National Treasure: Book of Secrets, 2007

Director: Jon Turtletaub

Stars: Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel

When evidence has shown up that ties the Gates family to the Lincoln assassination, Ben gates (Cage) and his father Patrick (Voight), will cross oceans and do whatever it takes to clear their family name. But they're up against the worst kind of villain: Mitch Wilkinson (Harris), who discovered the Gates-Lincoln connection, is bent on finding this second treasure that is said to be hidden under a great National landmark. He kidnaps Ben's mother (Mirren) in order to use Ben to search for the treasure.

This one is really great as well. I love how these movies are fast-paced, action- packed, and very clever, weaving fiction into history. Love it!

National Treasure, 2004

Director: Jon Turtletaub

Stars: Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight,

The Gates family has handed down the tradition of the great treasure collected over thousands of years and hid somewhere by our founding fathers, with the last clue left to a Gates long ago. Now Ben Gates (Cage) has spent all his life and every penny he has on treasure hunting, and finally he has another clue, leading to the next step.

The problem is: the next step is to look on the back of the Declaration of Independence for an invisible message from the founders. And Ian (Bean) the man who funded Ben's exploits, is after the treasure too, and he has no problem being on the wrong side of the law. After his warning to the FBI goes unheeded, Ben decides that the only way to stop Ian from stealing the Declaration is to steal it first. So that's what he and his computer genius friend Riley (Bartha) set out to do. But Dr Abigail Chase (Kruger) catches them, and they decide they have to take her along with them, to keep her safe from Ian. But soon she stays out of curiosity, as they get closer and closer to finding the greatest treasure of all time.

I LOVE this movie! It's ridiculous, of course, but so much fun!