The Bourne Replay

For me with the initial trilogy, I like each movie more than the last, so Ultimatum is my favorite.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY (1988)



Most people my age and younger probably have no idea that Matt Damon's Bourne Identity is not the first adaptation of Robert Ludlum's acclaimed novel. And even if they did, many of them don't care. Matt Damon is, and probably always will be, Jason Bourne. To that crowd I say, you're missing out. Matt Damon's Bourne series is tailored made for post-9/11 cinema, which is fine, but the novel was published during the Cold War. It tells a very different story and the character is quite different as well. That's one of the things that makes the original Bourne Identity worth watching. Released in May of 1988, it stars Richard Chamberlain as David Webb, a Vietnam veteran who takes over the identity of a deceased CIA double-agent, named Jason Bourne, in order to track down the man who murdered his wife and child. But things get complicated when he loses his memory after a boat explosion and all evidence point to him being Jason Bourne and not David Webb. So he has no idea who he really is, what he was doing and why there's people trying to kill him. As you can see, that's notably different from Matt Damon's version. His Jason Bourne is just a code name. He's a soldier who joined a rogue CIA program, and now, his bosses are trying to eliminate him. It's a very cynical portrayal of our government. The novel and the `88 movie depict a different era and mindset. We're the good guys. Yeah, there might be bad people in the organization, like the real Jason Bourne, but we can use that to our advantage. As far as spy stories are concerned, this is intriguing. The whole amnesia thing, which is at the center of Matt Damon's franchise, is just a tool here to tell a better story. If you focus on David Webb, it's just a tale of revenge. But if focus on Jason Bourne, it's a spy thriller about a man assuming the identity of a bad person in order to capture a worse person. It's a better plot! But before I over-hype, there ARE negative things to point out. The beginning, with Jason Bourne recovering from the boat explosion, is very silly. There are ridiculous moments sprinkled throughout the film. And the female lead, Marie, played by Jaclyn Smith of Charlie's Angels fame, is a terrible character. The movie version of Marie is A LOT better. Other than that, and maybe some recycled fight scenes, `88 Bourne is very well-made and arguably better than its cinematic counter-part. It's NOT better than Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, but it's definitely better than Bourne Identity. Even if you watch both versions and disagree, you'll still be charmed by Richard Chamberlain's Bourne. He's the Sean Connery to Matt Damon's Daniel Craig.

That's my argument as well, but I do understand the love for Ultimatum. If we're just judging the action scenes, Ultimatum is clearly the champ. And people watch these movies for the action. Like I said earlier, the plot didn't justify a fucking trilogy. They could have literally done just one fucking movie and moved on to something else. The books were that way. The amnesia thing is just the first book. The other books had Jason Bourne doing other things. I think if they had followed the books, Jason Bourne could have legitimately been a rival to James Bond. There's only been 4 Jason Bourne movies in 14 years because everything is centered on the amnesia thing. If they had moved on after the first movie, we would probably be on Jason Bourne 6 or 7 by now.

Ditto. Ultimatum is my favorite of the series. Hands down some of the best action sequences I've seen.

Ha, well I'm not going to go bat for it if that's what you're thinking. It's certainly not great but I didn't think it was as bad as people said it was. Probably a case of expectations already being in the toilet before I saw it and being somewhat surprised.