[Quick Summary: A historian treasure hunter races against mercenaries who are also looking for the lost Templar treasure.]
In my hunt for more scripts written by E. Max Frye,* I was surprised to find this action blockbuster among his more intimate, character driven films.
However, what sets this film apart from a lot of action adventures is that the big set pieces still feel intimate, in part because they're driven by characters.**
Consider the escalation scene below:
- Ben Gates, the protagonist, has convinced Ian, a financier, to fund him for the last 7 months. At heart, he's a historian.
- Riley is Ben's compatriot and researcher.
- Ian only wants the treasure to make himself famous.
- Ben, Riley, Ian have traveled to the Arctic to board a 200 y.o. sunken frigate.
- Inside, they found a pipe with a riddle, which they solved.
- The riddle points to the existence of a treasure map, but it's on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
- Ben refuses to steal the Declaration of Independence.
- Ian pulls out a gun and demands to know all Ben knows about the riddle.
- I liked this good vs. bad guy action scene because it shows creativity in the snowball effect.
- When Ian threatens, Ben turns the tables with a lighter --> light goes out --> gunshots --> gas lamp hit & explodes --> Fire!
- Notice how the scene begins with character, i.e., a stand-off, and the escalating action is an extension of the tension between them.
INT. SHIP, CAPTAIN'S CABIN - CONTINUOUS
...Ian turns his gun on Riley instead.
IAN: Tell me, or I shoot Riley.
RILEY: Wait! How do you know I don't know something else about the riddle?!
Ben and Ian can't help but just give Riley a look, then Ian pulls the trigger...BLAM!
Riley flinches as the glass porthole in the wall just behind him shatters. The old ship GROANS.
RILEY (CONT'D): Shit. Come on, Ben. Tell him what he doesn't know.
BEN: Okay...
Ben comes up with HIS LIGHTER and flicks it on.
BEN (CONT'D): ...for one thing, the whole room below us is full of gunpowder.
Ben holds the flame over the trap door in the floor.
BEN (CONT'D): You shoot anyone, I drop this, and none of us gets out of here alive.
Ian eyes the flame. Ben eyes the gun. A tense stand-off.
RILEY (incredulous): Whoa-whoa-whoa! How did we all go from wildly rich to dead in a matter of minutes? Let's think here.
Just then, the FLAME FLICKERS AND GOES OUT. Ian shrugs.
On reflex, Ben tackles Riley and hurls them both to the ground behind the desk as...
Ian OPENS fire on them...BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
Bullets CHEW UP the desk and walls.
One bullet takes out the GAS LANTERN. It explodes with an OIL FIRE, instantly setting the desk ablaze.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Why is it important to start with character before escalating the action? Because the subsequent set piece/action/fights now have meaning.
National Treasure (2004)(4/9/03 draft)
by Jim Kouf, Cormac & Marianne Wibberley
Previous drafts by Jim Kouf, E. Max Frye, Jon Turteltaub
*I'm attempting to read as many E. Max Frye scripts as possible (even ones he's rewritten, like this one).
**I would argue that this is a trademark combination in the films produced by producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
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