The Bourne Supremacy (2004) |
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The Bourne Supremacy (2004) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Adventure |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Paul Greengrass (Director) Deleted Scenes Featurette-Matching Identities: Casting Featurette-Keeping It Real Featurette-Blowing Things Up Featurette-On The Move With Jason Bourne Featurette-Bourne To Be Wild: Fight Training Featurette-Crash Cam: Racing Through The Streets Of Moscow Featurette-The Go-Mobile Revs Up The Action Featurette-Anatomy Of A Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene Featurette-Scoring With John Powell DVD Credits DVD-ROM Extras Trailer-Van Helsing, The Chronicles Of Riddick Trailer-The Chronicles Of Riddick: Pitch Black Special Edition Trailer-The Bourne Identity Special Edition |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2004 | ||
| Running Time | 104:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (72:12) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Paul Greengrass |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Universal Pictures Home Video |
Starring |
Matt Damon Franka Potente Joan Allen Brian Cox Karl Urban Gabriel Mann Julia Stiles |
| Case | Amaray-Opaque | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | John Powell |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English Hungarian Danish Dutch Finnish Norwegian Swedish Icelandic Hebrew English Audio Commentary Hungarian Audio Commentary Danish Audio Commentary Dutch Audio Commentary Finnish Audio Commentary Norwegian Audio Commentary Swedish Audio Commentary Icelandic Audio Commentary Hebrew Audio Commentary English Titling Hungarian Titling |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
A sequel that does not reach the heights of its predecessor. Now that is a reasonably rare occurrence isn't it? Unfortunately, no. It happens all too often and the dreaded sequel curse strikes yet again with The Bourne Supremacy.
The Bourne Identity was one of the more stylish and intelligent spy thrillers of the last decade when it took the film-going world by surprise a little over two years ago. It proved you did not need to just cobble together a series of massive explosions, a car chase, a love scene and the obligatory gaggle of spy gadgets with little regard to character development to make a decent spy thriller.
It was a spy film for the purists. One that showed the ingenuity required by a CIA operative when cornered in an unfamiliar situation. One where spies didn't drive Aston Martins, drink martinis, bed a bevy of blondes or instantly recall the back streets of Paris by memory. It also proved to be Matt Damon's saviour and elevated him to the ranks of superstar. Coming after a string of failures, it would also prove to be the high point in his career so far as an actor.
Obviously with the success of the first film, and the existence of a second (and third) novel by Robert Ludlum featuring the Bourne character upon which the film is based, it was only natural a sequel would soon swing into production.
The Bourne Supremacy opens a couple of years after the events at the end of The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is trying to piece together his memory while living in relative obscurity in Goa, India, with girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente). Bourne is still a troubled man, with little recollection of his past. One of the things he can remember is that someone is still likely to want him dead, given the events from the first film. Hence the need to drop out for a while in a remote location like India. His fears prove correct as in the opening scenes we meet Kirill (Karl Urban), a Russian contract killer who has tracked down Bourne and Marie to the hippy confines of the Indian coast.
Bourne manages shake off the killer (for now) and soon discovers he has been framed for the murder of a CIA agent in Berlin. He now finds in addition to the Russian mob, the CIA is again hunting for him, eager to see this agent-turned-bad come to justice. This introduces us to the new CIA bad guys, with Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) taking on a similar role to the one played so well by Chris Cooper in the first instalment. Landy has little knowledge of operation Treadstone and the whole CIA black ops program which so heavily dominated the first film and simply wants Bourne captured. The CIA heavy with his finger on every pulse and more than a hand in a few pockets, Ward Abbot (Brian Cox), is still around throwing a few spanners in the works and trying desperately to keep his own tail covered. Bourne is convinced the CIA is behind the attempt on his life, and so decides to track down the remaining Treadstone operatives who may know about his past and aid him in discovering his real identity. Hopefully along the way he can clear his name. If not, he may just have to kill a few more people.
Much of what made The Bourne Identity so classy and enjoyable is here in this effort. It looks the same, with the bleak and grey surrounds of Europe being the prime setting. Alas, some of the most important elements are missing and the film suffers noticeably for it. Director Paul Greengrass (notable for his independent film Bloody Sunday) has tried to make us endure the perils of the chase with Jason Bourne. He wants us to live and breath it, and be physically exhausted at the end. He has done this by placing the camera smack bang in the centre of the action, using lots of hand held shots and compiling the film with a series of rapid fire edits.
All this wobbling around certainly gives a realistic fly-on-the-wall atmosphere, but overall it is just too much. I so desperately wanted the camera to just stop for a few seconds to take in what was happening, but the editing just didn't allow it. The beautifully choreographed and slick looking hand-to-hand fight scenes in the original film were some of the best of recent times. The fight scenes in Supremacy are so muddied and convoluted it is incredibly difficult to work out just what is happening. Realism is great, but this is a fictional film story, so helping the audience along just a little bit does wonders for the watchability of the story. The subplot of Russian involvement just doesn't come to the fore enough either. It is merely there to provide someone else with a chance to pursue Bourne. I liked the original because it was a little complicated and took a few viewings to unravel all the elements. This film seems just too simple.
It is an enjoyable film, but it is also one that will be relegated to run-of-the-mill status as soon as the novelty wears off. This is unlike the original, which will surely remain fresh and original for years to come.
A recent blockbuster film deserves a pristine transfer and thankfully this is basically a blemish-free effort.
The video transfer is presented in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.
Sharp and well defined detail is evident throughout. Thankfully, there is no major edge enhancement to be concerned about. Shadow detail is excellent. Grain is so minimal as to be barely noticed. There is also no low level noise. The colours are quite drab, with the entire production feeling like it was filmed under leaden skies with the constant threat of misty rain. Being set almost entirely in Europe, this grey drab tone suits the locales well. Blacks are perfectly solid and skin tones a little pale.
Compression artefacts are completely absent. Aliasing is present, but only in very minor instances and is barely noticeable (at least it was barely noticeable on my player). There are no film artefacts of any note which is always pleasing.
There are plenty of subtitle streams available. I sampled the English variety during the commentary and found them more than adequate for the job.
This is a single-sided, dual-layered disc that is RSDL formatted. The layer change occurs mid-scene at 72:12.
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The stunning video quality is matched by an equally stunning and immersive audio presentation.
Three audio tracks are available. The disc contains two Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in both English and Hungarian. Unfortunately, both of these are encoded at the lower bitrate of 384Kb/s. There is also an audio commentary from director Paul Greengrass. This is provided as a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround soundtrack.
The original The Bourne Identity release in Region 4 featured a very nice dts soundtrack. Unfortunately, that has been dropped for this release (perhaps coming in yet another version sometime in the future - there have been a score of Bourne Identity release already). Thankfully, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that we do get is still a corker, though the amount of immersive surround activity is not as high as the original film. Needless to say, it is still very good and will make the most of every speaker you own. There is plenty of solid punch when needed and heaps of low end grunt when various things get blown up.
Dialogue is excellent and there are no audio sync problems.
The score is credited to John Powell and while not as distinct as the original film, still contains enough spy thriller elements to prove its worth.
The surrounds are used throughout, though as mentioned the constant and powerful use found in the original film is not here.
The subwoofer is also used extensively and lends some great low end to a couple of explosions.
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If there is one thing worse than an incredibly dull commentary (which we do get here by the way), it is a swag of featurettes that are nothing more than a few bit-size three to four minute chapters of what is really a longer making-of featurette. We know what you are trying to do, marketing people. It is far easier to sell a DVD that contains nine featurettes as opposed to one that contains a decent 30 minute making-of. But in the end they are the same thing, and that is exactly what we get here.
A fairly dull commentary from director Paul Greengrass who explains much of what we can readily see on the screen. He then adds various layers of explanation on various scenes in case we didn't catch the subliminal meaning he was trying to convey when filming the shots. Out of five this gets one star for enjoyment, two stars for laughter value.
A swag of deleted scenes, running for 7:13, with no commentary track as to why they were deleted. All are of poor quality and most are incredibly dull and offer little to the story, so I'm figuring that is the reason they were left out.
Not the greatest featurette going around, this 5:29 effort has a few of the cast talking about each other and why they all play their roles so well. Fluff really.
Runs for 5:00 and discusses director Paul Greengrass' efforts at keeping things as authentic as possible. More fluff and could have easily been incorporated into the above featurette.
This is a little better since it deals with just one scene. The very nicely done apartment explosion is shown in detail, covering all the aspects of how it was rigged and filmed without the use of any computer enhancement. It is all real and is done very well. Runs for 4:02.
Another featurette that could have been included in a longer making of. This one deals with locations and has the cast and crew discussing the benefits of Goa India, Moscow, and Berlin. Runs for 4:52.
Yet another look at the fight training that Matt Damon and the other cast were subject to in order to keep things looking real. Somebody should have pointed out to the director to keep the camera still at this moment. Runs for 4:22.
While much has been made of the car chase scene in this film (I thought the original mini chase through Paris was far superior), this is at least an interesting featurette that examines how many of the camera shots were done. Worth a look and at 6:04, it won't take long.
Another featurette dedicated to the car chase scenes. This one looks at a special piece of equipment that was created called a Go-Mobile that allows the camera crews extraordinary freedom while shooting the actors in the cars being chased. The go-mobile is a special rig which allows a proper car to be attached to the back allowing the actor to sit in the car and be filmed from many angles. The actual driving is done by another driver at the front of the rig completely out of shot. It allows for some amazing close-ups and angles, all while driving at real high speeds. Runs for 6:51.
These marketers love the word explosive don't they? This is a brief 4:43 look at the scene where Matt Damon hurls himself off the bridge and lands on the barge. Seen it all before I'm afraid.
Composer John Powell spends 4:49 explaining his ideas for the score used throughout the film.
A list of the people who worked on the disc. The text scrolls up the screen so fast you are unable to read it, making the whole thing completely pointless.
Place the disc in a DVD-ROM player and it will launch an Interactual player allowing you to view the film or link through to the Universal website.
Four trailers for other DVDs. They are Van Helsing (1:03), The Chronicles of Riddick (2:20), Pitch Black Special Edition (1:13), and The Bourne Identity Special Edition (1:00).
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 disc misses out on;
The Region 1 disc misses out on;
Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
Four bonus trailers
A pretty close call. Go with wherever you can get it the cheapest.
The Bourne Supremacy is a well-made spy thriller that, while not in the league of The Bourne Identity, will still provide a decent night's entertainment.
The video and audio quality are exceptional.
The extras are numerous but short in duration and are essentially one featurette carved into many pieces to satisfy the marketers.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Denon DVD-3910, using RGB output |
| Display | Loewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). |
| Amplification | Harmon/Kardon AVR7000. |
| Speakers | Front - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10 |