National Treasure (film)

From Wikiquote

(Redirected from National Treasure)
Jump to: navigation, search

National Treasure is a 2004 film that follows Benjamin Franklin Gates, a man whose family has a history of searching for a near-limitless treasure, one his father (and just about everyone else) believes is a mystery. When he finally discovers a real clue, he must protect it, the treasure, and a precious national document from his former partner.

Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Written by Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv, and Charles Segars (story); Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley (screenplay).
The greatest adventure history has ever revealed. taglines

Contents

[edit] Benjamin Franklin Gates

  • If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

[edit] Dialogue

Ian: [about the Declaration of Independence] We could borrow it.
Ben: Steal it? I don't think so.
Ian: Ben, the treasure of the Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures.
Ben: Oh, I didn't know that. Really?
Ian: Look, Ben... I understand your bitterness. I really do. You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure,only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that.
Ben: How?
Ian: We all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine are limited to writing checks, do you? In a life, I've arranged several operations of questionable legality.
Shaw: I'd take his word for it if I was you.
Ian: So don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements.
Ben: No!
Ian: I could really use your help here.
Ben: Ian, I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence.
Ian: Alright. From this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance. [signals Shaw to ready gun to which Ben nervously laughs]
Riley: Hey!
Ben: What are you going to do? Are you going to shoot me, Shaw? Well, you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle; information you don't have, I do. I'm the only one who can solve it.
Shaw: He's bluffing.
Ben: We play poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff.
Ian: Tell me what I need, or I'll shoot your friend. [Shaw points gun at Riley]
Riley: Hey!
Ian: Quiet, Riley. Your job's finished here.
[Ben lights flare, Shaw turns gun back to Ben and looks astonished along with Ian]
Ben: Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up.
Riley: Ben?
Ian What happens when the flare burns down? [Ben looks questionably] You just tell me what I need to know.
Ben: You need to know... If Shaw can catch.
[throws flare, Riley squints scared, Ian catches it before it hits gunpowder]
Ian: Nice try, though. [coat sleeve catches on fire and drops flare on gunpowder]
Ben: A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite-and had their entrails cut out and burned! [brief pause] So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right... [nodding] what they knew was right.
Riley Poole: OK Ben. Pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over twenty million books, and they're all saying the same exact thing: listen to Riley. What we have here is an entire layout of the Archives: sort of builder's blueprints. We've got construction manuals, phone lines, water and sewage. It's all right here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it is surrounded by guards...and video monitors... and little families from Iowa... and little kids on their eighth grade field trip. And underneath an inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4 foot thick concrete, steel-plated vault that happens to be equipped with a electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial systems.
Ben Gates: You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb.
Riley Poole: Edison?
Ben Gates: And when asked about it, he said "I didn't fail; I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb," but he only needed one way to make it work: the Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?
Riley Poole: Delicious jams and jellies?
Ben Gates: No, that's where they clean, repair, and maintain all the documents and their storage housings when they are not on display of in the vault. Now, when the case needs work, they take it out of the vault and directly across the hall and into the Preservation Room. The best time for us or Ian to steal it would be during the gala this weekend, when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs; but we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there is much less security.
Riley Poole: Well...uh...Ian...Preservation, hmmmm. Oh this might be possible.
Ben Gates: It might.
Riley: [after Ben decides to steal the Declaration] This is... huge. [Beat] Prison... huge. You are gonna go to prison. You know that, right?
Ben: Yeah, probably.
Riley: Well... that would... bother most people.
[Abigail is freaking out, thinking that Ian has the Declaration]
Ben: They don't have it.
[Pulls the Declaration out to show her]
Ben: See, now can you please stop shouting?
Abigail: Verdammt! Give me that!
Ben: You know something? You're shouting again.
Riley: I'm pretty sure she was swearing, too.
Ben: Well, I probably deserved that.
Abigail: Just give me the Declaration!
Ben: You're still shouting. And it's really starting to annoy. You would do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance.
Abigail: If that's the real Declaration, what did they get?
Ben: A souvenir. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. Actually, I had to pay for the real one and the duplicate, so you owe me $35, plus tax.
Riley: Genius.
Abigail: What do you see?
Ben: 2:22.
Abigail: What time is it now?
Clothing Store Clerk: Almost 3.
Abigail: [sighs] We missed it.
Riley: No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because... you don't know this? I know something about history that you don't know.
Ben: I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley.
Riley: Hold on one second, let me just take in this moment. [takes a deep breath] This is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Well, except now, of course--
Abigail: Riley!
Riley: All right! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 p.m. now that means that in 1776 it would be 2 p.m.
Ben: Riley, you're a genius.
Riley: Do you actually know who the first person to come up with the idea of daylight savings time was?
Abigail and Ben: Benjamin Franklin.
[Riley stomps his foot in disappointment]
Ian: Hello, Ben. How are you?
Ben: Um, chained to a desk.
Ian: Sorry to hear that. I want you to meet me on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid. You know where that is?
Ben: New York.
Ian: Meet me there at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. And bring those glasses you found at Independence Hall. Yeah, I know about the glasses. We can take a look at the Declaration, and then you can be on your way.
Ben: And I'm supposed to believe that?
Ian: I told you from the start, I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it. And the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte.
Ben: I'll be there.
Ian: And tell the FBI agents listening in on this call if they want the Declaration back, and not just a box of confetti, then you'll come alone.
[they find a giant underground staircase]
Powell: How do a bunch of people with hand tools build all this?
Ben: The same way the built the pyramids, the Great Wall of China.
Riley: Yeah... the aliens helped them.
Abigail: You can't just leave us here.
Ian: Yes, I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue.
Ben: There isn't another clue.
Riley: Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?
[Ian Howe points his gun at Riley]
Ian: Don't speak again.
Riley: Okay...
Ian: The clue. Where's the treasure? Ben?
Patrick Gates: The lantern.
Ben: Dad...
Patrick Gates: The status quo has changed, son.
Ben: Don't.
Patrick Gates: It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue.
Ian: What does it mean?
Ben: Boston. It's Boston.
Patrick Gates: The Old North Church, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look.
Ian: Thank you.
Patrick Gates: Hey, you have to take us with you.
Ian: Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry.
Patrick Gates: What if we lied?
Ian: Did you?
Ben: What if there's another clue?
Ian: Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben.
Riley: [standing next to a statue in treasure room] It's a blueish-green man... with a strange looking gotee. I'm guessing that's signifigant. [approaches and embraces the statue]

[after finding treasure in the treasure room]

Abigail:[seeing Riley cry softly, staring into the distance] Riley, are you crying?
Riley: Look. Stairs. [sighs]
Riley: For the record, Ben, I like the house.
Ben: You know, I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met...
Riley: Someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful. [puts on a pair of sunglasses and starts the car] Could have had a bigger house.
Riley: [After they find the treasure] They offered you ten percent, man. Ten percent.
Ben: Tell you what- next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you call the shots.
Riley: What do you care? You got the girl. Enjoy your spoils while I sit on one percent. Half of one percent, actually. [Jumps into red Ferrari]
Ben: [Looking at Ferrari] I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley.

[edit] Taglines

  • The greatest adventure history has ever revealed.
  • In order to break the code, one man will have to break all the rules.
  • The clues are right in front of your eyes.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/National_Treasure_(film)"