The Bourne Ultimatum

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Bourne Trilogy’ Sets Bar For Blu-Ray Box Sets

BrianTT — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:48:56 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Your Blu-Ray collection should expand by three movies next week when “The Bourne Trilogy” finally hits the format in a beautiful three-disc box with perfect picture and sound and an amazing collection of special features.

Loaded with hours of special features and with some of the best picture and sound that has yet been produced for the format, “The Bourne Trilogy,” including “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” in one collector’s case, is a very early contender for best box set of the year. It’s a must-have for action fans, movie collectors, and nearly everyone with a Blu-Ray player.

The Bourne Trilogy is released by Universal Home Video on January 27th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne, a highly trained assassin on the run from a shadowy government agency through three movies, each one better than the film that came before. The first film by Doug Liman is good but the ones that follow by Paul Greengrass are two of the best action movies of the last decade. If the Blu-Ray releases were average, they would be must-owns for every action fan just based on the caliber of the films themselves. The fact that these are some of the most impressive Blu-Ray releases yet makes them a must-own for everyone.

The three-disc set is loaded with hours of bonus materials including deleted scenes, interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, commentaries and all-new interactive content that takes advantage of Universal’s awesome U-Control feature, which allows extra content through Picture-in-Picture and interactive dossiers. Through BD-Live, fans will be able to download even more bonus content, share scenes with friends and play an exclusive strategy game that involves hand-to-hand combat simulation.

Each film is presented in gorgeous HD with English DTS-H Master Audio 5.1 tracks that really amplify the Bourne experience. Bourne movies should be watched with perfect video and booming audio and “The Bourne Trilogy” really delivers. These are some of the best video and audio transfers yet produced on the next-gen format.

As for special features, it’s overwhelming. The real draw is the way this franchise makes perfect use of Universal’s U-Control system. While you watch the movie, you can immerse yourself in dossiers, behind-the-scenes information, and details about the spy gadgets used in the film. If you have yet to experience the greatness of U-Control, check out the clip below that offers an example of the interactive feature in action:

More clips follow the list of special features. And U-Control is honestly just the beginning.

Bonus features on “The Bourne Identity” include the aforementioned U-Control features, My Scenes, BD-Live and…

-The Ludlum Identity: An extraordinary portrait of the best-selling author through archival interviews with friends, colleagues, family members and Ludlum himself.
-The Ludlum Supremacy: Who is Jason Bourne? A revealing look at how Bourne was born.
-The Ludlum Ultimatum: A fascinating examination of the Bourne character and his enduring audience appeal
-Alternate Opening and Ending: With an introduction by producer Frank Marshall, screenwriter Tony Gilroy and actor Brian Cox
-Deleted and Extended Scenes
-The Birth of the Bourne Identity
-The Bourne Mastermind: Robert Ludlum: A fascinating new look at the late Robert Ludlum, the bestselling novelist who created the “Bourne” trilogy.
-Access Granted: An exclusive interview with screenwriter Tony Gilroy on the challenges of adapting Ludlum’s 500-page book for the screen.
-From Identity to Supremacy – Jason & Marie: This feature includes exclusive interviews with Matt Damon and Franka Potente which explore the making of The Bourne Identity - and build a bridge to the spectacular sequel, The Bourne Supremacy.
-The Bourne Diagnosis: Insights into the causes and effects of Jason Bourne’s struggle with amnesia from a UCLA psychologist.
-Cloak and Dagger: In this feature, CIA liaison officer Chase Brandon delivers a detailed, real-world analysis of the making of a super-spy.
-Inside a Fight Sequence: Join Matt Damon on the set as he and the film’s Stunt Choreographer map out the explosive action-packed U.S. Embassy fight sequence.
-Moby “ Extreme Ways ” Music Video
-Feature Commentary with Director Doug Liman

“The Bourne Supremacy” features include U-Control, My Scenes, BD-Live and…

-Explosive Deleted Scenes
-Matching Identities: Casting – See what it took to land a key role in this major action hit.
-Keeping It Real – A look at the edgy and kinetic visual style the filmmakers brought to Supremacy.
-Blowing Things Up – Virtual isn’t always better. See how some of the film’s most awesome pyrotechnical sequences were created—without digital effects.
-On the Move with Jason Bourne – Travel the globe to visit the film’s exotic locations from India to Berlin to Moscow .
-Bourne to Be Wild: Fight Training – Matt Damon didn’t become a lethal weapon overnight. Witness the action as the star and the movie’s fight trainer perfect the film’s thrilling hand-to-hand combat scenes!
-Crash Cam: Racing Through the Streets of Moscow – Experience how stunt coordinators meticulously planned and executed the movie’s stunning, high-speed chase sequence
-The Go-Mobile Revs Up the Action – Feel the rush of being in the driver’s seat with this revolutionary new vehicle used to capture Matt Damon’s high-speed exploits in the film’s jaw-dropping car chase sequences!
-Anatomy of a Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene – Step onto the set and experience the tension and intense preparation as the filmmaking team plans and shoots one of the movie’s most demanding, dangerous and thrilling action scenes.
-Scoring with John Powell: A special look at creating the pulse-pound score for the movie.
-The Bourne Mastermind: Robert Ludlum: A fascinating new look at the late Robert Ludlum, the bestselling novelist who created the “Bourne” trilogy.
-The Bourne Diagnosis Part Two: Insights into the causes and effects of Jason Bourne’s struggle with amnesia from a UCLA psychologist.
-Feature Commentary with Paul Greengrass

“The Bourne Ultimatum” features include U-Control, My Scenes, BD-Live and…

-Be Bourne Spy Training – Viewers test their skills to see if they’ve got what it takes to be a covert operative.
-Man on the Move: Jason Bourne – From Berlin to Tangier, see how the film’s exotic locations influenced the filmmaking process.
-Rooftop Pursuit – Discover how state-of-the-art technology was used to film the incredible Tangier rooftop chase scene!
-Planning the Punches – Matt Damon reveals his complex and rigorous fight training.
-Driving School – Join Matt Damon behind the wheel as he trains for the New York car chase scene.
-New York Chase – An insider’s view on how the film’s heart-stopping chase sequences were filmed.
-Feature Commentary with Director Paul Greengrass
-Deleted Scenes

“The Bourne Trilogy - Background Info”

“The Bourne Trilogy - Behind the Scenes”

‘The Bourne Identity’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Matt Damon, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, and Chris Cooper. It was written by Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron and directed by Doug Liman. It will be released on January 27th, 2009.

‘The Bourne Supremacy’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, Gabriel Mann, Michelle Monaghan, and Joan Allen. It was written by Tony Gilroy and directed by Paul Greengrass. It will be released on January 27th, 2009.

‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ is released by Universal Home Video and stars Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, Paddy Considine, Edgar Ramirez, Albert Finney, and Joan Allen. It was written by Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi and directed by Paul Greengrass. It will be released on January 27th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

80th Academy Awards Headlined By ‘No Country For Old Men,’ ‘There Will Be Blood,’ ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:50:43 -0700

CHICAGO – “No Country For Old Men,” “Juno,” “Once,” “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Ratatouille,” “The Golden Compass,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Michael Clayton” and more headlined the 80th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2008.

In total, “No Country For Old Men” led the pack with four Oscars followed by a surprising three for “The Bourne Ultimatum” and two for “There Will Be Blood”. A complete list of all 2008 Oscar winners at the 80th Academy Awards is found below. All image credits go to Oscar.com.

Best Picture:
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Director:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Original Screenplay:
Diablo Cody for “Juno”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Juno” writer Diablo Cody can be found here.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Supporting Actor:
Javier Bardem for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Supporting Actress:
Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Michael Clayton” director Tony Gilroy can be found here.

Best Art Direction:
Dante Ferretti (art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (set decoration) for “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Cinematography:
Robert Elswit for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Film Editing:
Christopher Rouse for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Original Song:
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Once” director John Carney and stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova can be found here.

Best Original Score:
Dario Marianelli for “Atonement”

Best Sound Mixing:
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Sound Editing:
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Visual Effects:
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for “The Golden Compass”

Best Costume Design:
Alexandra Byrne for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”

Best Makeup:
Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Animated Feature:
Brad Bird for “Ratatouille”

Best Animated Short Film:
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman for “Peter & the Wolf”

Best Documentary Feature:
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner for “Taxi to the Dark Side”

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth for “Freeheld”

Best Live-Action Short Film:
Philippe Pollet-Villard for “Le Mozart des Pickpockets” (“The Mozart of Pickpockets”)

Best Foreign Language Film:
Stefan Ruzowitzky for “The Counterfeiters” (Austria)

Host Jon Stewart marked one of this year’s surprise moments when he offered for “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova – initially cut off by music – to return to the stage and deliver her acceptance speech. That speech has made its way to YouTube and can be seen below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

New Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Comic Book Cover Surface For ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:32:53 -0700

Three new behind-the-scenes photos turned up on Wednesday for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in a comprehensive Vanity Fair article. In the third photo below, we see the first photo of Cate Blanchett as a Russian agent.

The article and photos have been picked up by /Film, Hollywood Elsewhere and other film sites across the Web. Some Vanity Fair quotes from director Steven Spielberg follow:

I’m in my second cut, which means I’ve put the movie together and I’ve seen it. I usually do about five cuts as a director.

The best news is that – when I saw the movie myself the first time – there was nothing I wanted to go back and shoot, nothing I wanted to reshoot and nothing I wanted to add.

I go for geography. I want the audience to know not only which side the good guy’s on and the bad guy’s on but which side of the screen they’re in.

I want the audience to be able to edit as quickly as they want in a shot. [That has] been my style with all four of these “Indiana Jones” pictures.

Quick-cutting is very effective in some movies – like the “Bourne” pictures – but you sacrifice geography when you go for quick-cutting.

[That] is fine because audiences get a huge adrenaline rush from a cut every second and a half [in] “The Bourne Ultimatum”.

There’s just enough geography for the audience never to be lost especially in the last “Bourne” film, which I thought was the best of the three.

By the same token, Indy is a little more old-fashioned than the modern-day action adventure.

You can read the full Vanity Fair piece here.

It doesn’t stop there with “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” unveilings. New comic book cover art for the film (warning: minor spoilers) just surfaced as well.

Also picked up by TheRaider.net and /Film, this comic cover premiered at Diamond Comics with this announcement:

The most anticipated movie event of the summer comes to comics in this adaptation of the fourth “Indiana Jones” film.

The intrepid doctor Henry Jones Jr. is back in his biggest adventure yet. This time, the world-renowned archaeologist finds himself caught in a series of events that all point to a discovery unlike any other.

But will his rivals in pursuit of this priceless treasure seize his quarry from right under his nose? Not if he – and a few unexpected companions – have anything to say about it.

The thrill and the humor, the action and the romance, the hat and the whip: everything you love about Indy is here. This is a tale sure to please longtime fans [and[ foster a whole generation of new ones.

‘3:10 to Yuma,’ ‘Halloween,’ ‘Superbad,’ ‘Balls of Fury’ Lead Weekend Box Office

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:10:03 -0600

#1 For the Sept. 7, 2007 to Sept. 9, 2007 weekend, “3:10 to Yuma” led the box office with $14.1 million in first-week ticket sales on 2,652 screens and a budget of $51 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

#2 In its second week, “Halloween” placed second for the weekend with about $10 million and a total gross of $44.2 million.

#3 On a budget of $20 million, “Superbad” in its fourth week snagged another $8 million over the weekend and now totals a profitable $103.7 million.

#4 In its second week, “Balls of Fury” took home about $5.7 million with a total of about $24.3 million.

#5 In its sixth week, “The Bourne Ultimatum” came in at about $5.5 million this weekend on a $110 million budget. The film’s gross now totals a profitable $210 million.

#6 In its first week, “Shoot ’Em Up” earned about $5.5 million on 2,108 screens.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com