THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 116 minutes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes
VIDEO: 2.40:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
AUDIO: English, French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

STUDIO: Universal Pictures/ Ludlum Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: 12-11-2007

STARRING Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Scott Glenn, David Stratharin, Albert Finney, and Paddy Considine
WRITTEN by Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, and George Nolfi
DIRECTED by Paul Greengrass

ANALYSIS (taken from the movie review I wrote in August): THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM pickes up right after the climax of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. The final secene in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (between Pam Landy and Jason Bourne) is seen in a different light after you watch the third in the Bourne film series based on the novels by Robert Ludlum. The third installment uses some of the same elements in the second film only to use them a little bit differently. What you get is an adrenaline rush like the sequel.

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) tracks down a reporter from the Gaurdian in hopes of finding the start of Trendstone. The reporter has learned of a project codenamed Blackbriar. Soon enough, the CIA wants to terminate Bourne again. Pam Landy (Joan Allen) wants Bourne brought in alive. She doesn't approve of the methods being used in effort to keep Blackbriar quiet. Distrust is the name of the game as Landy and bourne both fight their own battles. Bourne wants to know who he is and remember his whole past.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM goes all over the world from London to Madrid to Tangiers to New York City. Flashbacks to the first two films are also included. If they never do another bourne film, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM brings enough closure to the series. Given the $69 million plus it pulled in the first three days, another sequel is a very tempting for Universal. The acting, the script, and the action are top notch. Albert Finney is excellent in his small role and Julia Stiles plays her character very understated.

The action is fast cutting due to director Paul Greengrass' style. It works in favor of this sequel after first being a little disoriented by it in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. The music uses many of the same cues with a few variations that amp up this ride to summer movie ride. It is an intelligent action movie. I wouldn't blame Universal if they wanted to continue the Bourne series to have their own cash cow like MGM's James Bond series.

SPECIAL FEATURES: The feature audio commentary with Director Paul Greengrass just drags as he mostly talks about story and character and pacing. The best extra are the 12 minutes of deleted scenes which would have put a different light on some stuff in the film (yet two of these eight scene were thankfully dropped).

Many behind-the-scenes featurettes rae on this disc. They are just OK and worth a skim through if you have the time.

MAN ON THE MOVE: JASON BOURNE- behind-the-scenes location featurettes on five different citires they filmed in (Berlin doubling for Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, and Tangiers)
ROOFTOP PURSUIT- abehind-the-scenes look at how they filmed the rooftop chase in Tangiers
PLANNING THE PUNCHES- Matt Damon's fight training and a behind-the-scenes look at the fight scene in Tangiers
DRIVING SCHOOL- Matt Damon trains for the New York chase scenes.
NEW YORK CHASE- a behind-the-scenes look at how they filmed the New York chase with frequent use of the Go car and the stunt car work.

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a great follow-up to THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. The only really great extra is the deleted scenes.

this DVD review is (c)12-13-2007 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  

look for additional content at http://enterline-media.tripod.com  and http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com

RELATED DVD Review:

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY