Jason Bourne (Blu-ray) (2016) |
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Jason Bourne (Blu-ray) (2016) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action |
Featurette-Bringing Back Bourne (8:15) Featurette-Bourne to Fight (18:13) Featurette-The Athens Escape (5:37) Featurette-The Vegas Showdown (14:56) |
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| Year Of Production | 2016 | ||
| Running Time | 123:11 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Paul Greengrass |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Matt Damon Tommy Lee Jones Vincent Cassel Alicia Vikander Julia Styles Vinzenz Kiefer Riz Ahmed Bill Camp |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music |
John Powell David Buckley |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS-X 7.1 English DTS-X 2.0 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.40:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
The original Bourne trilogy (Identity (2002), Supremacy (2004) and Ultimatum (2007)) was a brilliant series which raised the bar for action films and have had an impact on how action films are now shot. They also had a satisfying and complete story arc; they start and end with Bourne in the water. Of course they were so successful that the story (and the profits) could not be left where they were; first there was the Jeremy Renner starring The Bourne Legacy (2012) and now original star Matt Damon and director of the second and third films Paul Greengrass return for another shot. But is Jason Bourne a worthwhile addition?
Ten years have passed since The Bourne Ultimatum but Jason Bourne’s (Matt Damon) inner demons have not settled. He has stayed below the radar and tries to find peace, or maybe oblivion, in brutal bare knuckle boxing matches. But his old world returns when he is contacted by old friend Nicky Parsons (Julia Styles) in Athens. Working with German anarchist Christian Dassault (Vinzenz Kiefer) Nicky has hacked into the CIA computer and discovered details of a new Black Ops program called Iron Hand; she has also discovered information about Jason’s father’s involvement in the Treadstone programme which she thinks Bourne should know.
Nicky’s hacking of the CIA computer has, however, been discovered by CIA security analyst Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) who informs her boss CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones). He knows Nicky’s past connection with Jason and has reason to fear Bourne’s reappearance so sends the CIA Black Ops operative, known only as the Asset (Vincent Cassel), to Athens to kill Bourne. Instead Nicky is killed, but not before passing encrypted files to Bourne.
In a parallel storyline we learn that Dewey and the CIA have made an agreement with whiz-kid Aaron Kalloor (Riz Ahmed), the developer of the latest and biggest social networking software programme called Deep Dream, for the CIA to have secret access to people’s information and habits in programme, something Aaron is starting to regret as he had brazenly told the media and public that their information was absolutely private and secure.
Jason seeks out Dassault in Berlin to de-encrypt the files he received from Nicky, but Dewey and Heather are tracking his movements through surveillance cameras and are right on his trail. Jason escapes but the information he had obtained from the files leads him to London and ex-CIA case officer Malcolm Smith (Bill Camp) who has knowledge of Jason’s father’s death. Heather by now is starting to believe that Dewey has a hidden agenda concerning Bourne and asks Dewey to allow her to go to London to try to make contact with Jason and bring him back into the agency. Dewey agrees, but without her knowledge sends the Asset to London to kill Bourne. Again, of course, Bourne is successful in evading death; Heather now is convinced Dewey is overstepping his authority and helps Bourne escape. The plot then shifts to LA where Aaron and Dewey are both due to speak at a Hi-tech trade conference, and where Aaron is about to expose the CIAs interference in Deep Dream. Dewey has ordered the Asset to shoot Aaron at the conference, while Bourne has come to LA to confront Dewey about his father’s death. Matters will be resolved!
It is almost impossible to top the original Bourne trilogy as action films; many, including the Bond franchise, have tried. Jason Bourne, being a Bourne film with Matt Damon, was always going to be judged against the originals and found wanting, although it is a good action film if one looks at it in its own right. The main problem is the script which sticks to the old formula mostly; there is a mystery, this time not his own identity but the involvement and death of his father, the CIA hierarchy are tainted and out to get Bourne, there is overwhelming surveillance activities via web cams, CCTV, satellites and computers, there is a man who may have the key to the mystery, a girl is killed, a deadly assassin stalks Bourne, there are hand to hand fights, car chases and crashes. We have seen it all before but the mystery about his father is not as compelling as the mystery of his own identity and the whole Deep Dream subplot feels like it should be in another film. Indeed, the plot, even more so than usual, is an excuse to film some spectacular, and long, action sequences.
But what action sequences! This is where Jason Bourne shines with such well-staged, slick, colourful, explosive and chaotic action as only an expensive production can deliver including the destruction of props and cars on a huge scale. The sequence in Athens (filmed in Tenerife) is masterful, with rioting crowds on the streets, Molotov cocktails, flames, motor bikes, cars, crashes and an assassin and it generates a high degree of excitement. The conclusion in LA, involving action in a casino convention room, a car chase down the LA strip with the destruction of more cars than one can count and finishing with a brutal one on one hand to hand fight in a storm water drain, is twenty minutes of spectacularly staged mayhem, if a bit long. Matt Damon remains excellent as Jason Bourne in this addition to the franchise, Julia Styles is good during her time on screen, Vincent Cassel is always good value in anything he is in, although in truth there is not a lot he can do with the one dimensional Asset, and Alicia Vikander is also fine although Tommy Lee Jones does grizzled as well as anyone without needing to put in much effort.
Jason Bourne does not add anything to the franchise that we have not already seen but Matt Damon looks good and still has the chops as an action hero while the stunts and action sequences are well-staged, very spectacular and the best money can buy. The film is exciting and entertaining, but without that extra quality of heart that the earlier Bourne films had.
Jason Bourne is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
Detail is stupendous, even during the chaotic action sequences when unsteady cam, quick editing and zooms are employed. Colours have been manipulated with, for example, London looking blue and LA yellow. Elsewhere the film does have glitzy colours and does look yellow under lights, especially during the Athens sequence. Skin tones in exteriors under lights also have that yellow tinge. Blacks and shadow detail are pristine and brightness and contrast consistent.
I did not notice any artefacts or marks, even on all those computer monitors and surveillance screens, except for some noise reduction in the storm drain fight.
White English subtitles for the Hearing Impaired are available.
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Audio choices are English DTS-X MA 7.1, English DTS 2.0 (Headphone) and English descriptive audio, Dolby Digital 2.0 using a male voice.
I am not yet set up for 7.1 but even in 5.1 the audio was excellent listening. Dialogue is clear throughout. The surrounds and rears were frequently in use for ambient sounds such as crowd noises, voices, engines and the music. During the stunts and fights the sound remained nicely differentiated with gunshots, crowd voices, explosions, car engines, crashes, debris and the thump of impacts on bodies. The sub-woofer added appropriate boom to car crashes, explosions, gunshots, impacts and the music.
The score by John Powell and David Buckley was recognisably Bourne- like, using familiar cues.
There are no lip synchronisation issues.
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On start-up an ad for The Universal Studio Theme Park “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” was followed by a trailer for The Great Wall which cannot be selected from the menu.
The following featurettes are all introduced by Matt Damon and all feature on-set footage showing how the stunts and action was done, mostly for real, film footage and comments from a diverse range of people including director Paul Greengrass, DP Barry Ackroyd, stunt coordinator Gary Powell, fight coordinator Roger Yuan, various producers, the second unit director and a number of cast members including Matt Damon, Julia Styles, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones. Included is some pretty incredible on-set footage of the vehicle stunts.
Placing Bourne in a changed world ten years after the previous films and the directing style of Paul Greengrass.
A look at the training undertaken by Matt Damon and the filming of three different kinds of fight sequences. Additional comments by Damon’s boxing trainer and three of the people Bourne fought. The three sections are (there is a play all option):
The challenges of filming the bike chase.
Shooting the climax in Las Vegas inside a real casino and the stunts in the car chase down the strip. Amazing stuff! In two sections (there is a play all option):
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Our release is the same as the Region A US version of Jason Bourne, although that has some different audio and subtitle options.
It was always going to be a big ask for Jason Bourne to live up to the originally trilogy, and it doesn’t, adding very little that we have not seen before. But Jason Bourne in its own right is a slick, entertaining, exciting action film with some very spectacular action sequences; apparently, the LA chase trashed 170 vehicles! If you temper your expectations you will have a lot of fun with Jason Bourne.
The video is impressive, the audio excellent. The extras are a bit light on for a recent expensive action film but what we get is decent and the same as is available in other regions.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |