Not sure the occasion (the upcoming Bond pic I suppose?), but Universal has seen fit to release the Bourne trilogy to DVD in a new slimcase collection that’s pretty much a repackaging of past DVD releases with the cheap price seems to be the sets redeeming feature for Bourne newcomers.
The Bourne films (starting with Doug Liman's 2002 'The Bourne Identity') revitalized the action/spy genre and gave the action an immediacy and tension that had been sorely lacking from the Bond flicks at the time. A surprise hit for Universal and Matt Damon, who was far from a tested action star, the pics got even better when Paul Greengrass took the Bourne Baton.
Taking Liman's approach to personal, close-cutting of the action and handheld cameras, Greengrass expanded upon it and offered up refreshingly CGI-free action sequences and hard-crunching car chase sequences with Matt Damon's man of few words being the perfect representation of the modern action hero.
Loosely based on Robert Ludlum novels of the same name, the first film in the series starts with Jason Bourne (Damon) floating unconscious in the Mediterranean Sea with bullets in his back. When a fishing boat picks him up, Bourne's not quite sure who he is but quickly finds out he's extremely skilled as a fighter, a driver, a linguist and being an all-around badass.
Understandably wanting to figure out who he is, his quest for his identity becomes difficult when his creators, a secret espionage agency headed by Alexander Conklin (Chris Cooper), wants him back, dead or alive.
Taking his one clue - a Swiss bank account number - Bourne heads to Zurich where he finds some passports, money and a love interest Marie (Franke Potente). Fleeing to Paris with Marie, now caught in his web, they attempt to put some pieces of the puzzle together all the while trying to avoid Conklin and his men.
Doug Liman, then of 'Swingers' and 'Go' fame was an unlikely choice to helm the pic, but he brought a rough, cinéma vérité style to the film that worked quite well tonally. Fairly gripping as a thriller and action film, Damon was convincing as a hero that has to rely on both brains and brawn. His chemistry with Potente was palpable and their rapport in the film was distinctly convincing.
Overall, it's easy to see now why the film was a success. It was violent but not excessive and the European locations proved a perfect chilly and mysterious backdrop to the action.
Presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, special features have been carried over from previous DVD releases. They include a feature commentary from Doug Liman, 'Deleted Scenes', 'Inside a Fight Scene', 'The Bourne Diagnosis', 'The Bourne Mastermind: Robert Ludlum' and 'From Identity to Supremacy: Jason and Marie'.
It looks like the trailer was inexplicably dropped. Also notable is that this is not the 'explosive extended edition' of 'Bourne Identity' that got a later separate DVD release.
2004's 'The Bourne Supremacy' picks up where Identity leaves off, presumably with Jason Bourne and Marie living peacefully under new identities. It doesn't take long before Bourne comes under the gun, however, when a spy disrupts a C.I.A. mission to buy some classified Russian papers and storms into the same town that Jason and Maria is hiding out.
Leading an investigation to catch this rival spy, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) under the head of Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) become suspicious of Bourne and when an attempt on Jason's life fails, he's forced back into action to try and clear his name and untangle the labyrinth of deceit around him.
Giving the franchise a shot of adrenalin, Paul Greengrass shoots the film from one action set piece to the next with one of the better car chase sequences of the past decade pulling up the rear as Bourne speeds through the streets of Moscow.
The action is cut more quickly this time out and Bourne's resourcefulness is more apparent. Again, Damon proves adept at giving us a hero we can care about and supporting roles from Potente, Joan Allen, Brian Cox and Julia Stiles all add credibility to a franchise already known as the thinking man's action films.
Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, special features include a feature commentary from Paul Greengrass, 'Deleted Scenes', 'Matching Identities', 'Bourne to be Wild: Fight Training', 'Blowing Things Up' and 'On the Movie with Jason Bourne'.
The last film in the trilogy, 'The Bourne Ultimatum' finally reveals the secrets behind Jason Bourne's identity as it picks up just weeks after Supremacy leaves off. Reading an article about himself in a London newspaper, he seeks out the article's author as he knows the source has to be high-ranking CIA official that might have some answers for him.
The article threatens to expose the CIA's super-secret operation Blackbriar, changing its name from Supremacy's Treadstone, and the CIA obviously doesn't want this info out so they send a team to take care of the journalist.
Bourne, of course, becomes the journalist’s savior and Blackbriar and head Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) mistakes this act for Bourne wanting to expose the group which leaves Vosen with little choice: they have to kill Jason Bourne.
Two unlikely aides come in the form of the previous film’s villains, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) and Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), who have their own reasons for helping him. The trail leads to New York City where most of the trilogies questions are answered and closes out this three-film narrative in grand form.
Greengrass provides more of the same but everything is so damn effective that there's little room to complain. The best hand-to-hand fight sequence in recent memory provides a great middle-act injection shot and yet another astounding car chase sequence gets survived by Bourne.
The infallibility of the character is admittedly ridiculous, but Damon and the rest of the cast give the characters so much realism as that proves a minor quibble.
With a fourth film now announced, one can only wonder where the character of Bourne can go, but I imagine everybody will be lining up to find out.
Doug Liman initiated the franchise in fine form and Greengrass managed to take the series and infuse his own political leanings and intelligence into them to make probably the most consistently smart action picture franchise yet.
The film is presented with a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and special features include a feature commentary from director Paul Greengrass, 'Deleted Scenes', 'New York Chase', 'Driving School', 'Planning the Punches' and 'Man on the Move: Jason Bourne'.
There's no arguing the quality of the films and this collection certainly proves the cheapest way to acquire all three so if you don't own any of the previous versions, then this set comes recommended. For previous owners however, there's nothing new here, just a repackaging of older releases so feel free to pass.
The Bourne Trilogy is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD set in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story