Riley Poole [talking about The Declaration of Independence]
It's 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 if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4 foot thick concrete, steel-plated vault that happens to be equipped with electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial systems.
B Ben
Steal it? I don't think so.
Ben, the treasure of the Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures.
B Ben
Oh, I didn't know that. Really?
Look, Ben... I understand your bitterness. I really do. You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure,only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that.
We all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine are limited to writing checks, do you!? In a life, I've arranged several operations of questionable legality.
I'd take his word for it if I was you.
So don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements.
I could really use your help here.
B Ben
Ian, I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence.
Alright. From this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance. [signals Shaw to ready gun to which Ben nervously laughs]
Riley Hey!
B Ben
What are you going to do? Are you going to shoot me, Shaw!? Well, you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle; information you don't have, I do. I'm the only one who can solve it.
B Ben
We play poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff.
Tell me what I need, or I'll shoot your friend. [Shaw points gun at Riley]
Riley Hey!
Quiet, Riley. Your job's finished here.
B Ben
[Ben lights flare, Shaw turns gun back to Ben and looks astonished along with Ian]
Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up.
Riley Ben?!
Ian Howe What happens when the flare burns down? [Ben looks questionably] You just tell me what I need to know.
B Ben
You need to know... If Shaw can catch.
[throws flare, Riley squints scared, Ian catches it before it hits gunpowder]
Nice try, though. [coat sleeve catches on fire and drops flare on gunpowder]
Riley Albuquerque. See I can do it too. Snorkel.
That's where the map is. Like he said, "Fifty-five in iron pen." "Iron pen" is a prison.
BG 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.
B Ben
[Abigail is freaking out, thinking that Ian has the Declaration]
They don't have it.
B Ben
[Pulls the Declaration out to show her]
See, now can you please stop shouting?
B Ben
You know something? You're shouting again.
Riley I'm pretty sure she was swearing, too.
B Ben
Well, I probably deserved that.
Just give me the Declaration!
B Ben
You're still shouting. And it's really starting to annoy. You would do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance.
If that's the real Declaration, what did they get?
B Ben
A souvenir. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. Actually, I had to pay for the real one and the duplicate, so you owe me $35, plus tax.
Riley Genius.
Clothing Store Clerk Almost 3.
Riley 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.
B Ben
I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley.
Riley Hold on one second, let me just take in this moment. [takes a deep breath] This is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Well, except now, of course--
Riley 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.
B Ben
Riley, you're a genius.
Riley Do you actually know who the first person to come up with the idea of daylight savings time was?
Abigail, Ben: Benjamin Franklin.
[Riley stomps his foot in disappointment]
Powell [they find a giant underground staircase]
How do a bunch of people with hand tools build all this?
B Ben
The same way the built the pyramids, the Great Wall of China.
Riley Yeah... the aliens helped them.
You can't just leave us here.
Yes, I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue.
B Ben
There isn't another clue.
Riley Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?
(Ian Howe points his gun at Riley)
Don't speak again.
Riley Okay...
The clue. Where's the treasure? Ben?
The status quo has changed, son.
It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue.
BG Ben Gates
Boston. It's Boston.
The Old North Church, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look.
Hey, you have to take us with you.
Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry.
B Ben
What if there's another clue?
Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben.
(Ian Howe escapes, leaving Ben and the others behind)
Riley We're all gonna die.
B Ben
It's gonna be OK, Riley. I'm sorry I yelled at you.
OK, boys, what's going on? The British came by sea. It was two lanterns, not one.
Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him.
Riley It was a fake. It was a fake clue.
B Ben
The all-seeing eye. Through the all seeing eye.
Riley That means by the time Ian has figured it out, we'd still be trapped and he'll shoot us then. Either way, we're going to die.
B Ben
Nobody's going to die. There is another way out.
Riley Where?
B Ben
Through the treasure room.
Riley For the record, Ben, I like the house.
B Ben
You know, I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met...
Riley Someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful. [puts on a pair of sunglasses and starts the car] Could have had a bigger house.
Riley [After they find the treasure]
They offered you ten percent, man. Ten percent.
B Ben
Tell you what- next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you call the shots.
Riley What do you care? You got the girl. Enjoy your spoils while I sit on one percent. Half of one percent, actually. [Jumps into red Ferrari]
B Ben
[Looking at Ferrari]
I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley.
Riley OK Ben. Pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over twenty 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. [Riley continues in voiceover as the camera moves around the archives] 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.
B Ben
You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb.
Riley Edison?
B Ben
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] The Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?
Riley Delicious jams and jellies?
B Ben
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 Well... uh... Ian... Preservation, hmm. Well, this might be possible.
