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The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely EXHILARATING!!!!
Review: I haved watched this movie three times and I still can't get enough of it!!! Take my word and go watch it! (You won't regret it!) You should also consider reading the book; Although it's very different from the movie, it's just as exciting as the movie is. Full of twists and turns, I give both the book and the movie 2 thumbs way up!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good summer action movie
Review: The Bourne Identity is a good way to spend a few hours when you want to be purely entertained. There wasn't much character development, but the chemistry between the leads is good and the stunts and car chase sequences are good. Matt Damon is a really good actor, so even when the writing is semi-flat, he manages to carry it off. That actually provides for the funniest lines in the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ...not the greatest, but not bad, either...
Review: ...it moved slowly at some points, which kinda surprised me, as I expected it to be edge-of-your-seat action all the way through...i found myself actually yawning in the theater. But then it got better. The fight scenes are great...maaaan, I don't know. There is just SOMEthing about a man who can handle himself, you know what I'm saying? Matt Damon held down the role, too...his stunts were believable, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did them all himself. He handled himself beautifully in the car chase scene, too ---- now THAT was the bomb! But can I just say one thing? Okay, I know Matt is fine and all, but a man (a stranger!) offers you $10,000 to take him to Paris (you'll get another $10,000 upon arrival there), you realize you're being hunted by the police, now you're both on the run together....is this just STANDARD atmosphere for sexual attraction or what? Huhn? It's like, "yeah, I know we're on the run, and I realize I've known you for maybe 16 or 18 hours, but, uh, wanna have sex?" What is that?
...just curious...
....anyway, it's a good movie worth checking out, not the best you'll see, but certainly a good start for all the good movies coming up this summer. Four stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Book or Movie?
Review: "The Bourne Idenity" as a movie was a prety interesting intrigue action film, but to say that it is based on the book is a stretch. Nearly the only similarities are main character names and some event sequences. I was completely surprised to discover that absolutely no major plot lines followed those of the book, beside Borne discovering his identity. I have read the first 2 books of this triolgy and now wonder as to what happens when Hollywood tries to produce a 2nd film, after destroying all platforms setup to support it by the 1st book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Man on the Run
Review: When he's first fished out of the ocean, the man who becomes known as Jason Bourne doesn't know who he is. The fishing ship's surgeon removes two bullets from his back and a computer-coded device with a Swiss banking account number from his hip. As he recovers, Bourne finds out that he has incredible abilities but no idea how he got them. In Zurich, he finds a safe-deposit box with several passports all bearing his picture but in different names. There's also a small fortune in cash from bills issued in a dozen different countries and a pistol. Within minutes of his arrival in the bank, an espionage team is hot on his heels. Bourne is a man on the run, trying to escape an unknown enemy that wants him dead. All he wants is to know who he is, but when that knowledge points in the direction of him being an assassin, all he wants is out. Unfortunately, the hounds are upon him. To live or die, he has to kill or be killed.

Matt Damon (GOOD WILL HUNTING, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY) plays Jason Bourne with surprising ease. He offers a laid-back performance that is deceptively intense and exactly what is needed by the fast-paced plot. Franka Potente (BLOW) stars as Marie Kreutz who ends up falling in love with Bourne. Brian Cox (MURDER BY NUMBERS, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, THE GLIMMER MAN) turns in a quiet but creepy performance as a CIA director putting the pressure on Bourne's handler to find Bourne and put him down.

Although not as tech-oriented as a James Bond film, THE BOURNE IDENTITY moves through the action paces at a brisk trot and finishes, as it should, with an all-out sprint. Still, the move and counter-move between hunted and hunters is great and will keep the audience on the edge of his or her seat. The European settings are beautiful, and the camerawork and use of color absolutely make those scenes stand out even more. Franka Potente should do more American filmwork because she came across as sexy, intelligent, and vulnerable. Although there are many layers to this plot, the writing and presentation were excellent, allowing the audience to catch up to speed at a moment's notice even when the newest plot twist changed the whole movie around at times.

Since this is the first movie of a projected trilogy featuring the title character, there were some plot holes left open. Viewers will want to know why CIA handler Ted Conklin referred to Jason Bourne as a $30 million weapon, and find out exactly what behaviorial software Bourne has been exposed to. However, based on the premiere movie, most viewers will be content to return to the second installment of the trilogy and wait. One thing that appeared to be missing from the typical spy fare was the gadgetry and computer applications. But Robert Ludlum wrote THE BOURNE IDENTITY over twenty years ago, and computers weren't prominent at the time.

Audiences that love James Bond films or movies that offer a hint of mystery with a full serving of action, intrigue, and danger will enjoy THE BOURNE IDENTITY.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Bourne Identity Rocks!
Review: The Bourne Identity was a great movie! Full of action, adventure, excitement, and romance. I was entertained throughout. Matt Damon played his role perfectly. The story was very unique and exciting. Because he had amnesia, the viewers were also kept guessing throughout the whole movie about Matt Damon's character. Overall, it was an excellent movie and I suggest that you go out and see it, because I would definitely see it again!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Entertainment, Wear Your Disbelief Suspenders
Review: Good acting, good action, excellent pacing, hokey story. Matt Damon is found by a fishing vessel floating in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately he doesn't remember his name. He has 2 bullets in his back which are remarkably only skin deep. What was he shot with, an air rifle?

He meets a gal. Besides his name he seems to have forgotten all professional discipline as he spills his guts over what he's discovered so far, all of it indicating he is or was some sort of secret agent on a dangerous mission. It seems to bother his conscience, an interesting after effect of his accident.

Among some papers that a bad guy leaves behind they discover one which conveniently explains the whole plot up to that point (a deus ex machina) which I won't spoil for you. The rest of the movie involves the CIA, assorted hit men who come after him, at least one really wild gun battle and a big smooch scene. They get in one bodacious car chase, one which almost ranks up there with Bullet although different in style.

The CIA are operating from a safe house in France. Safe houses are supposed to be secret; the neighbors apparently haven't noticed that this one is bristling with more antennas than an Aegis class cruiser. From this location they can look underneath any table on the planet, listen to any phone conversation (and it's the one they want!), etc. etc.. This goes way beyond anything I can imagine being possible.

Unless you expect plausibility in movies you will probably enjoy this quite a bit. With the exception of sci-fi I prefer a little more plausibility.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Star Is Bourne
Review: I've never been thrilled with Matt Damon's work since GOOD WILL HUNTING, where I thought his acting range was absolutely remarkable. Now, he's taken a wonderful sidetrack into the action/adventure genre with THE BOURNE IDENTITY, and -- with a stroke of box office luck -- it could be a franchise in the making.

Based loosely on Robert Ludlum's book of the same name, Jason Bourne is fished from the ocean by a wayward crew of fisherman, and he lacks one central element: any recollection of who he is. As he goes about trying to discover his past, he comes to learn that he has an identity that others -- namely, the Central Intelligence Agency -- would want suppressed. While shocked by the skills he discovers he possesses, he's also equally subtle in the discovery of his startling mission: a trained assassin.

What works best about the BOURNE series is that it offers up 'James Bond' style locales and characters without relying on the gimmicks and gadgets of the titular high-tech spy genre. Jason Bourne IS his own lethal weapon, and he dispenses his own brand of justice in the only way he knows how: hard, fast, driving fisticuffs ... accompanied by some serious brainwork to get to the bottom of what's happened to him.

The film ends with a doorway for a follow-up, and here's one happy viewer who hopes the creative powers that be behind BOURNE decide that one birth is not enough.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Any resemblence to Ludlum is in title only
Review: What can I say? The only resemblence to Robert Ludlum's story is in title, character name and basic ailment...amnesia. Except for certain European landmarks, the rest of the story has been made from scratch. And quite poorly at that. I found little redeeming value in this version. What is sad is that this is the first of three Bourne titles and with such a flimsy foundation, the rest of the stories will be as empty as this one. Perhaps I am being a little too rough on the movie considering the vast majority of theater goers have never read the Ludlum book nor seen the vastly superior miniseries of the same title starring Richard Chamberlain and Jacqueline Smith. For those that are going to see the movie anyway, whether because they want to see the exciting Paris chase scene (which is decent but hardly French Connection quality) or Matt Damon's acting (which is very bland and holds none of the danger of Chamberlain's performance, which it really should have), treat yourself to the miniseries or the book and then compare the vast differences between the two. Instead of being an intense jigsaw puzzle of intrigue like the book, the 2002 remake is merely a chase movie. No complexities whatsoever. A real disappointment.

AND

Do not see this movie AFTER seeing The Minority Report. Speilberg's direction is so dead-on that it makes the remake look like... work. No suspense. Just by-the-numbers scenes.

I would give this movie 1 star on what they did to the novel. However, the quality of the acting and directing is workman-like -- not bad, but not exceptional.

I saw the movie last night. I have just finished watching the miniseries a half hour ago and all I could say is that I really needed that.

BUY THE MINISERIES! It is available right here... If you like the remake, you will LOVE the miniseries.

An analogy before I sign off. One argument can be made that JAWS deviated from the novel big time and still succeeded to be an excellent film. However in JAWS, the new characters had distinct personalities and motives which made you want to watch them, forgetting how Benchly painted them. The 2002 Bourne Identity does not have these well-rounded characters, nor the interaction those other characters had. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Damon Identity changes--to action hero.
Review: The Bourne Identity is a solid, efficient, old-fashioned thriller that gives us everything we could want in a summer shoot-'em-up. Robert Ludlum's ingenious original story--he made Jason Bourne COMPLETELY alone, hunted by the police and his own colleagues alike, without even memory to help him--is given swift, streamlined treatment by director Doug Liman, with plenty of explosions, assassinations, car chases and double-crosses to keep us on the edge of our seats. Matt Damon gives an assured, charismatic performance as Bourne, his weathered baby face giving the character a certain poignancy without detracting in the slightest from his credibility. He's nobody's male ingenue anymore! German actress Franka Potente lives up to her last name: she's a potent and sexy screen presence, not particularly pretty but far more alluring than many women who are. And it's interesting to see Chris Cooper, normally typecast as a nice guy, give such a thoroughly creepy performance as Bourne's treacherous CIA boss. I was disappointed to see Clive Owen wasted in a role beneath his talents, but the rest of the movie ticks away with the deadly efficiency of a Rolex watch attached to a time bomb.


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