Bourne Identity, The
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DVD Review
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Review
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The Bourne Identity is loosely based on the best-selling book of the same name by Robert Ludlum. It tells the story of Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a young man pulled from the Mediterranean Sea one stormy night, by a passing Italian fishing boat, 60 miles south of Marseilles. Thinking him dead, one of the fishermen has a closer look at the body and removes two bullets from his back and an implanted laser message, with details of a numbered Swiss bank account, from his hip.
However, he's not dead and recovering with a start, he discovers he has no memory of who he is or how he ended up in the sea. Once they've calmed him down and patched him up, he's nursed back to health until they reach port two weeks later. There, the fishermen give him enough money to reach Switzerland, where he hopes to discover if the bank account holds any clues to his identity.
Hassled by police while sleeping on a park bench in Zurich he discovers that, as well as speaking German fluently, he has amazing combat skills that result in the hospitalisation of the two officers. In the bank he discovers a safety deposit box containing the identity of a Jason Bourne along with everything you'd ever need to be an international spy - a huge pile of currency, a gun, gadgets, credit cards and an array of passports with his photograph.
However, someone at the bank recognises him and makes a call that leads to the revelation that he's involved with a shady CIA black-ops department called Treadstone, who are now hot on his tail in an attempt to cover up a blundered assassination attempt. On top of that, the Swiss police are also on the look out for him.
So paying $20,000 for a "no questions asked" ride to Paris with a penniless German girl (Franka Potente) that he meets at the U.S. Embassy, he slowly begins to solve the puzzle of who and what he is. Now all he has to do is avoid the CIA assassins and the police and keep them both alive long enough to do it…
Review
Director Doug Liman, for whom this is his first big budget project and, although he strays a bit from a literal translation of book to film, does an excellent job with Ludlum's material. Ludlum himself is listed as Executive Producer so it obviously received his blessing. It's a pity he never lived to see it completed.
Matt Damon gives a very good performance as Jason Bourne, portraying the little boy lost at the start to the trained killer as the plot develops very well indeed. Franka Potente, whom I hadn't heard of previously, provides the love interest as Marie, the girl he persuades to drive him to Paris and who then gets more involved than either of them expects. She gives a very good performance and I certainly see no reason why we shouldn't see her in more high profile films in the future.
As you'd expect, Chris Cooper and Brian Cox provide excellent support as his CIA bosses and Clive Owen does a good, if not too deep, job as a Treadstone agent called The Doctor, pursuing him.
There's no twist in the tail here but this is a good, solid spy thriller that doesn't rely very heavily on special effects to get its point across. The plot is well thought out and the action sequences are very well choreographed, with Damon doing his own stunts in the fight scenes.
Audio/Video
The sound options are Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 and is excellent throughout, including a very good music score.
The picture is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic wide screen and, as you'd expect of any new movie, is absolutely crystal clear with good colours, even though some of it is shot in very poor light by the director himself, wielding a hand-held camera.
None of the menu items displayed correctly on my Samsung DVD-511 but everything looked fine on my Pioneer DV-525 and Playstation 2 so I suspect the problem is with the Samsung.
Extras
Alternate Ending - a different version of how Bourne meets up with Marie at the end. It's a bit moodier and there's no dialogue.
Deleted Scenes - four pretty unexciting sequences lasting just under seven minutes in all. "Wombosi On The Private Jet", "Bourne And Marie By The Side Of The Road", "Psychologist Discusses Bourne" and "Bourne And Marie Practice On Subway"
The Birth Of The Bourne Identity - a pretty good "making of" featurette lasting about 14 minutes.
Moby Extreme Ways Music Video - This is the excellent Moby track played over the end credits, teamed up with a video of the band and cut with scenes from the movie.
Extended Farmouse Scene - this is exactly what it says it is. It only lasts about a minute and doesn't add much to the movie.
Feature Commentary with Director, Doug Liman - This is quite good and Liman explains a lot of how the film was made, what was shot where, how what effects were used to create some of the illusions and how amazed he was to be working with such well known actors.
Theatrical Trailer - Not a bad theatrical preview trailer for the movie.
DVD-ROM "total aXess" - A exclusive link to a secret internet site with loads more information and bonus material. However it's PC only and requiries that you install the InterActual Player and then register it before you can get in. Seems like too much bother just for some extras.
Johnny English Trailer - A short teaser trailer for an upcoming movie starring Rowan Atkinson.
The Hulk Teaser Trailer - Another teaser for Marvel's upcoming movie about the Hulk.
Overview
A solid, well acted spy thriller with a good plot, lots of fast paced action and great leading characters as well as a reasonable quota of extras to keep you occupied for a night at the movies.
If you missed this one first time round in the theatres then it's well recommended for a night in front of the telly.
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