Jason Bourne had amnesia and wasn’t quite sure who he was, what he was doing, or why the government was hot on his tail, but he was willing to do anything to figure it all out. What I can’t figure out is why on earth they keep coming out with the exact same DVDs over and over again. I mean how many times do you want people to buy multiple DVDs that simply remaster the video and audio or add one extra special feature? Absolutely ridiculous to make even a small attempt to get people to buy the same film for a fourth or fifth time. Sad that I enjoy all three of these flicks so much or I’d just rip the ever-loving hell out of this entire collection.
Starting with The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne is a CIA assassin that is found floating in the middle of the ocean. A fishing boat full of guys finds him with two bullet holes in him and obviously left for dead. The fishermen bring him aboard and fix him up, but can’t seem to get much information from him because he is suffering from amnesia leaving him wondering who he is or how he got there. Bourne is determined to find out who he is and why someone wanted him dead, and as he searches for answers, memories come back a little at a time and he begins to learn that he’s someone very important.
Picking up where the first film left off, The Bourne Supremacy finds Jason Bourne and his new girlfriend Marie hiding out in India to secure their lives since not only is the CIA still looking for him but so is a Russian assassin. Bourne has been framed for murder attempts in Berlin and the assassin wants him out of the way so he cannot clear his name. But with the CIA also hot on his tail, Bourne is not going to give up easily and he also plans to continue finding out all he can about why he was left floating in the ocean and who exactly he is.
Things are set to wrap up in The Bourne Ultimatum as we see Jason Bourne still on the run to stay alive, but he is inching ever closer to finding out the truth about who he is and why people want him dead. While getting all the pieces of information he can, and trying to stay under the radar, Bourne gets some helpful information about a particular occurrence known as Operation Blackbriar. This valued information gets Bourne closer to his goal and also sets off the CIA back on his trail to get him out of the way and keep their secrets safe. The only problem is that Jason Bourne does not plan on being silenced very easily.
Don’t get me wrong because this is an absolutely fantastic trilogy of films that will keep any action fan foaming at the mouth for close to six hours. Even with different directors and writers, author Robert Ludlum’s novels are brought to life in brilliant ways and continue almost flawlessly from one film to the next. The story is almost as if it is one long film broken down into intricate parts that keep everything interesting and overly intriguing. Almost nonstop action keeps any monotony from forming with the great amount of plot development we are presented with. Car chase sequences (which seem to be a staple of this franchise) will have you on the edge of your seat and wondering which freakish turn everyone will take next.
There is really nothing that can be said in a negative way about this franchise because the films themselves are excellent. Matt Damon does a phenomenal job as Jason Bourne and it would be hard to imagine anyone else in that role so it’s nice that they got him back for each film. Everyone else is perfect in their roles especially Julia Stiles and Chris Cooper so it is almost as if Ludlum had them in mind when writing the novels. This collection of Bourne films presents us with three great action-adventures that will get your adrenaline pumping and your mind racing as you follow a trail of deception and deceit en route to the truth.
The films are shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen (The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy) and 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen (The Bourne Ultimatum). Everything looks great in way of colors (both darks and lights) and no problems with the transfer to DVD. All video is exactly what has been shown on previous releases of the films so nothing new here.
The films are heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is also what we’ve already heard before with these films, but it’s still very good. Dialogue can be heard clearly at all times while the music and explosions, car crashes, and weapon firing all come through nicely around the room.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – Director Doug Liman is alone for this commentary track. Even though sitting by himself for this track, Liman gives a lot of information that is rather interesting and unexpected. He has long been a fan of the novels that inspired the Bourne films and how he long wished to make a film version of them. Some rather generic information is given on filming locations and certain scenes is given as well as some about Liman’s father and how he compares some of his actions to that of Jason Bourne’s. This is a very good commentary and well worth watching the film again to hear it.
From Identity To Supremacy: Jason & Marie – Stars Matt Damon and Franka Potente sit down for this three and a half minute interview in which they simply discuss the characters they play in the film.
Deleted Scenes
Inside A Fight Sequence – A little behind the scenes footage is shown here as Matt Damon, a stuntman, and Liman film a fight scene. It’s close to five minutes in length and somewhat interesting, but way too short to get much from it.
Cloak And Dagger: Covert OPS – This six minute feature takes a look at the real CIA and how realistic Jason Bourne is when compared to the real men and women in the field. Not a bad feature, but there isn’t much to it.
The Bourne Diagnosis – UCLA psychiatrist Reef Karim discusses the amnesia that Jason Bourne has and how serious the condition truly is.
The Bourne Mastermind – This featurette takes a good look at the author of the book, Robert Ludlum. This is a nice feature that gives a lot of information about the author and how he lived his life and came up with the idea for Jason Bourne and his life-threatening adventures.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – Director Paul Greengrass is also alone for his commentary track. Let’s see if we can get two good solo commentaries in a row but sadly that isn’t the case. Greengrass gives a little behind the scenes information regarding parts of the film that came directly from the books and those that had to be changed to reflect modern times. Other moments hear Greengrass almost silent and searching for something to say and that does not reflect well when watching the film a second time through just for the commentary provided.
Deleted Scenes
Crash Cam: Racing Through The Streets Of Moscow – This is a six minute feature that dissects the huge car chase film through Moscow. It is amazing how much goes into a chase sequence such as this, but I’m not surprised that something looking so seamless in the film is very difficult to get done behind the scenes.
Bourne To Be Wild: Fight Training – Jason Bourne gets into a lot of fights throughout his journeys and a lot of training needed to be done in order to keep everyone of the actors safe while filming.
Blowing Things Up – Even though this feature is short at four minutes in length, it is a lot of fun to watch. The scene where an apartment is blown up is taken apart here and we get to se how it was all done. Man it looks like everyone who had a piece in this scene enjoyed the hell out of it.
The Go-Mobile Revs Up The Action – A quick look at different moments in the film that had a lot of action, stunt driving, and big time stunts. This is almost a continuation of the “Crash Cam” piece discussed above.
Anatomy Of A Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene
Matching Identities: Casting – This five minute feature takes a small look at how certain actors were chosen for particular characters. Nothing much here.
Keeping It Real – It appears that the director and crew wanted a more realistic looking feel to the film and it was accomplished with handheld cameras. This is a five minute look at how they used the cameras to their advantage for better shots.
On The Move With Jason Bourne – There are a lot of locations in the Bourne films and this almost five minute feature takes a look at those represented in Supremacy.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – Once again, Director Paul Greengrass is all by himself. Obviously he learned from his last commentary track though as this one is much better. There are no long moments of silence and he talks about every single thing that went into making the film. Greengrass goes over locations, technical aspects, actors, stunts, and anything else you can think of. A much better track then that which he did for Supremacy.
Deleted Scenes
Man On The Move: Jason Bourne – This close to twenty-four minute feature can be viewed in five separate pieces or all together. It takes a look at the filming locations of the film and how it was for cast and crew to shoot in Paris, Moscow, Tangier, London, and Madrid. A very good featurette that is rather detailed and very informative in how it was for everyone to deal with time changes, different cultures, and even the food. Interviews with cast and crew are also thrown in making this a great featurette.
Rooftop Pursuit – One of the great action moments in the film is the rooftop chase scene in Morocco and if it looks like it was impossible to be filmed as well as it was; this feature shows it almost was. A short feature at just five and a half minutes, but its great seeing how much work went into a rather short, but difficult, scene.
Planning The Punches – As with the first two films, Jason Bourne gets into a number of fights and this five minute feature takes a look at the choreography and synchronization that went into all of them.
Driving School – This three and a half minute feature displays the wonderful talents of the stunt drivers and how Matt Damon unexpectedly did a lot of his own stunt driving.
New York Chase – Another great scene in the film is the tension-filled car chase through New York where Jason Bourne even drives in reverse. This close to eleven minute feature details everything about how that scene was filmed including some really cool camera work.
All three films are extremely good and continue to be so years after their individual releases. The story of Jason Bourne and his journey to stay alive and find out who he is remains a great action-packed journey around the world and through the throngs of all government agencies. Loading up each disc with special features, Universal knows how do their DVDs up right because there are literally hours of extra content in this set to keep one busy for days. The problem with Universal is that the process formally known as “double-dipping” has grown to much greater numbers now. Upon doing a little research, I found out that there are actually over ten different variations of these DVDs that are available to purchase. Initial releases, extended editions, limited editions, two packs, remastered versions, Target-exclusive releases, and now trilogy sets…oh My God. Stop trying to make people buy things repeatedly to have a cool looking collector’s box or to get one additional special feature or two. Believe it or not, I already have the single disc versions of each film already and I compared and saw nothing new whatsoever in way of presentation or special features. So if you have them already then don’t bother with this even if you are the biggest Bourne fan alive. For those of you that are interested and haven’t yet bought a single film, then make this trilogy collection your one and only buy.
My scores for the trilogy represent how good this franchise really is because everything included is honestly that good, but please be cautious when deciding to purchase this set or not. Make sure you really think about it hard if you own any of the previous releases already.
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Universal Studios presents The Bourne Trilogy. Directed by: Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity); Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy & The Bourne Ultimatum).
Starring: Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Franka Potente, Joan Allen, Gabriel Mann, Albert Finney, and more. Written by: Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity; Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Supremacy); Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, & George Nolfi (The Bourne Ultimatum).
Running time: 344 minutes on 3 discs. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: November 4, 2008. Available at Amazon
