Advantages: Mindless fun
Disadvantages: Poor story, indifferent acting, poor characters

.... After exploring several legitimate channels such as the F.B.I and the National Archives themselves without success, Ben decides that the only way to safeguard the document is to steal it himself before Ian can get to it. What follows is an all action cat and mouse chase as Ian and Ben compete to be the first to get the document and crack the remaining pieces of the puzzle to find the lost treasure. Will Ben be able to beat Ian to it and give the treasure back to the people or will Ian get hold of it for his own personal gain? ** Characters ** Benjamin Franklin Gates - played by Nicholas Cage (Adaptation, Matchstick Men) is the latest in a family line of explorers searching for America’s National Treasure. He has been captivated by the treasure since an early age and has devoted his life to finding it. He is driven, determined... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Solid acting, fun storyline, interesting ideas, fast-paced action
Disadvantages: Very silly and unbelievable in places

...servant Thomas Gates was told a remarkable story of lost treasure and handed a cryptic clue by the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence, successive generations of the Gates family have been trying to decode the clue and discover the location of this fabled horde. Given that it was said to be the lost treasure of the Templars, hidden by the Freemasons to protect it from the British during the Civil War, it is not hard to see how the Gates family have acquired a reputation amongst academics as a bunch of crackpot conspiracy theorists and half-baked treasure hunters. However, inspired by this story as a boy, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) grows up to be a maverick historian driven to solving the riddle and redeeming his family name. With the help of his wise-cracking assistant Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), Ben makes... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lose yourself in this dark, atmospheric musical symphony
Disadvantages: Deserves your full attention from start to finish

...Lost Souls… The Doves finest, as is often the case with debut albums - this is a classic and probably my favourite album of all time. A chilled out listen with great lyrics and amazing vocals from Jimi Goodwin. It's an album that transcends a specific period in ones life, rising above musical genres, impervious to clichés. I'm talking specifically about Britpop culture and the 'Madchester' scene to which Doves (or sub-sub as they were formally known) were born, formed in the wake of an acid house craze that swept through their hometown of Manchester, leading to a chance encounter between old school friend Jimi Goodwin and brothers, Jez and Andy Williams where else but the Hacienda club… cue: a band was born. Standout tracks include: Here it comes, Lost souls, Catch the sun and Cedar room. From start to finish a gloriously dark... Read review

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Advantages: Very Fun, Exciting, Based Loosely On Historical Fact
Disadvantages: Extremely Silly

...As a child Benjamin Franklin Gates (first names sound familiar?) was brought up on wild stories of thrilling battles, breathtaking chases and heroic knights saving damsels in distress from certain death, but one story stuck with him throughout his whole life, a tale of a buried treasure so powerful, no one man should ever have it to himself, this treasure was passed down through history seeing the Egyptian slaves, Roman Emperors and Crusaders, but was discovered by the Mason's only to be lost, hidden somewhere, never to be seen again………. Now an adult explorer Ben has made it his life's work to track down this gold and prove all the cynics wrong, going from one clue to the next. Daring stunts, thrilling chases and passionate love affairs pursue, but will he piece together the intricate threads of this elaborate maze before his arch... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Nicholas Cage is great, yet again!
Disadvantages: They had to put the soppy love story in!

...I watched this film expecting it to be a tomb raider rip-off from what i saw in the trailer. But, i was pleasantly surprised. A great, well-thought out storyline (as in there is a lot of detail in it) and good action sequences. The only bad points were, it was a little predictable in parts! As well as a little unbelievable. ---- THE STORY The film starts off with a scene between young cage and his dad talking about this 'great treasure' that has been gathered for thousands of years and guarded by the freemasons. It has a few flashbacks to the past showing the treasure and fighting, etc. The treasure is enormous, from what it unbelievably shows, it could probably fill up the whole of central london! Anyways, this treasure was taken (obviously!) to america, where it was hidden. The exact place was lost, as people forgot about it... Read review

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Advantages: Fun, enjoyable and glossy
Disadvantages: Thin plot and a little too glib

...National Treasure - Book of Secrets ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The year is 1865 and two shifty looking characters enter a bar looking for Thomas Gates. They have an encrypted message hidden in a diary and Gates is just the man to crack it. As he begins to work through the code one of the men slips away, his name is John Wilkes Booth and he's off