NATIONAL TREASURE: the 55 men thing drove me nuts

Cafe Society
1

I saw National Treasure last night and for the most part it’s an enjoyable heist movie so long as you follow the MST3K maxim of “Remind yourself it’s just a show/sit back and just relax”. But one thing drove me crazy: Cage/Gates knows instantly that the coded riddle he finds is referring to the Declaration of Independence because it’s signed by “fifty five men”, the clue in the code.

Argh! Argh! Howl! Foul!

  1. The Declaration of Independence was signed by fifty-SIX men, and not all at once but over two YEARS

  2. The Constitution WAS signed by fifty-five men- if Cage/Gates knew history he’d have known this and assumed that’s what the clue was about
    Then of course the problem with the premise: the U.S. was sitting on a $100 billion treasure and yet had to beg money from France constantly in order to fight the war and then survive.

But, still a good movie for what it was (certainly better imo than Da Vinci Code, and you get to see great shots of NARA and Indepence Hall, so it’s not worthy of a Pit Thread. BUT THE 55 MEN GOOF drove me nuts because it was so easily checked.

As you were.

2

I loved the movie. I’m a sucker for adventure movies in the Indiana Jones/Mummy tradition anyway, and I like the fact that the hero beat the villains not by being stronger or faster or more willing to kill, but by having a superior education. I figured that despite the obvious flaws and gaffes like you pointed out, it could be some unofficial Straight Doper action movie as a result of its geeky, quirky, smart protagonists.

3

It’s possible that the treasure was worth far, far less than $100 billion at the time. Due to its age, history, and rarity it is now worth many times its original value.

Ok, that still doesn’t explain why they’d hide the treasure instead of spending it, but at least it’s slightly more likely. I think. Hey, maybe we can just pretend they were being clever - they knew France would pony up the dough. So they hid the treasure they had, hit up France for mucho dinero, and managed to not have to dip into their secret ace-in-the-hole stash.

4

I loved it. I got all shivery while they were in the Library of Congress, and when they found the lost scrolls from the library of Alexandria I moaned.

5

Hehehehe! I don’t feel so bad now! When the scrolls first came on the screen, the Library of Alexandria was the first thing I thought of, and sure enough! My wife gave me the “dear God I married the biggest geek on the planet” look, though…

6

I felt the same way last month, and just this week (a new text by Sophocles! :slight_smile: :)).

Don’t get me wrong- I really liked the movie, it was just those two things (plus, being a documents librarian myself I can attest that l’ve never seen a colleague who looked like Diana Kruger [though plenty looked like Ed Asner and Kathy Bates] :cool: ).

7

I don’t like Nicolas Cage as a general rule, but I’m also a sucker for archaeological and heist movies, so I was all over this one. Part heist, part treasure hunt, part (slightly flawed) American History lesson. I really enjoyed it, much more than I ever expected to.

But by far my favorite part was Riley’s outburst on board the Charlotte–“Albuquerque! See, I can do it too … Snorkel!”

8

Oh my. ::fans herself:: I’m getting weak in the knees.

You know, I’m going to make a pilgramage to the Library of Congress one day, and I swear, I just might collapse in orgasmic delight in the foyer.

9

One of 'em signed it twice.

Duh.