For legendary actor Jon Voight, doing movies isn't just a job, it's a responsibility ? and knowing full-well how pop culture influences youth, he wants to send kids the right messages through his films. And he's living up to that pledge again by playing Patrick Gates, the father of treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

"This piece and the pieces that I've been doing for children are very important for me because I've been really thinking continuously about the younger generation," Voight said in a recent @ The Movies interview.

"I'm thinking about the guys who are going to take over when we leave and I want to pass them the country intact -- I feel that our country is under attack from without and within," he added. "We've got to be strong and appreciate our legacy, and be so grateful for the gift of being Americans and pass it on whole to the new generations so that they will have the great benefits that we've had."

Voight's appreciation for America's legacy couldn't be more appropriate when discussing "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," in that it shines the light on a seldom-discussed footnote in American history surrounding the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln: the mystery of the 18 missing pages from Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary.

The springboard that opens the "Book of Secrets" is that one of those missing diary pages surfaces and implicates Ben's great-great-grandfather as a key conspirator in Lincoln's death. Refusing to believe the claim, Patrick, Benjamin and his crew embark on a worldwide quest to prove their ancestor's innocence, and revelation of the world's most treasured secrets.

Also starring Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha, the film opens Friday in theaters.

Conspiracies Queries
Voight said the idea of waking up one day to claims that an ancestor is implicated in one of the most infamous times in history is not only great material for a movie.

"It's totally plausible in Ben and Patrick's line of work that this kind of skullduggery might happen," said the 68-year-old Oscar winner. "It's very powerful stuff and to some degree, it relates to our times. We're seeing people trying to denigrate the United States government and its leadership. It's horrible. We need to recapture the dignity of America across the world."

Of course, the film's potential scenario provides a feast for conspiracy theorists. But while some of the unsolved mysteries in the history of our country can't be denied, don't expect Voight to buy into any arguments about who may have killed John F. Kennedy other than Lee Harvey Oswald.

As for any conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, don't get him started.

"The conspiracy theories about 9/11 are not only coming from addle-minded people, they are coming from sick-minded people who are anti-American," Voight said. "Who knows why? Most of the people who are party to that stuff are people who have been abused somewhere in their lives and are striking out at their parent figures -- the government being the great parent, in a sense."

"Faces Of Greatness
While some good old-fashioned movie magic was employed to bring some of the wonders of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" to life, one thing director Jon Turtletaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer wanted to keep authentic were the actual locations.

The cast and crew traveled here and abroad to capture the worldwide essence of the story, filming in such places as Paris, London, Washington D.C. and South Dakota for the Mount Rushmore scenes.

"Whatever the motivation for cutting faces into that mountain was, whenever you see those portraits you realize that of these men are the great ones from our history," Voight said. "The portraits seem to reflect that greatness in some fashion."

Even better, Voight and his cast mates filmed atop of Mount Rushmore -- a place that is seldom accessible to the public.

"It's so beautiful, really," Voight reflected. "It stirred so much emotion in me because I love these people -- Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt -- they are great portraits of human life. They remind us of the greatness we were given, and being there stirs the responsibility of passing it on properly. It was a great inspiration just to be there."