National Treasure
National Treasure mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Ben finds the glasses at Independence Hall, it is 3:20 because of daytime savings time. However when the bad guys chase Abigail and Riley in the market they pass a large clock showing the time to be 2:37. (01:12:15 - 01:17:10)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Actually, many places at a market like that sell old antiques and even old clocks. That could simply be one of them. Even if it was supposed to tell time, people often forget to set their clocks forward or back for Daylight Savings Time, and that could have happened here. Many of the clocks at my home and school are currently like that.

Factual error: As Ben is clinging to the staircase while it is falling apart, there is a close-up of a nail being pulled out of the wood. This nail is round-headed, rather than square as it would have been over 200 years ago. It's also shiny instead of rusty, which indicates that it's galvanized. Galvanization as an industrial, metal-preservation process was not patented until 1837, and was not used in building materials until well into the late-1800s. Since the film states the staircase was made by "the Founding Fathers, " and there was no galvanization of iron nails in any industrialized nation in 1780s-1830's, this is a huge anachronism.

Kristal

More mistakes in National Treasure

FBI: Here are your options. Door number one you go to prison for a very long time, door number two you help us get back the declaration from Ian, and you'll still go to prison for a very long time, but you'll feel good inside.
Ben Gates: Is there a door that doesn't lead to prision?
FBI: Someone's gotta go to prison, Ben.

More quotes from National Treasure

Trivia: When Ben is talking to Riley in front of the Lincoln Memorial, you see a long pool behind them. This pool is filled with computer generated water, because the pool was drained at the time of shooting.

More trivia for National Treasure

Question: What was the secret passed on to the carriage boy?

Answer: "The Secret Lies With Charlotte" ~ Charles Carrol of "Charleston".

More questions & answers from National Treasure

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.