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The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Collector's Edition) Customer Reviews (19 - 21 of 62 Reviews)

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours
The purpose of the spy-thriller genre is for us to take vicarious pleasure in the exploits of a super-competent human being facing seemingly insurmountable odds. The Bourne Identity strongly delivers. Matt Damon is able to convince us that he's a human killing-machine who is suddenly laboring with a conscience and the small problem of not remembering who he is. The fight scenes are great; the problem-solving skills are pretty good; and the car chase scene is quite memorable. It would be impossible to condense all the detail of Bourne's novel into a two-hour flick, but the film does a good job of capturing its spirit.

The film makes good use of its European setting, taking us from Italy to Switzerland and finally to France. It was great seeing Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) make the leap to American cinema. She doesn't get to shine to her full potential -- but she's an exciting new face, and her presence adds to the international dimension of the film. (As an aside, if you are looking for an action film that isn't just another action film, "Run, Lola Run" is a lot of fun.)

What the film doesn't do is push against the boundaries of its genre. It's a well-executed spy-thriller. But it's nothing more than a spy-thriller. A great way to while away a few hours -- but you won't be thinking about it much the next day.

Zowie, Batman! What a cool flick!
I just watched this one within the last week, and I must say I was duly impressed. This offering is fast-paced, high tech, very sexy - a wild ride from beginning to end. I found it rather reminiscent of a James Bond movie, but much grittier and without a clearly defined enemy - at least early on. One of the elements I most enjoyed was heavy sense of mystery that pervades the first half of the movie.

Matt Damon does a slightly above-average acting job as Jason Bourne, who doesn't even know his own name or identity when he is dragged half dead out of the Mediterranean by the crew of a French fishing boat. The only clue about his past is a micro-laser embedded in his hip, which reveals the name of a bank in Zurich, along with a numbered Swiss account. Weeks later, still no closer to overcoming his amnesia, he is put ashore and makes a beeline for Zurich, where he finds a safe deposit box containing a stack of passports in various names (one of which is Jason Bourne), as well as lots of cash and a gun.

Still quite confused but unsuspecting of any trouble, he heads to the American embassy with hopes of getting some answers. His reception there, however, is less than cordial, and suddenly he finds himself the object of an intense manhunt for reasons he cannot begin to fathom. To make matters worse, his pursuers obviously would rather see him dead than alive. Thus begins a non-stop, pulse pounding race across Europe as Bourne tries both to stay alive and find out who he is and why so many people are after him.

Ultimately Bourne does figure out the answers to all his questions, but not before leaving in his wake a string of dead would-be assassins, along with a bunch of stymied police and covert operatives. Unfortunately, he doesn't like what he finds out, and its clear that his past will never leave him alone. This leaves the stage wide open for the sequel, "The Bourne Supremacy", which should hit the theaters quite soon.

Overall I thought this movie was extremely riveting and entertaining. The acting wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't a liability either. The story line definitely carries the movie, much more so than the actors. If you haven't seen it, please do. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I can't wait to see the sequel.

Not the book but a very good adaptation
I have read the Bourne Trillogy by Robert Ludlum, which is a very great series however when I heard they were going to make movies on them I was a little skeptical. These books are highly involved psychological thrillers, not really good for movies. The movie adaptation takes a lot of the plot, character traits and locations and adapts them to a more practical script. Matt Damon is perfect in this role as the confused spy whose memory gradually comes back to him.
Now taking The Bourne Identity paticularly from a movie standpoint it is superb. The action is enough to compete with today's action films and even add some of their own memorable scenes, for example the Mini car chase and many of Bourne's fight scenes. The soundtrack was excellent for this mysterious action thriller and really put you in the mood as apposed to just playing loud synthesized music like majority of action films.
This movie is a great movie overall and I hope The Bourne Supremacy continues in the footsteps of this good spy thriller

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