Was ‘National Treasure’ Inspired By ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?’
There are many similarities between “National Treasure” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”
SPOILERS. If you haven’t seen either flick, go watch them! Then come back, because you will want to read this.
What movie does this sound like:
Quick-witted, sarcastic man with a distant relationship with his father goes on a clue-filled historical journey with a goofy male sidekick and blonde female doctor love interest to save the family and ultimately find the treasure.
That’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
And, “National Treasure.”
I love the 1989 movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” for nostalgic reasons, and it’s just an easy film to like: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, great storytelling, humor, adventure, defeating the Nazis.
While watching it recently in honor of Sean Connery, who passed away at age 90, it got me thinking of the similarities with the 2004 movie “National Treasure.”
As all creative types have no doubt heard, there is a saying “there are no new ideas” and the belief that there are really only 7 kinds of stories. But… even if we are limited in scope of story variation, the similarities in these two movies stand out more than usual.
Decide for yourself- “National Treasure” vs “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”
Both start with a flashback backstory on how the lead character Indiana Jones/Ben Gates got interested in artifacts/treasure hunting as kids.
In the first “current day” scene they both:
survive explosions with TNT/gunpowder
are on ships whose names start with a C (Coronado, Charlotte)
are fighting a bad guy for an artifact: Indy and a cross, Ben and a pipe
Both involve knights.
Both go into tombs.
Both have kooky sidekicks- Marcus and Riley.
Both have blonde, female love interests of German/Austrian ancestry who are doctors that join them in their quest. Elsa in “Indiana Jones,” Abigail in “National Treasure.” Except for the well, small fact that Elsa works with the Nazis and doesn’t end up with Indy, the two women are very similar. When asked about her accent, Abigail says its “Saxony German.”
Both use clues to get to their goal.
Both have a tangible goal- the Holy Grail, the hidden treasure - and an emotional goal - Indy rescues his Dad several times and patches up their relationship, Ben saves the family name and patches up their relationship.
Both Fathers have papers that are important to the mission- in Indy the Dad has a diary, in National Treasure the dad has the Silence Dogood letters.
Both have one who is the treasure seeker and the other is against it (at first). In Indiana Jones the Dad is the one seeking the treasure, in National Treasure it is Ben.
Both have antagonist relationships with their father that they resolve at the end.
Both have the person who was against the search agree that the other was right for looking for the treasure.
Both have moments where the Dad tells their son “you did it.”
In “Indiana Jones” the Dad is excited Jr. found the knight: “Junior you did it!”
In “National Treasure” the Dad realizes the treasure is real, says “You did it, Ben.”
Both fathers are in peril at one point, held hostage, and need the son to save them.
Both have a scene where the female is dangling off an edge and the man is trying to pull her up (the women do have different fates).
Both have a moment when we’re told how long the Dad has been looking for the treasure: in “Indiana Jones” Indy congrats his Dad on the finding of the second marker, saying his Dad had been looking for 40 years. In “National Treasure” Ben’s Dad (now against searching for the treasure) says “I wasted 20 years of my life.”
Both have a moment where the lead guy says the treasure belongs in a museum: in “Indiana Jones” it’s regarding the cross at the beginning, in “National Treasure” it’s at the end when Ben is talking to the FBI.
Both have similar endings:
the bad guy gets greedy
the bad guy is encouraged by someone other than the hero to seek out the greed (in “Indiana Jones” it’s Elsa who gives Donovan the wrong Holy Grail, in “National Treasure” it’s Ben’s Dad who leads Ian astray)
the bad guy gets punished (death/jail)
the good guy gives up something (the Holy Grail/the treasure) to an authority figure (the knight/the FBI agent)
What do you think? Are the movies similar?