 Part of a 3-Movie Boxed Set Get ready for non-stop action, edge-of-your-seat suspense and spectacular chase sequences with everyone's favorite assassin in The Bourne Trilogy! Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, an elite government agent determined to outwit and outmaneuver anyone who stands in the way of his finding out the secrets of his mysterious past. Follow his explosive, action-packed adventures in three blockbuster films from one of the most popular series of all time: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Loaded with hours of bonus features, The Bourne Trilogy is the complete Bourne experience for movie fans everywhere! The Bourne Identity Academy Award Winner Matt Damon stars in this explosive, action-packed hit filled with incredible fight sequences. Found with two bullets in his back, Jason Bourne discovers he has the skills of a very dangerous man and no memory of his violent past. Racing to unlock the secret of his own identity, he discovers the deadly truth: he's an elite government agent, a $30 million weapon the government no longer trusts. Now this top operative is the government's number one target in this super-charged, thrill-a-minute spectacular loaded with "Non-stop action!" (Bill Zwecker, FOX-TV) The Bourne Supremacy They should have left him alone. Academy Award winner Matt Damon is back as expert assassin Jason Bourne in this stunning, non-stop action hit. Fuelled by awesome fight scenes and some of the most breathtaking chase sequences ever filmed, it's a state-of-the-art espionage thriller that explodes into action and never lets up! The Bourne Ultimatum Matt Damon returns as highly trained assassin Jason Bourne, who is on the hunt for the agents who stole his memory and true identity. With a new generation of skilled CIA operatives tracking his every move, Bourne is in a non-stop race around the globe as he finally learns the truth behind his mysterious past. Loaded with incredible fight and chase sequences, it's the exhilarating movie with "mind-blowing action" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) that you can't afford to miss! Storyline: (The Bourne Identity) Based very loosely on Robert Ludlum's novel, the Bourne Identity is the story of a man whose wounded body is discovered by fishermen who nurse him back to health. He can remember nothing and begins to try to rebuild his memory based on clues such as the Swiss bank account, the number of which, is implanted in his hip. He soon realizes that he is being hunted and takes off with Marie on a search to find out who he is and why he is being hunted. Written by ibjsm Reviewer's Note: (The Bourne Identity) Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, January 22, 2010 -- How is it that so many people doubted Matt Damon could play a rogue assassin on the run from his CIA handlers? Was he too passive in Ocean's Eleven? As I recall, his Linus Caldwell was a driven, quick-witted con artist who held his own against a number of seasoned criminals. Too genteel in Dogma? Not Loki, the foul-mouthed avenging angel with a penchant for hot-tempered hellfire and brimstone. Too dim-witted in Rounders? Hardly, his Mike McDermott was a street-savvy survivalist willing to risk his all for a friend. Too cute and cuddly in Good Will Hunting? Not with Will Hunting's violent disposition and how-bout-them-apples attitude. Come to think of it, were we all watching the same Matt Damon movies? In retrospect, Damon was the perfect choice for Jason Bourne, a tormented amnesiac who treks halfway across the world to discover who or what he might be. He certainly had the dramatic chops, and his skills as an actor were never in question. For anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to his career and its trajectory, his casting didn't require much suspension of disbelief at all. Ah well, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. Director Doug Liman's The Bourne Identity quickly put such concerns to rest, instantly transforming Damon the Talented Actor into Damon the Bankable Superstar. After being fished out of the ocean with a handful of bullets in his back and no memory of how he got there or why he had been left for dead, a baffled, nameless scrapper (Matt Damon) with innate fighting skills and counterintelligence know-how attempts to reassemble the pieces of a very puzzling life. A strange implant leads him to a security deposit box in Switzerland, one that yields dozens of passports, a pile of cash, and a name: Jason Bourne. With the subsequent help of a desperate young woman named Marie (Franke Potente), he makes his way to a flat in Paris, only to be attacked by a vicious, knife-wielding assailant (Nicky Naude). The activated assassin, as it turns out, is one of three killers a CIA black ops bigwig named Alexander Conklin (the always excellent Chris Cooper) has sent after Bourne. It seems Conklin, the mastermind of a classified op dubbed "Treadstone," has his own shady agenda, one that involves tying up loose ends and sending Bourne to an early grave. Now, with a cool head and a desire to regain his lost memories, Bourne traces Treadstone back to its source, matches wits with a calculating sniper (Clive Owen), and slowly pieces together the events that brought about his psychogenic amnesia. Although Liman discounts the phrase "thinking man's actioner," that's precisely what he created in The Bourne Identity. As portrayed by Damon, Bourne is a decidedly composed renegade spy who relies on instinct and intelligence to overcome any obstacle he encounters. He habitually discards firearms after they're no longer necessary, sniffs out traps long before they're sprung, and never rushes into battle without a series of primary goals and a slew of contingency plans. Even the inevitable dust-ups that occur are mercilessly swift. Neither Liman or his protagonist are interested in bloated, flashy fights, favoring quick and efficient attacks instead of overly choreographed routines or impossible feats of superhuman strength. Bourne, like Damon and Liman, understands all too well that his survival isn't guaranteed; his limitations define his approach, not vice versa. Moreover, Identity isn't predictable enough to be a tried-and-true genre pic or embellished enough to be an action extravaganza of old. Each character is immersed in familiar emotions, decisions are made in response to genuine fears, and reactions read as spontaneous rather than rehearsed. The result? Contrivances like the film's romantic subplot are rendered believable -- transformed into natural extensions of the situation at hand, not of a screenwriter's key strokes -- and plot holes are plugged with countless boundaries that ground every gunfight and chase scene in some semblance of reality. For me, The Bourne Identity only disappoints when comparing it to its engrossing sequels. Director Paul Greengrass, Liman's successor, amps up the grit and grizzle of Bourne's world so dramatically, so unconditionally, that the first film's realism actually begins to reek of Hollywood, even if just a bit. Still, I prefer to think of Greengrass' advancement of the series as a refinement of Liman's ideals more than a pair of superior films. His Bourne is more acclimated to the pains of his past while Liman's Bourne is stuck in limbo, reeling from the aftershocks of amnesia. But as an introduction to the character and his precarious world, Identity flourishes, finding fresh ways to approach some stock spy-vs-spy material. Watching Bourne, armed with nothing but a shotgun, cleverly close in on a sniper hidden hundreds of yards away is an absolute thrill; seeing him snag a foe's radio and rip a guide map off an embassy wall inspires awe; smiling as he uses a pen to gain an advantage over a knife-wielding intruder is unavoidable. As it stands, Damon and Liman inject such acumen and awareness into Bourne's every move and expression that it becomes more and more difficult to write the character off as just another action hero. It even becomes easy to forgive the director of a few minor missteps (among them a disjointed, anticlimactic coda). There are those who declare The Bourne Identity to be their favorite film of the franchise. Not me. Personally, I enjoy Greengrass' sequels much more. That being said, I still find Liman's opening volley to be a riveting, top-notch spy thriller worthy of its place in any fan's collection. The Bourne Identity isn't as thrilling or mesmerizing as its shaky-cam sequels, but it's still a standout spy thriller worthy of the cinematic franchise it begat. Damon channels raw electricity as mainstay Jason Bourne, Liman's restrained action is arresting, and the story itself is compelling and masterfully constructed. Thankfully, Universal's Blu-ray release is a strong one. While some will no doubt bemoan the studio's use of a dual-sided BD-59 "Flipper Disc," the film's high definition video transfer delivers a solid catalog presentation, its DTS-HD Master Audio track is magnificent, and its supplemental package is filled with extensive features. If you didn't already pick up the three-film Bourne-box over the holidays, be sure to take advantage of the individual Bourne releases and their affordable pricetags. Cast Notes: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Franka Potente (Marie Kreutz), Chris Cooper [I] (Conklin), Clive Owen (The Professor), Brian Cox (Ward Abbott), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Wombosi), Gabriel Mann (Zorn), Walt Goggins (Research Tech [as Walton Goggins]), Josh Hamilton (Research Tech), Julia Stiles (Nicolette), Orso Maria Guerrini (Giancarlo), Tim Dutton [I] (Eamon), Denis Braccini (Picot), Nicky Naude (Castel), David Selburg (Marshall). --- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (ad-ih-WALL-ay ack-in-NOY-yay og-BAH-zhay) --- IMDb Rating (11/11/09): 7.7/10 from 109,926 users
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