National Treasure (2004)
Nicolas Cage: Benjamin Franklin Gates
Photos
Quotes
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Ben Gates : [after he and Riley rescued Abigail from Ian's truck] You all right?
Abigail Chase : No, those - those lunatics...
Ben Gates : You're not hurt, are you?
Abigail Chase : YOU'RE ALL LUNATICS!
Ben Gates : You hungry?
Abigail Chase : What?
Ben Gates : Are you all right?
Riley Poole : Still a little on-edge from being shot at but I'll be okay, thanks for asking.
Abigail Chase : Yeah, well I'm not all right! Those men have the Declaration of Independence!
Riley Poole : SHE LOST IT?
Ben Gates : They don't have it.
[He pulls the Declaration out to show her]
Ben Gates : See? Okay? Now could you please stop shouting?
Abigail Chase : [She reaches for it, but he pulls it away] Give me that!
Ben Gates : You're still shouting, and it's really starting to annoy. You would do well, Dr. Chase, to be a little more civilized in this instance.
Abigail Chase : If this is the real one, what did they get?
Ben Gates : A souvenir. I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me $35, plus tax.
Riley Poole : Genius.
Abigail Chase : Who were those men?
Ben Gates : Just the guys we warned you were going to try to steal the Declaration.
Riley Poole : And you didn't believe us!
Ben Gates : We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe.
Abigail Chase : Verdammt! Give me that!
Ben Gates : You know something? You're shouting again.
Riley Poole : Pretty sure she was swearing too.
Ben Gates : Well, we probably deserved that.
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Abigail Chase : What do you see?
Ben Gates : 2:22.
Abigail Chase : What time is it now?
Clothing Store Clerk : Almost 3.
Abigail Chase : [sighs] We missed it.
Riley Poole : No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because... you don't know this? I know something about history that you don't know.
Ben Gates : I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley.
Riley Poole : Hold on one second, let me just take in this moment. This is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Well, except now.
Abigail Chase : Riley!
Riley Poole : All right! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 p.m. now that means that in 1776 it would be 2 p.m.
Ben Gates : Riley, you're a genius.
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Riley Poole : [leaving Abigail's office after unsuccessfully trying to convince her about potential theft the Declaration of Independence] If it's any consolation, you had me convinced.
Ben Gates : It's not.
Riley Poole : I was thinking, what if we go public, plaster the story all over the internet? It's not like we have our reputations to worry about. Although, I don't think that's exactly gonna scare Ian away.
Ben Gates : [standing in front of the Declaration of Independence] 180 years of searching, and I'm three feet away. Of all the words written here about freedom, there's a line here that's at the heart of all the others. "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security."
[pause]
Ben Gates : People don't talk that way anymore.
Riley Poole : Beautiful, huh? I have no idea what you said.
Ben Gates : It means if there's something something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.
[pause]
Ben Gates : I'm gonna steal it.
Riley Poole : [laughs] What?
Ben Gates : I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.
[walks away]
Riley Poole : [laughs, then follows Ben] Uh, Ben?
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Powell : [referring to the underground staircase] How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?
Ben Gates : Same way they built the pyramids - and the Great Wall of China.
Riley Poole : Yeah... the aliens helped them.
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Ben Gates : It's invisible.
Abigail Chase : Oh! Right.
Riley Poole : And that's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security.
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Riley Poole : I have to settle with 1%. One stinkin' percent. Half of one percent, actually.
[he jumps into a Ferrari 360 Spider]
Ben Gates : I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley.
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Benjamin Franklin Gates : I'm so sorry I dropped you - I had to save the Declaration!
Abigail Chase : No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same to you.
Benjamin Franklin Gates : Really?
Abigail Chase : Yeah.
Riley Poole : I would've dropped you both! Freaks.
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Riley Poole : Anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't gonna want to help.
Ben Gates : We don't need someone crazy. But one step short of crazy, what do you get?
Riley Poole : Obsessed.
Ben Gates : Passionate.
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Riley Poole : They're like Early American x-ray specs.
Abigail Chase : Benjamin Franklin invented something like these.
Ben Gates : Uh, I think he invented *these*.
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Riley Poole : Okay, Ben, pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books. And they're all saying the same exact thing: Listen to Riley. What we have here is an entire layout of the Archives: sort of builder's blueprints. We've got construction manuals, phone lines, water, and sewage. It's all right here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it is surrounded by guards... and video monitors... and little families from Iowa... and little kids on their eighth-grade field trip. And underneath an inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a four-foot-thick concrete, steel-plated vault that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial systems.
Ben Gates : You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb.
Riley Poole : Edison?
Ben Gates : And when asked about it, he said "I didn't fail; I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb," but he only needed one way to make it work.
[sets down a book in front of Riley]
Ben Gates : The Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?
Riley Poole : Delicious jams and jellies?
Ben Gates : No, that's where they clean, repair, and maintain all the documents and their storage housings when they are not on display or in the vault. Now, when the case needs work, they take it out of the vault and directly across the hall and into the Preservation Room. The best time for us or Ian to steal it would be during the gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs; but we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there is much less security.
Riley Poole : Well... uh... Ian... Preservation, hmm. Well, this might be possible.
Ben Gates : It might.
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[Ben shivers after unrolling the Declaration of Independence in the signing room of Independence Hall]
Riley Poole : What?
Ben Gates : It's just that... the last time this was here... it was being signed.
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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...
[shakes the tube containing the Declaration]
Ben Gates : ... either.
[shakes the tube again]
Ben Gates : I leveled with you one hundred percent. Everything I told you was the truth.
Abigail Chase : I want that document, Mr. Brown.
Ben Gates : Ok, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I leveled with you ninety-eight percent.
Abigail Chase : Wait a minute, did you just say "Gates"?
[brief pause]
Abigail Chase : "Gates"? You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the founding fathers?
Ben Gates : It's not a conspiracy theory.
Riley Poole : Per se.
Abigail Chase : You know what? I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane.
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Ben Gates : A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite-and had their entrails cut out and *burned*!
[brief pause]
Ben Gates : So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right...
[nodding]
Ben Gates : what they knew was right.
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Riley Poole : [after Ben decides to steal the Declaration] This is... huge.
[pause]
Riley Poole : Prison... huge. You are gonna go to prison. You know that, right?
Benjamin Franklin Gates : Yeah, probably.
Riley Poole : Well... that would... bother most people.
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Riley Poole : Ben, you know what you have to do.
Ben Gates : I know what I *have* to do, I'm just trying to think if there's anything else we *could* do.
Riley Poole : Well not to be a nudge, but you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now. It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence...
Ben Gates : Yeah but I didn't think I was *personally* going to have to tell my Dad about it!
Ben Gates : [Abigail tries to run away with the Declaration] Hey! Not cool! Not cool!
[Grabs her]
Abigail Chase : Let me go!
Ben Gates : [Taking back the Declaration] Okay, you're let go. Now shoo.
Abigail Chase : I'm not going.
[Tries to take back the Declaration]
Abigail Chase : Not without the Declaration.
Ben Gates : [Pulling the Declaration away] You're not going with the Declaration.
Abigail Chase : Yes I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going.
Ben Gates : Wait. You're not going with us, with the Declaration.
Abigail Chase : Yes I am.
Ben Gates : No, you're not!
Abigail Chase : Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going.
Riley Poole : [Bangs head on car door frame]
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Riley Poole : [speaking through headset] How do you look?
Ben Gates : [looking in mirror] Not bad.
Riley Poole : Mazel tov!
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Ben Gates : I'm in a little trouble.
Patrick Gates : Is she pregnant?
Ben Gates : If she is would you leave the mother of your grandchild standing out in the cold?
Patrick Gates : Come in.
Abigail Chase : [to Riley] I look pregnant?
[He shakes his head]
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Abigail Chase : [Ben Gates is trying to figure out how to get the Silence Dogood letters without letting his dad know he stole the Declaration of Independence] You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Steal those too?
Ben Gates : They're scans of the originals. Quiet please.
Abigail Chase : How did you get scans?
Ben Gates : I know the person who has the originals, now shush.
Abigail Chase : Why do you need them?
Ben Gates : She really can't shut her mouth, can she?
[Offering her the Declaration]
Ben Gates : Look, I will let you hold this if you promise to *shut up*, please! Thank you.
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Sadusky : So, here is your options: Door number one - you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two - we're going to get back the Declaration of Independence; you help us find it, and... you still go to prison for a very long time. But you'll feel better inside.
Ben Gates : Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?
Sadusky : [laughing] Someone's got to go to prison, Ben.
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Ben Gates : Sadusky, I'm still not against you. But I found door #3, and I'm taking it.
[jumps into the Hudson River]
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Riley Poole : [after his computer goes blank] I lost my feed.
Ben Gates : [in the preservation room] What?
Riley Poole : I lost my feed, Ben. I don't know where anyone is. I-I have nothing. Ben, I have no-. Ben, I have nothing. Get out of there. Get out of there now!
Ben Gates : [picking up the Declaration of independence's case] I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out of the elevator.
Riley Poole : What are you talking... Is it heavy?
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Ben Gates : [speaking through headset] Riley, can you hear me?
Riley Poole : Unfortunately, yeah.
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Abigail Chase : What led you to assume there's this invisible map?
Ben Gates : We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe.
Riley Poole : Owned by the Free Masons.
Abigail Chase : May I see the pipe?
Ben Gates : We don't actually have it.
Abigail Chase : [beat, leans forward conspiratorially] Did Bigfoot take it?
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Ben Gates : You know, Agent Sadusky, something I've noticed about fishing? It never works out so well for the bait.
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Patrick Gates : What is that? Animal skin? How old is it?
Ben Gates : About 200 years.
Patrick Gates : Sure?
Ben Gates : Pretty darn.
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[trying to find the password to the Preservation Room]
Ben Gates : It's Valley Forge.
Riley Poole : Valley... I don't have that on my computer.
Ben Gates : It's Valley Forge. She pressed E and L twice.
[typing password]
Ben Gates : Valley Forge was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
[Access is granted]
Riley Poole : Can I marry your brain?
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Riley Poole : Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?
Abigail Chase , Ben Gates : Benjamin Franklin.
[Riley stomps down his foot in disappointment]
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[They see Abigail hanging out the back of Ian's truck, clinging to the door and screaming]
Ben Gates : Oh, no.
Riley Poole : Holy Lord.
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Abigail Chase : You can't *seriously* intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence... in the back of a moving van!
Riley Poole : We have a clean room environment all set up: EDS suits, a particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang.
Abigail Chase : Really?
Ben Gates : We can't go back there.
Riley Poole : What? Why not?
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Riley Poole : [examining the back of the Declaration] So if it's in invisible ink, how do we see it?
Patrick Gates : Throw it in the oven.
Abigail Chase , Ben Gates : No!
Riley Poole : Uh-uh.
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Ben Gates : Meet me at the car. Call me if you have any problems.
Riley Poole : Like if we get caught and killed?
Ben Gates : Yeah - that would be a big problem. Take care of her.
Riley Poole , Abigail Chase : [together] I will.
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Riley Poole : For the record, Ben, I like the house.
Ben Gates : You know, I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met...
Riley Poole : Yeah, someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful.
[puts on a pair of sunglasses and starts the car]
Riley Poole : Could have had a bigger house.
[drives away]
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Shaw : Prison.
Riley Poole : Albuquerque. See, I can do it too. Snorkel.
Shaw : That's where the map is. Like he said, "Fifty-five in iron pen." "Iron pen" is a prison.
Ben Gates : Or it could be, since the primary writing medium of the time was iron gall ink, the "pen" is... just a pen. But then why not say a pen? Why say "iron pen"?
Shaw : Cause it's a prison.
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[Gates is stealing the Declaration of Independence, which is rolled up in his jacket]
Gift Store Clerk : Are you trying to steal that?
Ben Gates : [looks around in surprise, spotting a box of Declaration replications for sale] Oh! Umm...?
Gift Store Clerk : It's thirty-five dollars.
Ben Gates : For this?
Gift Store Clerk : Yeah.
Ben Gates : That's a lot.
Gift Store Clerk : Hey, I don't make the prices.
Ben Gates : [searching through his wallet] That's umm... thirty-two... fifty-seven?
Gift Store Clerk : We take Visa.
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Riley Poole : What do you care? You got the girl.
Abigail Chase , Ben Gates : That's true.
[Ben and Abigail kiss]
Riley Poole : Yeah, rub it in.
[He turns and walks away]
Riley Poole : Enjoy your spoils.
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Ben Gates : [Riley flips out after seeing a dead frozen body] You handled that well.
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Riley Poole : [sings] Where are you?
Ben Gates : [walking out] Stop talking. Start the van.
Riley Poole : [starts the van, looks up, and sees Abigail following Ben] Ben, the, uh, mean D- Declaration lady's behind you.
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Abigail Chase : You're treasure hunters, aren't you?
Ben Gates : We're more like treasure protectors.
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Patrick Gates : Cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo is unchanged. As soon as this guy gets to wherever this thing ends... he won't need you anymore, or... or any of us.
Ben Gates : So we find a way to make sure the status quo changes in our favor.
Patrick Gates : How?
Ben Gates : I'm still working on it.
Patrick Gates : Well, I guess I better work on it too, then.
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Ben Gates : Dad, where are the letters?
Patrick Gates : I don't have them, son.
Ben Gates : [pause] What?
Patrick Gates : I don't have them.
Ben Gates : [Another pause] Where are they?
Patrick Gates : I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Ben Gates : Time to go.
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Sadusky : The Templars and the Freemasons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden.
Ben Gates : That's right. The founding fathers believed the same thing about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too.
Sadusky : Give it to the people.
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Ben Gates : Are you all right?
Patrick Gates : What do you think? I'm a hostage.
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Riley Poole : [about Ben paying for the real Declaration and the souvenir copy with a credit card] A credit card slip? Dude, we're on the grid. They're gonna have your records from forever. They're gonna have my records from forever.
Ben Gates : I know. I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door.
Riley Poole : What do we do?
Ben Gates : We need those letters.
Abigail Chase : What letters?
Ben Gates : You know, get off the road, take a right.
Abigail Chase : *What letters*?
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Abigail Chase : [Ben is holding Abigail's hand to prevent her from falling into the abyss; they see that the Declaration is about to fall into the abyss] The Declaration!
Ben Gates : Do you trust me?
Abigail Chase : Yes.
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Ben Gates : [he and Ben are chasing Ian's truck with Abigail held hostage inside] Once we catch them, what do we do?
Riley Poole : I'm workin' on it!
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[Seeing Ian's truck pull up to grab Abigail and the fake Declaration]
Ben Gates : Oh bad! Bad, bad, bad!
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[last lines]
Abigail Chase : I made something for you.
Ben Gates : You did?
Abigail Chase : M-hm.
Ben Gates : What?
Abigail Chase : A map.
Ben Gates : A map... Where does it lead to?
Abigail Chase : You'll figure it out.
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[repeated line]
Ben Gates : Just another clue.
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Ben Gates : [upset] I just... really thought I was gonna find the treasure.
Patrick Gates : Okay. Then we just keep looking for it.
Abigail Chase : I'm in.
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Patrick Gates : [having discovered the sacred document before him] Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Ben Gates : I know.
Patrick Gates : Oh, my God. What have you done? This is... this is the...
Ben Gates : I know!
Patrick Gates : This is the Declaration of Independence.
Abigail Chase : Yes. And it's very delicate.
Patrick Gates : You stole it?
Ben Gates : Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. And you saw the cipher.
Patrick Gates : And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue! There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours. And you pulled me into all this.
Ben Gates : Well, we can't have that.
