I know 99% of the critics hated the original...but I thought it was fun. Dumb fun. Nonsensical fun. But likable fun.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
If you turned off your brain entirely, it was fun. I came out having dropped 20 IQ points, but you know, I didn't hate it.
It's been filming all over Washington recently, so it's in the news here. They filmed some scenes here at the Library. Two days for what I think is 45 seconds of film.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I was JUST going to post a thread about the teaser trailer.
I loved the first film. Absolutely loved it. My mother watches it on almost a daily basis she loves it so much, and is geeked about the sequel.
It looks pretty cool, though I wonder at some of the more far fetchedness of the second plot.
I'd say it's on par with Indiana Jones type historical/action/comedy thriller stuff, just with less shoot em up, since Nicholas Cage's best move in the movie is "run away." I think it's much more family friendly, if compared to Da Vinci Code, as far as recent historical thrillers goes. I'd rather watch National Treasure than either of the first two Indy Jones movies (I mean, nothing beats Last Crusade).
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
National Treasure is what the Da Vinci Code should have been.
I liked it almost as much as I disliked Dan Brown's drivel.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Next, they'll be making sequels to stinkers like Fantastic Four.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
...
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
I loved National Treasure. I ignored the puzzle elements and appreciated the characters as people. I thought it was a beautiful movie. I think what sold me on National Treasure was that Cage's character didn't play the cocky skeptical adventurer. He was a believer when believing wasn't easy or fashionable. There was a fragility in his beliefs and travails I thought darling. I bit. It was like Goonies for grown-ups. Admittedly, in the sequel, he looks like joe average adventurer.
[ May 25, 2007, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Irami Osei-Frimpong ]
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
See, I enjoyed FF for what it was - mental bubble gum. It was not a comic book trying to dress itself up to be a popular movie... it was a comic book reveling in its campy comic book nature.
I mean, for a team that has catch phrases like "Flame on!" and "It's clobberin' time!", what do you really expect? I just wish the whole movie had been shot in 4 colors. Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
N.T. is one of those movies I catch myself unintentionally watching on cable. So I guess I'll see the 2nd one.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I thought the girl in National Treasure was FAR too good looking to be a historian locked away in some office in DC.
Yes I have my suspicions that she was really an actress in a Hollywood movie.
But I loved that the villain was a Britain. Because I could keep telling myself, "They want OUR treasure! Down with the British!"
When there is a sequal for Ghost Rider or The Punisher then I will swear off movies forever.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
The writer Christopher Stasheff once suggested that the best way to teach people anything is to teach it as entertainment. Make history alive, not just the memorization of dates. He did this by putting a lot of history, philosophy, religious thought, and science in his books.
The books were great--brain candy. They are not great literature. (I loved the idea in one of his series, "What if The Divine Right of kings was true?" but I digress)
The popularity of things like "The DaVinci Code" and "National Treasure" seems to prove him right. If you pack up some knowledge in with lots of special effects and romance, people will love it.
And they actually learn a thing or two.
Posted by striplingrz (Member # 9770) on :
I don't particulary like Nick Cage, but I loved National Treason despite myself. We seem to take things too seriously sometimes, and thats sad. This movie is simply fiction dressing up a story around historical facts. When you think about it, our esteemed host did something very similar with Alvin Maker!
I love it all. Maybe its the history take, maybe its the scenery. Doesn't matter, its entertainment, and there are a lot worse things being made.
I say, bring on the sequel.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Sean Bean.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: The writer Christopher Stasheff once suggested that the best way to teach people anything is to teach it as entertainment. Make history alive, not just the memorization of dates. He did this by putting a lot of history, philosophy, religious thought, and science in his books.
The books were great--brain candy. They are not great literature. (I loved the idea in one of his series, "What if The Divine Right of kings was true?" but I digress)
The popularity of things like "The DaVinci Code" and "National Treasure" seems to prove him right. If you pack up some knowledge in with lots of special effects and romance, people will love it.
And they actually learn a thing or two.
Mr. Card scripted a series of audio tapes dealing with amonth other things American History, Old/New Testament stories, LDS Church history.
The American History/Church History tapes were amazing to go to sleep too, they had a very in your face style and the characteration for famous people like Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Horatio Gates were AMAZING.
I probably get an A in all my US history classes because of those tapes.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
BlackBlade, what were the tapes called/ where could I find them?
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I liked National Treasure. I'd watch it again. I also liked Da Vinci Code, although the director gave the bad guy away way too easily. The movie was better than the book.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Amanecer: BlackBlade, what were the tapes called/ where could I find them?
:\ They will be tough to find. The American history tapes were called,
Dramatized American History, they can often be found in stores that sell anything by Nest Entertainment, let me do some digging.
I'd be very interested in hearing those tapes myself.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Having alot of trouble finding the American History tapes for sale, I know I have them in Japan at my parents apt, but how well they have been maintained is not something I can say.
Honestly if you go to the OSC part of the forums they might be able to point you in the right direction, Mr. Card helped confirm for me that he was the one who scripted them when I was a hatracker noobie.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:When there is a sequal for Ghost Rider or The Punisher then I will swear off movies forever.
Well, there already are TWO Punisher movies...
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk:
quote:When there is a sequal for Ghost Rider or The Punisher then I will swear off movies forever.
Well, there already are TWO Punisher movies...
They are not proper sequals.
They are kinda like Final Fantasy 1-12, they are all Final Fantasy, but their plots are not really interconnected and characters do not overlap.
Posted by C3PO the Dragon Slayer (Member # 10416) on :
Sequels usually stink, but... National Treasure is too good a movie to screw up on. I hope Book of Secrets will be just as good as the first, because it is impossible to make a movie better than the first National Treasure.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
BlackBlade, is this a link to the tapes you're talking about?
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I hope this is done right because I also really enjoyed the original National Treasure. It was fun and had historical value (kind of). It reminded me of Indiana Jones in a good way.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I booed at the trailer when we saw it before Pirates. I wasn't alone.
I booed at the end of the first movie when I saw it at a sneak preview. I wasn't alone.
I won't be seeing this next movie. I hope I won't be alone.
---
It was absurdly ridiculous. I managed to swallow the first half or so of the movie like I swallow Indiana Jones - non-thinking fun. Then I saw those glasses. Hoo-ey. It was over. When I heard "Are these scrolls from Alexandria?" - and when half the audience answered "NO!" - I was beyond done.
I guess I just don't get it. But honestly, I don't care to get it.
*slinks away to geek out about OotP and The Golden Compass in private*
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
quote:Originally posted by Carrie: *slinks away to geek out about OotP and The Golden Compass in private*
Because we all know that nobody else on Hatrack cares about film adaptations of famous fantasy novels, and obsessively posts news on them. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by JennaDean: BlackBlade, is this a link to the tapes you're talking about?
I am not sure. The tapes were certainly called "Dramatized American History." But when they released them on audio CD it is quite possible they renamed them in order to market them towards families.
The fact there are 36 CDs however leads me to believe its the same product as the audio cassettes had 12 tapes per volume, and there were three volumes.
You could probably call the store and hopefully get confirmation. Man those cd's are quite pricey.
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
Calling National Treasure "dumb fun" is mischaracterizing it. It is a fairly intelligent movie - which is a large part of its appeal above other action/thriller movies. It succeeds in getting the audience to think about the role history has in our lives, and does so in a clear, simple, straightforward way that can be understood by almost any moviegoer.
Posted by Hitoshi (Member # 8218) on :
quote:Originally posted by FlyingCow: National Treasure is what the Da Vinci Code should have been.
I liked it almost as much as I disliked Dan Brown's drivel.
Here here. While it has some glaring inaccuracies (it was, from my memory, 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence, but they say '55 in iron pen,' as in 55 signers), but it was a fun movie nonetheless.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
sounds fun. I really liked the first one, I am hoping that this one is fun as well.
I never understood why people hated the movie because it was inaccurate. It was a popcorn flick, it was not supposed to be a true history. People don't expect James Bond to be realistic. The same went for The day after tomorrow. I really enjoyed the movie...and didn't care that it was impossible. It was still a fun movie.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:People don't expect James Bond to be realistic. The same went for The day after tomorrow.
TDAT was not based on a true story? Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
What do you mean, movies aren't real? Tim Allen is not Santa Claus? Next thing you'll say is that I won't find Gondor in any History Book, or that The East India company wasn't really evil.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
While it has some glaring inaccuracies (it was, from my memory, 56 people who signed the Declaration of Independence, but they say '55 in iron pen,' as in 55 signers), but it was a fun movie nonetheless.
![[Confused]](confused.gif)