Watching National Treasure Every 4th of July

Every year on the 4th of July, Luke Ferris and his friends watch 2004’s National Treasure starring Nicolas Cage. But why?

In this essay episode, you’ll uncover the treasure map of how this tradition started, including: 

• National Treasure’s generational legacy. 
• The best National Treasure moments and quotes.
• Why National Treasure was memorable before it became a meme.
• And the meaning of the annual tradition of watching National Treasure on the 4th of July. 

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Sources for this episode:

• Royalty-free music and sound effects via Artlist.com
• National Treasure (2004) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers
• national treasure » riley poole being my spirit animal

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Every year on the fourth of July, I watched the 2004 Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer produced action and adventure movie National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage. And I don't really know why. But how? Now that's an interesting story.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

You're treasure hunters, aren't you? We're more like treasure protectors. All his life, Benjamin Gates has searched for a treasure no one believed existed. Don't you get it, Ben? The treasure is a danger. I refuse to believe that. But what do you thought was the final clue when early years of searching up 3 2 is only the beginning of the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

You think there is a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_03 0:49

The map is invisible.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Why would we make this up? Whenever you prove we don't have it.

unknown 0:59

Bigfoot take it.

SPEAKER_04 1:02

What about the map is bound to get out? Ian's gonna try to steal it. 90 seconds. The only way to protect the Declaration is to steal it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence. Uh, Ben? Welcome to Least Important Things, a podcast about movies, friendship, and finding meaning in the most important of the least important things. I'm Luke Ferris, and today we're talking about National Treasure. America and one of the most absurd traditions in my life. The first time I watched National Treasure was in the theaters while visiting my family on my mom's side during Thanksgiving weekend. Since most of the cousins ranged from 7 to 18, the PG-13 movie was a perfect middle ground for everyone to be entertained without offense. One thing my mom really enjoyed was how Nick Cage's character, Ben Gates, treats Abigail Chase. He's very kind to her and gentle to her and checks in and how she's doing, even though he essentially kidnaps her. But I remember loving this movie as a kid. As an 11-year-old, it checked all my boxes: action, humor, adventure, American history, and Sean Bean as the villain. If you've never seen National Treasure, here's a summary of the plot. Ben Gates, a treasure hunter coming from a long line of American Knights Templars, has dedicated his life to uncovering the mysterious clues of a famous treasure protected during the Revolutionary War by the nation's founding fathers. In order to protect the treasure from his criminal investment partner Gone Rogue, played by Sean Bean, he must steal the Declaration of Independence and uncover the treasure map hidden on the backside. Alongside his trusty IT friend Riley, reluctant and romantic interest National Archives historian Abigail Chase, and his estranged father, Gates' treasure hunt weaves him through America's most symbolic locations and artifacts to uncover the truth and absolve his family's name. Now I didn't look this up at all. This is all from my mind, this description. This is not on the back of the VHS or the DVD. This is not the I'm DVD description. This is not an AI description. This is straight from my mind. This is how many times I've seen this movie. Like many millennials, National Treasure was an early staple in our family DVD collection, becoming just something we watched all the time. The moments of the film became so ubiquitous in our household that they superseded any actual American history we learned in elementary school, to the point when my family first ever visited Washington, DC. My instinct was to reenact Riley's plea with Ben Gates on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

For God's sakes, it's like stealing a national monument. It's like stealing him. It can't be done. None of it shouldn't be done. It can't be done.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

The summer before I entered middle school, I was moving with my family from Traver City, Michigan back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I was born, and I ventured into middle school not knowing really anybody or having much context for the new community besides my best friends, the Feltons, who lived in town. While it took a while for me to build friendships as a 7th and 8th grader in the hallways of my school, I was fortunate I already had an established lifelong friends that I grew up with and spent summer weeks with growing up that were just down the road now instead of two hours away. And so I started spending most of my weekends and elongated summer days spending the night over at the Feltons. It was one of those sleepover binges during the 4th of July when the group of us started watching National Treasure after a day long of brunch in their grandparents' front yard, local parade of candy throwing, and an afternoon of swimming and cookouts, and of course fireworks. Then we went home and fired up National Treasure to round out the day of celebrating America. This tradition grew as we grew into a young adulthood, many of us separated by summer camps, sporting camps, and summer jobs. But somehow we all returned to the annual tradition of National Treasure on 4th of July. I remember one 4th of July when my best friend from school, Noah, joined Jacob Felton and I for the rewatch of National Treasure because a lot of our friends and siblings were working at a summer camp or doing something cooler with their lives and working holiday hours at their local grocery store, restaurant, or Christian bookstore. We've all met up in the felon's cool air-conditioned basement, swapping bang bang shrimp leftovers from Bonefish Grill and snacks from the grocery store, sipping on sugary Arizona iced teas and reveling in the tradition of national treasure. However, I think Noah fell asleep that first time. I'm not convinced he made it all the way through. This became a pastime as more friends got brought into the tradition of watching National Treasure to a point where Jacob eventually started hosting a 4th of July party on the same street that his grandparents lived, reliving the traditions of our youth, including watching National Treasure. Except now we were lighting off fireworks in the driveway by ourselves and drinking beer instead of iced teas. As we grew older, watching the movie became a bit of a participatory irony watch. We'd say our favorite lines, mock the absurd moments, and the melodramatic line reading, but it always felt like our own inside joke. Moments of lines in the film include the cold open with Christopher Plummer saying, To the first time we see Nick Cage whipping his sunglasses face up, traveling in the Arctic, and the beat-by-beat laugh out loud moments just keep coming and coming. When Riley says, Once we catch them, what are we gonna do? Inbeat of the music after they steal the Declaration of Independence. Are we knights in the cold open? I found something extraordinary. And at one point, one of Ian's goons says, We guessed your sizes once they take Nick Cage's character on the team. And we always thought he said fix your shizes. Uh, and that's not what actually happened. We finally had to do the subtitles, but we'd always say fix your shizes, and that was uh that's what was in the movie. Of course, that's what it was in the movie. And then all the Riley bits. Very quotable and rewatchable.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Do you know what the preservation room is for?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Delicious jams and jellies? Are you whole plan is working?

SPEAKER_03 7:38

I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out of the elevator.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Is it heavy? Hold on one second. Let me just I'm just taking this moment. This is this is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Because, you know, except for now, of course. Riley! Alright.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Stairs. While the embrace of this movie, with specifically the millennial generation, has earned its memeable reputation two plus decades after its release, before the internet really could claim national treasure as a cultural impact, it was our little corner of joy. But as life moved on and we got older, moved away, had kids, and became full-fledged adults, it became harder and harder to see each other as a group once a year, let alone on the 4th of July. During one of the first post-COVID summers, Justin Felton hosted an outdoor screening of the movie on the 4th of July that hearkened back to the rhythms of our youth. And in a sense, America. Even the America of national treasure. Now that we're older, we pretty much just send each other clips of the movie on 4th of July because we just don't see each other as much. However, this movie still connects us. Its absurdity, its nostalgia, its traditional rhythm of falling asleep to it before the movie even gets halfway through now. But every year, I can return to this early 2000s Disney action and adventure film and capture a sense of youth, of gratitude, and the warm embrace of summers past. Because in the end, the real treasure is the memories of the people and the moments shared together. Cheers and happy 4th of July, everyone. We will be off next week for some much needed R. Then return with the second installment of our new franchise rewatch series, aka The Mummy Cast for the Mummy Returns. And let me tell you, this might be my favorite episode we've ever done for any of our rewatch series. Uh, it's up there with the Mission Impossible 2s. Uh it gets goofy, it gets fun, but it's gonna be definitely worth the wait. So check us out on social media. Subscribe to our Patreon if you haven't yet. That's patreon.com slash least important things. Have a happy 4th of July, and we'll talk to you next time on least important things.