Bourne Legacy, The (Blu-ray) (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio & Animation Deleted Scenes Featurette-Making Of-Multiple (see below for details) Audio Commentary
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	135:02
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Tony Gilroy
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Jeremy Renner Scott Glenn Stacy Keach Edward Norton Donna Murphy Michael Chernus
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	James Newton Howard

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 7.1 English dts 5.1 English dts 2.0 French dts 5.1 Spanish dts 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French Spanish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The original Bourne series of books by Robert Ludlum and the three previous movies starring Matt Damon have been very successful. The success of these 'original' series has led to seven extra sequels being written by Eric Van Lustbader since the death of Robert Ludlum (the latest published in 2012) and now comes a new film not based on the original books or the Lustbader sequels. The Bourne Legacy does share the same title as the first Lustbader book, however, the story is completely different. The story here was written by Tony Gilroy, who wrote the screenplays for the first three films. He collaborated on the screenplay with his younger brother Dan, Tony also directed and their other brother John did the film editing. John Gilroy is a well known editor who has collaborated with his brothers before on projects like Michael Clayton.

     The basic premise of this film is that it runs concurrently with the events of The Bourne Ultimatum (film not novel) and that there are other programs of a similar ilk to the one which spawned Jason Bourne running separately. One of these, Outcome, has produced Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) who has been medicated over some time to significantly increase his intelligence and physical prowess resulting in a sort of super agent. There are a number of scenes and moments included from The Bourne Ultimatum, although the stories don't really cross particularly. The story which unfolds is that due to a not very well explained problem, a senior CIA operative Rick Byer (Edward Norton) decides that Outcome must be closed down immediately and all the agents eliminated. Super Agent Cross (very bloody cross after they try to kill him), of course, has different ideas, planning to stay alive instead. In order to keep up his strength and intelligence he goes looking for the pills which he has been taking. His first port of call is the doctor who he has been seeing regularly who tests him and provides more of the drugs, Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). Soon, she becomes a target as well and they go on the run together searching for pills and a way out that doesn't involve an unmarked grave. This takes them on a globe-trotting adventure.

     From an action film perspective this is well made, exciting and includes some great stunts. This makes it a thrilling and entertaining ride. The problem is that the film is really just one long chase scene with references to the other films. The writers think they were very clever in incorporating all sorts of references to the third film, however, this seems more of a confusing distraction to me. The story of this film seems quite undercooked. The science is not well explained at times but this could be forgiven if the story was more interesting. The acting is good with both of the leads doing a fine job, despite lacking some chemistry between them. Norton feels completely wasted in what is a fairly standard role. Renner shows some great acting chops plus his action qualifications. The cinematography by Oscar winner Robert Elswit is excellent (much better than the overly choppy cinematography in the previous film in my opinion) and the score by James Newton Howard is a significant part of the overall atmosphere of the film.

     In summary, this is a well-made action film which could have been much better if more work was done on the screenplay for this story rather than focusing on how it fitted into the previous movie. Worth a look for action fans.

Video

     The video quality is very good bordering on excellent.

     The feature is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p HD encoded using the AVC codec.

     The picture was very clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was very good throughout.

     The colour is excellent with no issues to report, although it is restricted by the grey/blue colour scheme and filter. Blacks are nice and deep.

     The picture is a little grainy in a couple of scenes such as at 9:45 and 93:20 and there is also a little shimmer and motion blur at times.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired, French Canadian & Latin American Spanish which were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is excellent providing lots of options.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 7.1 which is a special home theatre remix plus the original theatrical mix in DTS 5.1, a DTS 2.0 stereo track for those using only television speakers, Spanish & French dubs in DTS 5.1 and an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0. It would have been nice to have the remix and the original theatrical in a lossless format but the remix is excellent so no major problem.

     Dialogue was not perfectly audible with some muffled lines and moments where the dialogue was overcome by the rest of the soundtrack. The subtitles proved useful.

     The score by James Newton Howard was well suited to the material and sounded great on the DTS HD-MA track.

     The surround speakers provided lots of directional effects especially during the nearly constant action sequences plus an excellent sound stage for the score. Great stuff.

     The subwoofer worked hard during the action sequences supporting explosions, gunfire and more, plus adding bass to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     A good set of extras are included.

Menu

     The menu is engaging and included music from the film and scenes.

uHear

     The Universal feature allowing you to jump back a few seconds and turn on the subtitles is available on this disc and proved useful.

DBOX Motion

     The disc also allows for the DBOX motion system, which sounds cool. Check out their website for details.

Deleted Scenes (6:50)

     A short set of largely uninteresting deleted scenes with optional commentary by the Gilroy brothers and Robert Elswit.

Re-Bourne (6:11)

     Featurette on the concept and development of the new film. Okay.

Enter Aaron Cross (7:11)

     Featurette on the new lead character and actor including discussion of the role and stunts.

Crossing Continents : Legacy on Location (8:22)

     Featurette on the locations in Canada and Manila including their challenges.

Man vs Wolf (4:35)

     Short but interesting featurette on the various techniques used to create the scenes with wolves including real wolves, dogs that look like wolves, animatronics and CGI.

Wolf Sequence Test (1:39)

     A pre-vis and rehearsal sequence prepared for the wolf scene.

Moving Targets : Aaron & Marta (6:11)

     Featurette on Rachel Weisz' character, Marta and her relationship with Aaron Cross. Also covers how the actors worked with the director.

Capturing Chaos : The Motorbike Chase (7:59)

     Interesting featurette on the realistic approach taken to the motorbike chase with the actors physically involved in the process.

Audio Commentary - Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, John Gilroy, Robert Elswit, 2nd Unit Director Dan Bradley & Production Designer Kevin Thompson

     A big team take on this commentary and provide some worthwhile information about the making of the film, the cast, challenges they had, how they intertwined Ultimatum and more. Ok but not spectacularly good.

    This Blu-ray seems to be the same globally except for some minor soundtrack options. Draw.

    The video quality is very good bordering on excellent.

    The audio quality is excellent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall