Each Christmas I usually purchase a handful of movies for the entire family.  Then in the evenings, we light the Christmas lights and the candles, I throw a blanket over my lap, kitty settles down on my lap, my daughter snuggles against me and the cat, my son hangs out with his dad in the recliner, and we enjoy a new movie each evening.  So far the best movie by far was the one I initially had the most doubts about.  

     When I saw it on the shelf, I was intrigued...secret clues to a hidden treasure (I like thinking games), Knights Templar (we studied them in school), Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington...ah, many of my favorite subjects!  I purchased it on the chance that this could be a great movie. We tend to prefer older movies, but the reviews I read on-line looked promising for this contemporary, yet original story line.  

     National Treasure was a hit for the entire family!  We were on the edge of our seats (poor kitty was on the edge of my lap) and we were trying to guess the clues.  When the Washington DC scenes were shown, we exclaimed with enthusiastic memories, "We were there!  I remember that!" as the action went to the White House, National Archives and the Library of Congress.  Scenes of and from the various memorials excited the kids.  They knew exactly where all of those places were, so they were able to feel more involved with the action!

     Although we've never been to Philadelphia, when the good guys were looking at the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly Room I thought, "Wow, just imagine...the last time the Declaration of Independence was in that room was over 200 years ago."  Well I no sooner thought that than the Nicholas Cage character took my very words out of my thoughts!  lol (And yes, I know that the Declaration of Independence used in the movie was a fascimile.  That is just how caught up in the movie I had gotten.  Even my kids were commenting during the movie that it wasn't the original.  We had seen the real Declaration of Independence at the National Archives last Aug and it is so badly faded, that it is difficult to read.  Also, it is too fragile to let loose in the streets like that!  The one in the movie was obviously not that fragile and it was easy to see the calligraphy. )

     After the movie my son took charge of the controls so that we could view the behind the scenes components.  One showed a different ending to the movie.  The director explained how they changed the ending, to get a different reaction from the audience.  I told the kids that even the professionals have to edit their work and keep their audience in mind.  This was a great application for writing skills.

     There were also lots of puzzles for us to solve and we had a lot of fun learning about the various methods of secret codes.  To our shock, by the time we were done, it was midnight!  Where did the time go?  We are usually in bed long before that!  lol

     I have discovered that there is a part 2, where they uncover information of Lincoln's assassination, using 18 missing pages from the diary of John Wilkes Booth.  Apparently, Mount Vernon has been hosting tours of National Treasure 2...I'm guessing that some of the scenes were shot at Mount Vernon. (That link for the tour may not be available much longer.  Apparently this tour ended Dec 28.  Oh how we would have loved to have done this tour!) The kids are already trying to puzzle out the connections in National Treasure 2!

     For Christmas, we had given my son a copy of George Washington Spymaster which has opportunities for the reader to decode secret messages throughout the book. Even one of my Lafayette books has an example of a coded message between Washington and Lafayette. I'm glad they explained the coding, because we never would have caught it. My son has so far flipped through his Spymaster book and seen some of the same examples he saw in National Treasure, that were actually used during the American Revolution. I think my son will enjoy that book, especially now that he's caught the excitement of National Treasure.