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Avg. Critic Score: 39 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
9 OK for kids 9+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Chicago Tribune | Allison Benedikt

    Overall the film is alluringly over-the-top without being overcooked. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    National Treasure even has a rough time approaching the heart of ''The Amazing Race," a show that manages, in 44 minutes, to make you care about average folks as they follow clues across the globe. Read full review

  • 63
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    An undeniable pleasure of National Treasure was watching a movie shot locally that wasn't haunted by a virus or by dead people. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    If you're going to tell a wildly implausible tale of fortune hunting and unlikely heroes, you could do worse than National Treasure. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    It has no ambition, little sense and false sentiment, but it does have velocity, high spirits and scale. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The character of a scruffy computer nerd, played with might-as-well-enjoy-myself charm by little-known actor Justin Bartha, steals the picture from glossier players. Read full review

  • 38
    New York Daily News | Jami Bernard

    If the Founding Fathers had known National Treasure would be the result of their efforts to forge a new nation, they might have reached for the Wite-Out. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Ten minutes into the picture, you're searching the screen for life-support machines. Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It's not just hard to believe any of this, it's impossible. And director Jon Turteltaub (Phenomenom) directs with robotic cheerlessness. Read full review

  • 20
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Disney's National Treasure is supposed to be family-friendly, a PG-rated action adventure free of hard violence and bad language. That's admirable, to be sure, but with a friend like this a family doesn't need sleeping pills. Read full review

View more reviews for National Treasure (2004) on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 9+ Historical adventure is a fun romp for tweens and up.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this action movie has a handful of explosions and some gunshots being fired at characters and into crowds. Characters are in frequent peril and some are taken hostage. The historical aspect is especially interesting for conspiracy theorists and treasure hunters, if a little fuzzy when it comes to nailing down actual facts. A minor character is killed (offscreen). When Ben says he is in trouble, his father asks if the woman he has with him is pregnant. There is a lot of reckless and irresponsible behavior, even within the traditions of this genre.
  • Families can talk about their own family legends and heirlooms. What are some of the stories associated with them? What do you do to make sure they're safe?
  • Talk about how movies and TV can alter the facts of history. What sources do you use to learn the true facts of history?
  • What kinds of messages about taking risks and breaking the law does this movie contain? What's the difference between thrilling entertainment and encouraging bad behavior?
The good stuff
  • educationalvalue true1 Educational value: Some reference to U.S. presidents which may be not be entirely accurate. References to Freemasons and historical monuments built by masons. The Declaration of Independence is given a prominent role.
  • message true0 Positive messages: Though the "good guys" are trying to prevent the Declaration of Independence from being stolen, they break laws and engage in reckless behavior in order to protect it.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: Ben Gates shows that he is an intelligent, curious fellow who is as passionate about history as he is about his family legacy. But he does lie to people to achieve his goals.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence and scariness: Brief sword fighting, two images of faces of frozen corpses, explosions, moderately frequent gun play. Perilous car chases. A character falls to his death from a great height. No blood.
  • sex false1 Sex: Men ogle Dr. Chase's physique. Main characters kiss. Characters change clothes behind changing room doors.
  • language false1 Language: "God" as an exclamation, and a German form of "damn."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Cadillac emblem on car is featured and a character calls the car a "sweet ride." A stop at Urban Outfitters features actors going on a shopping spree and having a conversation as they try on clothes. Spoils of treasure include a Ferrari.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Ben is shown throwing back a glass of champagne at a party, as if to drink to give himself courage before a heist. Characters drink socially at a party.
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National Treasure (2004) Movie Reviews + Ratings

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