Blu-ray Review: The Bourne Trilogy

Since 2002, people have been telling me that I must check out Matt Damon in these Jason Bourne films. I have no excuse for not seeing them, really: I dig Matt Damon, I love action movies, and it’s almost a consensus that The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum are good flicks. Should I be ashamed of myself for being eight years behind?

No, not really. Because now, I get to view all of these Robert Ludlum adaptations for the first time, back to back to back in pristine high definition, and without any of the complaints of motion sickness that I heard about in theater lobbies. By now, the films have been reviewed and rated to death, so what did I think of each entry in general?

The Bourne Identity seems like a weird odd man out here, although in the long run it’s my second favorite in the series. Directed by Doug Liman of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Jumper fame, there is a certain flatness of action in Identity that seems to define Liman’s career. While the action scenes are worthy enough and surely easy to follow, they lack the oomph of the other entries. In many ways, Identity seems to exist to establish Jason Bourne’s amnesia and his world of espionage, just as superhero origin films lack the power of their sequels.

Where Liman’s film makes up for this is by presenting a completely enthralling, well-rounded mystery. The nature of films that center on protagonists with amnesia require a very visual and acute sense of storytelling, something that the script by Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron pull off well. Watching Bourne piece together the elements of his plight provides the best moments in the film. There’s a certain sense of escapism to it all: who wouldn’t want to wake one morning to find themselves with a dozen passports, hundreds of thousands of dollars, a weapon and a mission? Sure, there’s some downsides, but …

The best sequence in the film might be Damon’s shotgun/sniper showdown with Clive Owen’s quiet, bespectacled assassin. Well-shot and extremely tense.

Paul Greengrass’ The Bourne Supremacy wins points for giving the series a serious kick in the pants — the first sequel is just so ballsy compared to the first. The defining car chase of the film, which results in the most painful looking freeway accident I’ve ever seen onscreen, puts that of the first film to shame. Supremacy is incredibly dense and tight.

While in actuality it’s only ten minutes shorter than the first entry in the series, Supremacy moves along at such a brief clip that it feels like Bourne 1.5, or what Quantum of Solace was to Casino Royale. It doesn’t hurt that Bourne’s agenda is much more personal this time, after the loss of his lady; revenge always makes for better action. Karl Urban’s Kirill makes for an awesome dark counterpart to Bourne’s character as well.

But ultimately, it feels like there’s less meat on the bones here than in the first film. Greengrass’ direction is beautiful, but the story is less complex and interesting than the original. And by God — I can see where the complaints of motion sickness stemmed from. If I were seeing this in theaters, the action scenes might have given me a brain aneurysm.

The Bourne Ultimatum, however, might be a near-perfect action film. Greengrass’ second outing mostly disposes of the mystery aspect of the first film and wraps up Bourne’s search in a concise, fast, brutal film that features what might be the most unbelievable car accident I’ve ever seen. The shaky-cam complaints of the second film have disappeared; fist fights are clear and ballistic.

David Straithairn makes for the best antagonist in the series, and by this point Matt Damon has aged so well into his role that he’s much more effective than he was in Identity and Supremacy. It’s my favorite of the series, and I think you’d be hard pressed not to fall in love with the setpieces.

How Do the Discs Look and Sound?

It’s important to note that all of the Bourne films are flippers, with the Blu-ray content on one side and DVD on the other — more studios should take this route, as it’s the perfect way to get the still-slow transition from DVD to Blu-ray moving a little bit faster. For the purpose of this review, I’ve watched the Blu-ray content.

While each film is presented in 1080p high-definition 2:35:1 widescreen ratio (except for Ultimatum, which is 2:40:1), the transfer for Identity seems lacking compared to the other films. This isn’t really a process problem, but more a reflection of Liman’s comparatively flat staging and colors. Greengrass’ sequels use such vibrant colors that the cinematography in Supremacy and Ultimatum really pops on Blu-ray. Identity looks decent; the rest look phenomenal, with no noticeable glitches.

Audio is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, with French and Spanish dubbing and subtitles.  The sound is percussive and well-balanced for the most part, but my experience required me to turn the volume way up for some scenes of dialogue and way down for action sequences.

Thus, it’s not a perfect Blu-ray experience, but certainly does the films adequate justice.

How Are the Special Features?

For each of the films, the Blu-rays tout a “U-Control” system which allows the viewer to explore special features such as picture-in-picture behind the scenes info, location trivia and character dossiers without leaving the movie itself. This sort of thing is quickly becoming the norm for Blu-ray, and while it’s nifty enough, there’s not a whole lot of information you can’t gain from watching the movie itself. Die-hard fans will be pleased, though.

The best special feature between all of the discs has to be on The Bourne Identity, which features a series of three documentaries entitled “The Ludlum Identity,” “The Ludlum Supremacy” and “The Ludlum Ultimatum” which essentially trace author Robert Ludlum’s career through the creation of Bourne himself to his existence on film. They’re very well-done, with great interviews and archive footage.

Besides these features, the Bourne discs are actually pretty packed with material. Each film has director commentary, as well as deleted and alternate scenes, interviews and mini-docs that you’d find on most DVDs. I have few complaints in the special features department.

The Bottom Line

This is a well-done set of some very excellent movies — how rare is it that a third film in a series is just as good, if not better, than the first? You can buy each Blu-ray separately or in a set, but whichever you choose, you won’t be disappointed. An excellent package.

Author Bio: John Cooper goes to college. John Cooper loves writing pithy things about movies. Follow him on Twitter.