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- Overview
- Early Life
- The Templar Treasure
- Search for Cíbola
"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence."
―Benjamin Gates
Ben was born on May 1965, to Patrick Henry Gates and his wife, Emily. Grandson of John Adams Gates. In 1974, Ben was told by his grandfather, John Gates, about a treasure that goes back to the Freemasons and the Knights Templar which was so large that no one man could claim it. The story was a family legend which came from Ben's ancestor, Thomas Ga...
Charlotte
When Ben's grandfather told him the legend of the Templar Treasure, he also told Ben about the first clue in the puzzle - “The secret lies with Charlotte.” 30 years later, Ben's passion to find the Templar Treasure is strong as ever. He relentlessly searches for more clues, and finally finds one… The Charlotte turns out to be an ancient boat buried in ice and snow. Ben's colleague, Ian Howe, funds a trip to find the ship, so Ben Gates, Ian Howe, Riley Poole, and a couple of Ian's friends take a trip and find the Charlotte. They all dig the ship up and explore it, expecting to find the treasure itself - but all they find is barrels and barrels of gunpowder. One of the gunpowder barrels hid a 200-year-old Meerschaum Pipe with another clue built into the carvings. The clue points Ben towards the Declaration of Independence, leading him to believe there's a map on the back of the document written in invisible ink. Ian suggests they should steal the Declaration in order to examine the back of it, but Ben is against that plan immediately. Ian, corrupted by the urge to find the treasure, betrays Ben and Riley. One of Ian's henchmen prepares to shoot Ben and Riley if he doesn't give them the next clue. Ben distracts them by lighting and tossing an emergency flare at his new enemies. Ian catches it but it lights his coat on fire, so he drops it. The burning flare ignites the spilt gunpowder all over the floor and the flame travels to the barrels full of the explosive powder. Ian and his friends flee before the ship blows up, but they trap Ben and Riley in the cargo hold. Ben and Riley hide in the smuggler's compartment and when the ship blows up, they are unharmed. Ian and his friends do not know this, and carry on their plan to steal the Declaration of Independence, thinking Ben and Riley are out of the picture.
The Declaration
When Ben and Riley tell Homeland Security and the FBI that someone wants to steal the Declaration of Independence they both write them off as lunatics. Ben Gates makes an appointment under an alias Paul Brown with a Dr. Abigail Chase. Abigail doesn't believe them, telling them that she has personally inspected the Declaration itself and never saw a map. Ben visits the National Archives and reads aloud a part of the Declaration that inspires him to take action to protect the Declaration from Ian. Ben Gates decides to steal the Declaration of Independence. Riley doesn't believe anyone could ever possibly steal the Declaration of Independence. He shows Ben blueprints of the National Archives from the Library of Congress to show that the Declaration has some of the best security possible, including guards, heat sensors, and bulletproof glass. And even when the document isn't on display, it's in a password-protected vault. Ben then pulls out a book of his own, showing Riley the preservation room of the National Archives. This is where the documents are sent for cleaning to better preserve them. When Riley asks how Ben intends to break in, Ben shows Riley a pamphlet he picked up at Dr. Chase's office, advertising a gala at the Archives. Since security will be focused on the VIP guests, breaking into the preservation room should be much easier.
The Heist
The 'evil plan' is put into action. Riley sets off one of the heat sensors embedded in the Declaration's display case; the entire display with the document is sent to the preservation room for examination. Ben sneaks into the gala as a janitor, which allows him to enter the building with a drill. He takes off and throws away the costume to show he is wearing a suit underneath for the event. He talks to Abigail and hands her a glass, hoping to get her fingerprint. But Ben gives too much of his plan away after a toast, and Abigail begins to suspect Ben isn't who he says he is. With the aid of Riley and high-tech equipment (including a feed to the Archive cameras), Ben breaks into the preservation room (after using Abigail's fingerprint and the password to get into the room). Ben begins to unscrew the document's case when Riley suddenly loses his camera feed (Ian and his men have just tapped into the feed themselves). Ben responds by taking the whole case into the elevator, planning to remove the Declaration in the elevator. However, he runs into Ian who is also after the Declaration. One of Ian's partners shoots at him and Ben has to make a break for it in the elevator back to the main level. On the way, Ben finally removes the Declaration from the case and hides it in his jacket. But then he has to escape Abigail, who has discovered Ben (or Paul, as she knows him) isn't on the guest list for the gala. Ben hides momentarily in a gift shop, but is stopped by the clerk when she notices a 'copy' of the Declaration. He then has to pay with a visa creditcard after not having enough cash. When Abigail sees Ben at the Gala, she figures out that something is not right and goes after him. Ian is also after Ben and Riley, and takes Abigail and what he thinks is the Declaration. Ben and Riley save Abigail and now they have to figure out where to go because thanks to the credit card purchase they can not go home.
The Booth Diary Page
3 years after discovering the Templar Treasure, Ben becomes semi-famous within the treasure hunting community for discovering what was dubbed the "National Treasure".
National Treasure: Directed by Jon Turteltaub. With Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean. A historian races to find the legendary Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries.
- (359K)
- Action, Adventure, Mystery
- Jon Turteltaub
- 2004-11-19
Benjamin Franklin Gates is an American historian, cryptographer, and treasure hunter. When Ben was young, his grandfather John told him that, in 1832, Charles Carroll passed on a secret clue to their ancestor of a fabled treasure hidden in America from ancient times to the Knights Templar, Founding Fathers and Freemasons.
Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War.
Benjamin Franklin Gates is the protagonist of the National Treasure film series. Ben Gates is a well-educated history fanatic with a maverick's sense of adventure. His interest in the past comes from his own family lineage, as his ancestors had roles in some of America's historic events.
Abigail Chase : There is not a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Ben Gates : And there's no chance anyone can steal this...
