The Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy | The Bourne Ultimatum) [Blu-ray]
Universal Studios Home Entertainment / 2007 / 345 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Overall Grade 
Seriously must have! Period!
In 1980, Robert Ludlum published 'The Bourne Identity,' the first in a series of popular spy novels that would ultimately be loosely adapted for the big screen. The series tells the story of David Webb, a career foreign service officer and a specialist in Far Eastern affairs. Once a devout family man, tragedy leaves him with nothing, and so (thanks to the CIA and a bit of internal deception), Webb is reborn (get it?) as double agent Jason Charles Bourne. With its own mythology, devious villains, and breathless plotting, 'Bourne Identity' spawned four subsequent best-sellers, with Ludlum joining James Bond author Ian Fleming as one of the most elite names in spy fiction.
When 'The Bourne Identity' finally hit movie theaters in 2002 (a year after Ludlum's death), it had an instant leg up over the aging James Bond movie series. Like Bond, Jason Bourne came with a built-in fanbase, but unlike Bond he was free from the shackles of a then-aging film franchise. Gone were the stale quips, campy villains, and ridiculous gadgets and special effects that strained Bond's modern-day credibility. Instead, the series succeeded by going back to basics and concentrating on what we all love about spy flicks...actual spying!
Spawning two sequels -- which, defying the usual law of follow-ups, outgrossed the original -- all three films are now available on Blu-ray in 'The Bourne Trilogy.' Each works as a stand-alone adventure but, better yet, deepen in meaning and impact when viewed in succession. This is the rare trilogy with not a bad apple in the bunch, each an expertly-crafted exercise in suspense, drama, espionage, and action.
The Bourne Identity
As directed by Doug Liman ('Go,' 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith') and adapted by Tony Gilroy ('Dolores Claiborne,' 'Proof of Life'), 'Bourne Identity' works on all the levels it sets out to achieve. Liman and Gilroy adroitly interweave Bourne's regaining of his memory with what he must do to stay alive, upping both the nail-biting suspense and the human drama -- we're on the edge of our seat not just to see if Bourne will make it out alive, but also to see which new secret of his past he'll unravel next.
No spy flick would be any good, of course, without a great spy, and Damon was an unlikely but very smart casting choice as Jason Bourne. Usually best suited for introspective, dramatic characters, Damon's understated approach works surprisingly well here, expressing his character's full arc of emotions (from bewilderment to anger to remorse) often with just a simple facial expression. Unlike the superheroes that pass for super-agents in some spy flicks (Tom Cruise in 'Mission: Impossible,' anyone?), Damon does not seem superhuman, yet at the same time he's no dainty, tea-sipping James Bond (sorry Pierce Brosnan). Fallible -- fragile, even -- Jason Bourne always seems to be in real danger, which only raises the stakes. (Movie Rating: 3.5/5.0)
The Bourne Supremacy
Well, here's a new one -- a sequel that outpaces the original. When we meet up again with Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) as 'The Bourne Supremacy' begins, he has set up a new life with Marie (Franke Potente) and promises retaliation should anyone from his former life as a CIA assassin attempt to contact him. But then a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent (Karl Urban), he shows up to kill Bourne and Marie in the sleepy seaside village where they have been living under assumed names. His new life shattered, Bourne will soon discover that you can never fully escape the past, and is plunged into a life-or-death struggle that will pit him not only against his formidable opponent but the most corrupt corners of the CIA itself.
I liked everything about 'The Bourne Supremacy' but what I appreciated the most is that the script and the filmmakers give Bourne more to do than just outrun bullets and crash cars. 'Supremacy' is not just another cookie-cutter James Bond sequel, but continues Bourne's emotional and spiritual journey. It's the last thing you would expect from a sequel, but 'Supremacy' is about such weighty themes as salvation and redemption. Which, if never free, remains obtainable if you make the right choices. (Movie Rating: 4.0/5.0)
The Bourne Ultimatum
As the final entry in the trilogy begins, Bourne is inadvertently drawn out of hiding by British investigative reporter Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), who has been trying to uncover the secrets of Project Treadstone, now upgraded to a new operation called Blackbriar. During the meeting with Ross, Bourne's memories are triggered once again, and he renews his quest to solve the riddle of his mysterious background. Of course, the CIA has been tracking his correspondence with Ross, and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) is again back on the case. Only this time, she's got higher-ups (David Straithairn and Scott Glenn) breathing down her neck, and further complicating the government's pursuit is wayward operative Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), who will eventually risk her life and career to help Bourne. While racing across four continents, Bourne will not only have to use every trick in the book to elude capture, but must somehow make his way back to the States and into the inner-most sanctums of the CIA itself if he is to finally uncover the secret of his identity.
As directed by Paul Greengrass (who also helmed 'Bourne Supremacy'), 'Ultimatum' may be the most impressive of the 'Bourne' films in terms of elevating cinematic integration of exposition and action into an art form. This is pure information overload, but because the execution of the suspense sequences is so intense, we are held in a constant state of rapt attention. Watching 'Ultimatum,' the audience literally becomes Jason Bourne, and like him, we are constantly on alert for fear of missing a crucial bit of information integral to our survival. Slyly, Greengrass uses camerawork and editing as co-conspirators in this gleefully shameless manipulation, and the film simply never stops for a second to let us catch our breath. 'Ultimatum' truly relies on the intelligence of its audience, demanding that we pay attention -- even if we're left wrung out and exhausted by the end of the ride.
'Ultimatum' is quite satisfying because unlike so many other series of its type, it doesn't cheat us of the closure to the story and the character arcs set up in the first two films. Bourne does finally decipher all the clues to his past, and his case with the CIA is closed. Of course, the filmmakers have still left themselves just enough wiggle room to bring Bourne back for a series of new adventures some day, but I can't say I blame them. Like the end of the 007 flicks always say, "James Bond will return..." -- so why not Jason Bourne? Regardless of whether there will be any future 'Bourne' films, 'Ultimatum' is a perfectly fitting capper on a truly superlative cinematic trilogy. (Movie Rating: 4.5/5.0)
Disc Features:
The Bourne Identity - Audio Commentary
- Featurette: "The Birth of Jason Bourne" (SD, 14 minutes) - The 14-minute "The Birth of 'The Bourne Identity'" is standard-issue EPK fare, including on-set interviews with executive producer Frank Marshall, screenwriter Tony Gilroy, stars Matt Damon, Franke Potente and Clive Owen, plus more cast and crew members.
- Featurette: "From Identity to Supremacy: Jason & Marie" (SD, 5 minutes) - This offers thoughts from Damon and Potente on their characters, as well as what's to come in 'Bourne Supremacy.'
- 'Featurette: "Access Granted: An Interview with Screenwriter Tony Gilroy" (SD, 4 minutes)
- Featurette: "The Bourne Mastermind" (SD, 6 minutes)
- Featurette: "The Speed of Sound" (SD, 4 minutes)
- Featurette: "Inside a Fight Sequence" (SD, 5 minutes) - Features some on-set production footage of director Doug Liman as he constructs a key scene with Damon and stunt coordinator Nick Powell.
- Featurette: "Cloak and Dagger: Covert Ops" (SD, 6 minutes) - Highlights one-time CIA agent Chase Brandon giving a very brief history of the organization, plus thoughts on just how realistic a character Jason Bourne is.
- Featurettes: "The Bourne Diagnosis" (SD, 3 minutes)
- Deleted Scenes/Alternate Ending (SD) - Four main Deleted Scenes totaling 7 minutes: "Private Jet," "Bourne and Marie by the Side of the Road," "Psychologist Discusses Bourne" and "Bourne and Marie Practice on Subway." Finally, we have the Alternate Opening and Ending, which were much-touted on the "Explosive Edition."
- Music Video (SD) - A clip for Moby's "Extreme Ways" is offered, in standard-def video.
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The Bourne Supremacy
- Audio Commentary
- Featurette: "Matching Identities: Casting" (SD, 5 minutes)
- Featurette: "Keeping it Real" (SD, 4 minutes) - At last -- we learn why Greengrass decided to make everyone sick with that shaky camera work.
- 'Featurette: "Blowing Things Up" (SD, 4 minutes) - Here, the filmmakers take considerable pride in their film's avoidance of CGI effects in favor of the real thing.
- Featurette: "Crash Cam: Racing Through the Streets of Moscow" (SD, 5 minutes) - Another back-patter on how to mount a convincing car chase without CGI and blue screen.
- Featurette: "On the Move with Jason Bourne" (SD, 3 minutes)
- Featurette: "Bourne to Be Wild: Fight Training" (SD, 4 minutes) - Gives us a quick overview of the film's middle-act shaky-cam masterpiece of fight choreography.
- Featurette: "The Go-Mobile Revs Up the Action" (SD, 6 minutes) - Runs the longest of the featurettes, and focuses specifically on a new camera technology that allowed the filmmakers to film the Moscow car chase so convincingly.
- Featurette: "Anatomy of a Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene" (SD, 5 minutes)
- Deleted Scenes/ (SD, 10 minutes)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The Bourne Ultimatum
- Audio Commentary
- Featurette: "Man on the Move: Jason Bourne" (SD, 24 minutes) - This "on location" travelogue is an often breathless look at the fast-paced shoot, divided by location into five parts: Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid and Tangier.
- Additional Featurettes (SD, 22 minutes) - These three vignettes further pick apart the film's most exciting action sequences: "New York Chase" (11 minutes), "Planning the Punches" (5 minutes) and the "Rooftop Pursuit" (6 minutes).
- Deleted Scenes (SD, 12 minutes) - This assemblage of scenes is comprised mostly of extensions, with the majority of new material adding to the scenes at the CIA, as well as a bit more with Damon's character's memories regarding his eventual metamorphosis into Jason Bourne.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona [Blu-ray]
The Weinstein Company Home Entertainment / 2008 / 97 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Romance, comedy drama
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem
Director: Woody Allen
Plot Synopsis: Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Oscar nominee Penelope Cruz (Volver) and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson (The Nanny Diaries) light up the stunning city of Barcelona in this sexy romantic comedy. Vicky and Cristina are two young Americans spending a summer in Spain, who meet a charming Casanova and his beautiful but volatile ex-wife. When they all become romantically entangled, the smoldering sparks begin to fly in hilarious fashion. Critics rave, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is one of Woody Allen s finest films, with bravura performances from its incredible cast.
Lakeview Terrace (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / 2008 / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson
Plot Synopsis: The usually provocative Neil LaBute reigns in his more eccentric tendencies for this straightforward domestic thriller. Then again, LaBute, who divides his time between cinema and theater, didn't write the material. The bad vibes begin when Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) move in next door to widowed cop Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson, as nasty as Aaron Eckhart in LaBute's
In the Company of Men). A strict father of two, Turner works in a diverse unit (Jay Hernandez plays his partner), but takes less kindly to interracial relationships. From the start, he makes the Mattsons uncomfortable with inappropriate remarks and unwarranted intrusions, like the security light trained on their bedroom, under the guise of self-appointed neighborhood guardian. Initially, Turner's actions exacerbate the tensions between the seemingly happy pair--Lisa wants to start a family, Chris wants to wait--until they realize they'll have to work together to protect themselves from their troubled neighbor. And since he's a member of the LAPD, Turner's colleagues have his back, despite the break-ins and flat tires bedeviling the Mattsons. When they make it clear they intend to stay, Turner takes his harassment campaign to the next level. The A-list cast does what they can, but the B-movie script from Howard Korder and
Passenger 57's David Loughery, offers few surprises--at least to those who've seen
Fatal Attraction and
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle--and LaBute's by-the-books direction lacks its usual bite.
Disc Features: • Audio Commentary
• 3 Featurettes
• 6 Deleted Scenes
Pride and Glory (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
Warner Home Video / 2008 / 130 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Action, thriller, drama
Starring: Edward Norton, Colin FarrellDirector: Gavin O'Connor
Plot Synopsis: Like a forgotten, one-and-only season of a 1980s television show about an Irish-American family of cops,
Pride and Glory is full of ambition but lacks the storytelling instinct to realize the goal. Edward Norton stars as Ray Tierney, a New York City police detective whose father, Francis Sr. (Jon Voight), boss of all Manhattan detectives, pressures him into investigating the murder of four officers. Ray's efforts uncover a corruption scandal centered around his brother-in-law, Jimmy (Colin Farrell), a beat cop whose commander happens to be, of course, Ray's brother, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich). As Ray pushes forward, Jimmy's self-protective instinct goes savage, and the rest of the Tierney males shift to cover-up mode. Co-writers Joe Carnahan (
Narc) and Gavin O'Connor (
Miracle), who also directs this film, make a fatal mistake by forcing every element in a long story to further a prefabricated narrative shape, leading to the conclusion they want. But they can't pull it off without awkward transitions and bridges, including the perfunctory inclusion of an intrepid reporter who conveniently breezes in and out of the movie long enough to explain Ray's back story aloud. A monstrous scene involving Farrell holding a steaming iron (prop or not) over a baby's face is inexcusable.
Open Season 2 [Blu-ray]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / 2009 / 76 Minutes / Rated G
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Animation, Comedy, Family
Starring: Joel McHale, Jane Krakowski, Crispin Glover
Plot Synopsis: Boog and Elliot are back for more crazy adventures. After falling head over hooves in love with Giselle, Elliot's road to the altar takes a slight detour when Mr. Weenie is kidnapped by a group of pampered pets determined to return him to his owners. Boog, Elliot, McSquizzy, Buddy and the rest of the woodland creatures launch a full-scale rescue mission for their sausage-shaped friend and soon find themselves in enemy camp: the world of the pets. Led by a toy poodle named Fifi, the pets do not plan to let Mr. Weenie go without a fight. Can a toy poodle REALLY bring down an 900-pound grizzly bear? Will Elliot ever marry Giselle? Find out in Open Season 2.
Disc Features: • Featurettes: "Going WILD! With the Voice Cast of Open Season 2," "How to Draw Your Favorite Characters: Boog, Elliot & Fifi"
• Deleted Scenes
HD Exclusive Content: • Interactive Game: "Save Mr. Weenie"
• BD-Live Enabled
RocknRolla (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
Warner Home Video / 2008 / Rated R
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Crime, Drama
Starring: Gerald Butler, Thandie Newton
Director: Guy Ritchie
Plot Synopsis: A Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, putting millions of dollars up for grabs and attracting all of London's criminal underworld.
Disc Features: • Audio Commentary with Guy Ritchie
• Deleted Scene
• Featurette: "Guy's Town," "Blokes"
• Digital Copy
The Rocker [Blu-ray] [includes Digital Copy]
Fox Home Entertainment / 2008 / 102 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 27, 2009
Genres: Comedy
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Plot Synopsis: A failed drummer is given a second chance at fame. Robert "Fish" Fishman is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n' roll dream until he is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. Twenty years after his rock star fantasies are destroyed, just when Fish has finally given up all hope, he hears that his nephew's high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer. They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band, giving him a chance to reclaim the Rock God throne he's always thought he deserved, and taking the young band along for the ride of their lives.
Disc Features: • Audio Commentary with director Peter Cattaneo and actor Rainn Wilson
• Audio Commentary with actors Josh Gad, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone and Jason Sudeikis
• 10 Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel (including separate options of “Matt Gags” and “Vesuvius Gags”)
• Featurettes: "Rainn Wilson: Office Rocker," "Pete Best Interview," "Behind The Band: Vesuvius," "Rock Beat With Fish Fishmanm," "The Music of The Rocker," "Rock Tales"
• MTV Film Festival Panel
• Fox Movie Channel Presents…In Character With The Rocker
• Music Video: "I'm Not Bitter"
• Four exclusive podcasts
• Vesuvius Public Service Announcements
Back Catalogue Blu-ray:
Taken
The Uninvited
New In Town
