes an issue in the film.

   Language

  I can't recall there being any bad language in the film, but there are a few insults handed out.

OVERALL VIEWS

   I personally really enjoyed National Treasure,  Not only is it a great action adventure film, but the film does offer some great insight to American history and teaches as the movie moves along. I really enjoyed the whole action adventure aspect of the film and the great acting performances. The movie has some pretty good visual effects as well as some very realistic looking sets. I would recommend this film for ages eight and up, I think that would be a safe bet as children of that age would better understand the film more.

   The two disc collector's edition DVD is full of many great features, on disc one we get the movie with an alternate ending and deleted scene with optional directors commentary and four featurettes about the making of the film and the history behind it. On Disc two we get more deleted scenes with introductions by director Jon Turteltaub, and four more featurettes about the film.

   Overall, National Treasure is a great movie and it's no wonder the film now has a sequel; National Treasure: Book of Secrets on it's way to theaters. It's not a film that I think younger children will be able to comprehend, but  older children who are learning about American history in their social studies classes in school will probably enjoy the film not only for it's action, but they should be able to recognize some of the historic artifacts and history that the film uses.

BUY THIS MOVIE.