10 Movie Ripoffs Better Than The Original

10. National Treasure Is Better Than The Da Vinci Code

Now to be clear, National Treasure was released in 2004, a whole two years before the big-screen adaptation of The Da Vinci Code came out, but it's hilariously obvious that the Nicolas Cage-starring action-adventure flick took cues from Dan Brown's bestseller released the year prior.

The success of Brown's fast-paced airport novel inspired a glut of junky, me-too globe-trotting adventure flicks with religious undertones, and while most have been quickly forgotten to time, National Treasure and its 2007 sequel have managed to endure.

A whole two decades after National Treasure's release, it has remained a popular classic, largely due to its light tone, decadent locations, and the charms of its cast - Cage being joined by Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, and Christopher Plummer.

The film's big strength is that, unlike The Da Vinci Code, which was aspiring to be great "pulp art" as both a novel and a film, National Treasure never once took itself too seriously, embracing the pulp but leaving the art at the door. And honestly, when was the last time you ever even thought about The Da Vinci Code?