The Bourne Identity on DVD (2002)

Imran from London , 24/07/2004

It was really good to see a good old fashioned quality Euro-thriller after watching so many boring US locations on film time after time. Paris provides a great backdrop to the excellent story and action, with Matt Damon doing a fine job in an action role firing guns and kicking ass in superb (albeit speeded up) fight scenes.

Along with a uniformly strong cast this all adds up to one of the better thrillers of recent years.

  27 out of 29 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

gerald higgins from Nottingham, England , 11/08/2004

Based on a 1980 novel by Robert Ludlum ? and a 1988 TV movie of the same name starring Richard Chamberlain ? ?The Bourne Identity? is an espionage thriller and is directed by Doug Liman who also made Swingers and Go.

The action begins as an Italian fishing vessel scoops a body out of the ocean. The ship?s doctor nurses the man ? who has two bullet holes in his back and a little laser gizmo embedded in his skin that projects a bank account number ? to health. Unfortunately, the man (Matt Damon) has no memory of who he is or how he got there.

He makes his way to Switzerland to check the bank account, where he finds a safe deposit box filled with guns, fake passports and money of different currencies. However, it soon becomes clear that Jason Bourne is a wanted man and a variety of heavies and hit men begin to pursue him across Europe. He is aided in his flight by Franka Potente, while CIA boss Chris Cooper marshals agents Clive Owen and Julia Stiles against him.

It?s skilfully directed by Liman throughout, the first third of the movie is tremendously suspenseful as we empathise with Damon?s confusion and disorientation. Moreover though, this is a fresh take on the spy thriller, Bond appears moribund by comparison. The emphasis is on character and atmosphere rather than special effects and gadgets. The cinematography captures perfectly the chill of an alpine winter and the attention to detail is obvious throughout. For example, when Damon and Potente flee Switzerland in her battered Mini Cooper, the interior car scenes show the windows misted up. Damon also only changes his clothes when he logically can, forcing him to parade for nearly half the film in his bullet riddled jersey.

It?s essentially a genre movie made by an independent director giving it an offbeat edge. Damon and Potente and not traditional middle class, materialistic, protagonists. Like the characters in Go and Swingers they are slightly marginalized, but also cool and hip. This is reinforced by the iconic nature of the mini cooper and the dance soundtrack.

But it also offers more traditional pleasures, such as a thrilling car chase against the traffic in Paris - an obvious nod to Ronin ? or Damon?s mastery of marshal arts. Just like Swingers and Go, this film has been largely overlooked by critics who cannot relate to the characters and general ambience of the movie. Yet, just like Doug Liman?s previous films, word of mouth is excellent and it is genuinely amongst the best films of the year.

  21 out of 26 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

A customer from Northern Ireland , 26/01/2004

An excellent film of a type too rarely seen now. What stands out is the realism of the principle characters' reponse to the extraordinary situations. The work between Damon and Potente (mostly done without any background music) is very convincing. The machinations of the security apparatus they found themself in are convincingly sinister yet they are not omnipotent ... and there is a fine car chase.

  17 out of 26 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

Northernsky from Halifax [Highly rated reviewer] , 13/03/2004

The Bourne Identity is a preposterous but mildly enjoyable thriller and that’s about all you can say about it really. You can pick holes in it’s logic and cringe at the formulaic happy ending, but you should enjoy the action sequences- one Matrix rip off fight is particularly good fun- and find the escalating tension quite…errr tense.

Matt Damon is not ideal for this role, far too clean cut and American pie for the role of an action hero, he lacks edge. Solid support comes from Brian Cox and Chris Cooper and Franka Potente is suitably bewildered as the innocent bystander dragged innocently into a situation she doesn’t understand.

Clive Owen plays an assassin and I couldn’t help thinking he’d have been more suited to the lead role which in turn would have lent the film an air of plausibility it mostly lacks. The cold blooded killing of one of the films leading characters gives the script a dark twist that seems horribly possible given the world these people inhabit. It’s a pity there wasn’t more of that type of plot development but once again you get the feeling the producers weren’t interested in making an adult film but yet another multi-plex blockbuster. Pity.

  11 out of 15 people found this review helpful

Read all reviews

Imran from London , 24/07/2004

It was really good to see a good old fashioned quality Euro-thriller after watching so many boring US locations on film time after time. Paris provides a great backdrop to the excellent story and action, with Matt Damon doing a fine job in an action role firing guns and kicking ass in superb (albeit speeded up) fight scenes.

Along with a uniformly strong cast this all adds up to one of the better thrillers of recent years.

  27 out of 29 people found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews

Katherine2701 from Kent , 16/05/2005

I really liked this film. I can't tell you why as it is a bit 'old fashioned' as far as things always seem to be now (car chases and handguns rather than 'Matrix style' bullet dodging and 'Hidden Dragon' style jumping over trees), however, perhaps for me that is the charm.

It is a spy film where the central character has amnesia - no need to say more than that but I was surprised at just how well Matt Damon played the part - confused and worried on the whole - which seemed right to me - he wasn't superman or Mr Handsome. He was the sort of ordinary guy that could blend in a crowd and so perhaps could be a spy. And the love interest is just enough for you to know it is there but not too much for it to be sentimental dross. I really liked this - it is a guys film that a woman can watch. Slightly believable and better than most films nowadays.

Rent it - it won't change your life but you shouldn't be disappointed.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews