Did not know it took a special DVD machine to play this. No problem sending it back for credit. I signed up for Netflix and love it.

Very satisfied with how quickly this item was received. I should have ordered all three Bourne from this seller as it took twice as long for the second cd to arrive, and I'm still waiting for Bourne Supremacy ordered in July to arrive. I have emailed that seller three times and have yet to get a response. I will only deal with this seller in the future. Thank you....Suzy

Great movie, lots of action. My favorite scene had to be when the two main characters are in Franka's car and she asked "What kind of music do you like?" There they were driving in that tiny car, running from the officials, and she's being kind. It made me think of being in a similar vehicle, '59 Renault, equipped with an in-dash short wave radio. That was Europe to me and this line brought it back.

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This movie is loosely based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum (1927 to 2001).

Do you like action-packed mystery-thrillers? If you do, then this movie is a must-see.

The viewer along with the main character in this movie, later revealed to be Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), suffers from amnesia, not knowing his own identity (thus the movie's title) or anything about his past. As the movie progresses, both the viewer and Bourne discover one major thing: he posses a lethal survival skill-set that's light years above that of the average Joe. The other things Bourne discovers about himself make him unhappy with him, at one point saying:

"Everything I find out [about myself], I want to forget."

Once the viewer discovers that the premise of this entire movie is about discovering identity, then it can only hold the viewer's attention in one way: through action. It is on this that the movie delivers especially with respect to incredible fight sequences. One character summarizes the majority of the movie when he says that Bourne leaves a

"trail of collateral damage from Zurich to Paris."

It is at the movie's end that all is revealed.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne effectively carries the entire movie. If not for his fine performance, I think this movie would have probably been a flop. I also found that the background music and sometimes gritty photography to be impressive.

This movie spawned two sequels: "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) and "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007).

The only problem with this movie is that the idea of Bourne constantly trying to discover his identity can become tedious. True, the action sequences attempt to take away from this tedium but I found myself getting a bit restless as the movie proceeded.

Finally, the DVD itself (the one released in 2004) is perfect in picture and sound quality. There are many extras including an alternate ending.

In conclusion, this movie introduces us to a new action hero and his name is Jason Bourne!!

(2002; 1 hr 50 min (excluding end credits); wide screen; 20 scenes)

<>

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The video transfer of this film is too dark, but an adjustment to your TV brightness setting will yield an acceptable viewing. The extras are quite informative especially the part dealing with Ludlum's knowledge of the intelligence community.

The movie is awful. Boring. Plotless and the only thing that relates to the entire book is the title The Bourne Identity. The books that the movie is based on are three of the most cherished books in my library. 1st they do a really poor job of introducing the characters. It was not till the third installation that I finally learned the name of several of the characters.

Let me just list off who is not in the movie (these are MAJOR characters in the book too!):

Alexander Conklin - Jason Bourne's creator & friend.
Moe Panov - Jason Bourne's doctor & friend.
Carlos - Jason Bourne's nemesis, his equal.

These three characters are NOT just paramount in the story line - they ARE the story line.

I am certain that the screenwriters, directors and everyone else on board with this movie never read the books and only wanted to make a quick buck.

A sad excuse for a good book. An absolute chaotic nightmare!

The story, in brief, is a man is rescued by a fishing boat, with amnesia and bullet holes. In his quest to discover his identity, people try to kill him, and he reacts with professional swiftness. He teams up with a young woman, and together they elude the killers while searching for answers and falling in love.

This was obviously written with me in mind. I mean, come on--it's got almost every one of my favorite things: a spy story, action/adventure, amnesia, a romance--heck, the romantic interest is even German. What baffles me is that I'd never read Ludlum's book even though it came out at a time when I was reading a lot of spy novels. I've ordered it.

At any rate, I can't say yet how the movie compares to the book, but the movie is excellent. Matt Damon plays a man who doesn't realize he's a professional assassin perfectly--the combination of good-intentioned searching for his identity with the growing realization that he's not just some nice guy who works in an office is very convincing.

Franka Potente, too, is very realistic as an adventurous young woman who ends up in over her head, but is reluctant to leave because of her growing feelings for him.

The action is nonstop and exciting, and the mystery of who he is and why people are trying to kill him is compelling.

This is one of those rare movies I can watch over and over again. One of my favorites.

As far as sequels go, this is top notch just as good as the first one. Great action and suspense.

2002's "The Bourne Identity" is an absolutely thrilling (if loose) adaption of Robert Ludlum's 1980 spy novel. Its cinematic success has launched two equally thrilling sequels to date, featuring Matt Damon as former CIA assassin Jason Bourne.

A young man in a wet suit, with two bullet holes in his back, is rescued by the crew of a fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea. The young man recovers aboard the vessel, but has no memory of who he is or how he came to be in the water. His only clue is the number of a Swiss bank account implanted in a metal tube in his hip.

The man travels to Zurich and reaches the bank. His account number provides him access to a safety deposit box, filled with a variety of foreign currencies, a small pile of passports, and a handgun. The top passport is an American one, in the name of Jason Bourne, with an address in Paris. The young man goes to the American Embassy in Zurich, where the staff unexpectedly tries to apprehend him and the young man unexpectedly displays astonishing fighting skills in escaping the Embassy.

Outside the Embassy, Bourne bribes a rootless young German female named Marie (played with subtle depth by Franka Potente) to drive him to Paris. Along the way, the two will bond over the mystery of Bourne's identity. The mystery will deepen in Paris as Bourne realized he is the target of a murderous agency effort to clean up a mistake and as he realizes that keeping Marie alive is now a personal misssion.

"The Bourne Identity" features fast-moving, almost breathless action, lots of spy high-tech and technique, and enough convoluted mystery for at least three movies (and counting). Matt Damon nicely underplays Bourne as a confused but driven man, aware that the clock is ticking in a game he doesn't fully understand. The movie narrative proceeds on parallel tracks, as Bourne flees across France, while his nominal CIA boss (played with understated urgency by Chris Cooper) and another CIA chieftain (played with sweaty near-panic by Brian Cox) throw both CIA operatives and law enforcement in his path. Clive Owen has a nice cameo as another CIA assassin; Julia Stiles is introduced in her recurring role as a Paris operative. The climax of the movie is Bourne's dramatic entrance into a CIA safe house in Paris, there to learn the truth about his identity.

"The Bourne Identity" is very highly recommended as the thrilling introduction to the Bourne series. The Extended Edition features a new beginning and ending to the movie designed to the events of 9/11, which somewhat pre-empted the Cold War context of the movie. This DVD version also features some nice extras on the making of the movie.

A great introduction to the series. I liked going in not knowing how the plot would turn out. I also liked how Bourne was much more vulnerable and less all-powerful at this point. Not unlike Neo (Keanu Reeves) in the first Matrix movie. Although I must say the damsel constantly in distress started to wear thin on me.

Also look for Clive Owen barely recognizable as himself.

I don't have time to review this exhaustively, but want to be as thorough as I can. I'm also working under the assumption that you are interested in "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" as well as this, the first movie in one of the best trilogies ever made. Opinions as to which movie is the best are well within the limits of personal taste; for me, this movie is the second best behind "The Bourne Ultimatum"; however, like the Beethoven symphonies, one of a great set has to be the least.

TBI starts in the middle of the sea; the Mediterranean, we find out soon enough. An Italian fishing boat finds a body left for dead in the middle of the night. The ship's surgeon is skilled and equipped sufficiently to remove some bullets and, in the process, fish out a diode that blinks what appears to be a Swiss bank number. The man, an American (Matt Damon, of course) regains consciousness, realizing that for the time being, he is among friends. He is able to remember how to speak, dress, play chess, read, and other daily skills, but has no idea how he ended up in the Mediterranean, much less shot, wearing a wetsuit, or anything else; he cannot even remember his name. Eventually, the fishermen leave him ashore with a small stipend to get to the Swiss bank, where the man finally learns what his name must have been -- Jason Bourne -- but not much help with who he is, except that he has a ton of cash, a portfolio of fake passports, and a gun. Except for the gun, he takes the treasure on his journey to find out more about Jason Bourne, no longer able to find buddies like the fishermen -- the Swiss police and the American Embassy security are both interested in detaining him, if not worse. His last friend is Maria, who gives him a ride to Paris for $10,000 so he can put together clues from his last known address. Meanwhile, some American federal agency (CIA? FBI? NSA? the issue doesn't press front and center) is trying to fix something that went wrong with Bourne. By "fix", we get the idea that keeping Bourne alive is not a high priority with the feds.

TBI was the only Bourne movie directed by Doug Liman, rather than Paul Greengrass. So we don't have the latter's hand-held camera sequences, and that's good and bad. The hand to hand combat scenes are a little less intense, but easier to watch. The car chase in Paris is top-notch.

My favorite part about TBI, and the other Bourne movies (or this new species of action movies, in general), is the dichotomy between the policy wonks, surrounded by their computer geeks in monitor-loaded command centers capable of generating impossible intelligence (apparently every intersection in Europe is now covered by a remote camera, no matter how remote) and the rubber-hits-the-road robot assassins, each receiving his assignments by way of a video cell-phone that was probably a bit hipper in 2002 than I'm remembering. For me, TBI belongs to Conklin (Chris Cooper), Bourne's trainer and supervisor, and apparently the one with the most to lose now that Jason is making noise all over Europe. He reports to another fine spook, Abbott (Brian Cox), but Conklin just gets me with his short-sleeve dress shirts and ties that make him look like an aluminum-siding salesman. I got the idea Conklin never did grasp the depth of the hole he'd fallen into, especially when he told Abbott "We will burn for this," and Abbott has an expression on his face like Tonto thinking "Whaddya you mean we, Kimosabe?"

Besides Abbott and Costello (I mean Conklin), there are some other good supporting performances, with not a lot of lines, from the other assassins. Of course, we know none of them can be as good as Jason, but cleaning up Jason involves some messy work. The best of a good group is Clive Owen as the "professor"; probably his last role this small, he foreshadows questions Jason will ask in the future movies. But the best other character is Maria (Franka Potente), whose action chops can't be doubted by anyone who's seen "Run Lola Run". Her instinct to trust Bourne when her life depends on it is spot-on, and when you see her buckle up her seat-belt, you might want to make sure your own doors are locked.

The Bourne Identity is a slick, solid, well-written action flick, and is great both standing on its own and as the first movie of a great trilogy.

I love this trilogy.
I bought the 3 movies in HD DVD, but i was dissapointed when I found that none comes with spanish subtitles, and the page tells the opposite.
Whatever, I like so much this 3 movies.

The Bourne Identity is a superb action movie. The plot was well thought out and it keeps the viewer guessing what is going to happen next. Meanwhile, Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne) has no clue what is going on. All he knows is that people are trying to assassinate him. Towards the middle of the movie it became very intense. Bourne's agency sent out three agents to kill Bourne. At this point Bourne must combat these guys. Each guy is fought in a different way, separating this movie from the typical action movie. The first agent is fought through a stealth type mission out in an open field. Both agents crawl around the field, unaware where each other is. It seemed like Metal Gear to me. Next he fights another agent through a hand to hand combat followed by a straight shoot out.

This movie is a combination of action and drama. It is not a non-stop action thriller but yet is sure to keep your interest because you don't know what is going to happen next.

The Bourne Identity is a better film than I thought it would. Matt Damon makes a believeable action hero and Doug Liman does the atcion thing very well. The car chase sequence is one of the best from 2002. If you haven't seen this check it out it's good entertainement.

Pretty simple. Excellent story, excellent actors (first I thought damon would be to tiny to fit but i had to admit that he fits the role pretty well), extremely well filmed. The sequels gets better (wich is rare enough to be stressed!).

HD DVD quality is excellent and allows u to rediscover the movie, specially the audio which is very good. Video is a bit under but only because the movie is past over ten years now!!

A must have

This item will not play on our new Sony HD DVD player and will be returned for credit. Very unhappy.

****1/2

I am late getting on the "Bourne" bandwagon. I just watched the first two films in the series for the first time last weekend after years of avoiding them. My impression? That so far, the "Bourne" films deserve all of the praise and success that they've received.

"The Bourne Identity" manages to take a story with a myriad of cliches (the super spy, the spy with amnesia, secret government experiments and cover-ups, etc, etc, etc) and still make a film that's fresh, exciting, intelligent and engrossing.

So the question is, why does this film excel when so many other action films fall flat? First, the film utilizes an excellent cast. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is the thinking man's action hero, bringing a complexity to the role that flies in the face of the typical cocky, wisecracking American action hero. Veteran actors like Chris Cooper and Brian Cox bring gravitas to their supporting roles, and Franka Potente brings an international, quirky sex appeal to her role as Jason's love interest.

As great as the performers are, the script and direction also really deliver. Although the action scenes are all wonderfully executed, the film makes sure not to sacrifice character development either. Jason Bourne is a man who has lost his identity, and as a result is able to regain the humanity he has clearly lost in his previous life as an assassin.

This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat. I never thought of Matt Damon as an "action hero" type until I saw this movie. It just keeps getting better with the sequels.

As far as a shoot-um-up with the obligatory car chase goes, this movie did it quite well. And like many of the other "1984" (book by George Orwell in which to satisfy the proletariat they had a machine mass produce formula pulp fiction) type machine churned out films for the proletariat, the title and a few names bare the only resemblance to the Ludlum story. Quite a few of the characters that give this story depth and mystery are left out of the movie completely.

Fortunately or unfortunately it is easy to get wrapped unpin technology as assume that high definition (HD) or even 3D is going to take the place of Carlos and the search for his real identity.


Now let's not compare this quickie in shoot-up land with the well thought out book "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum or the much better portrait of the story portrayed in the Mini-Series "The Bourne Identity" (1988) starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith; then we can enjoy what is left.

A sailor on a fishing trawler spots a human body in the water. After retrieving it we find it is alive. Helping this stranger back from the near dead we find a couple of bullet holes and a mysterious capsule under his skin. The capsule displays what the fisherman recognizes immediately as a Swiss bank account. The man can not remember who he is. Now we follow along with his journey to Switzerland and find out if he will recover. In the mean time someone is out to kill him. Why?

The Bourne Identity (TV Miniseries)

Great movie but it does not include either spanish audio or spanish subtitles in HD version. What is happening with Universal Studios? Why do they include spanish subtitles in standard dvd version and not in HD version. It stinks.

The transfer to HD fails to meet my expectations. Sure, the picture is better than DVD but I expect more for a movie with such a huge fan base. I think they will have to re-master this and re-release the trilogy in some kind of box set. Save your money for that. I strongly disagree that this is a "A must buy for HD DVD owners" or that it "looks 10 times better". The film looks grainy, if this was re-mastered or intentional I find the result to be annoying. Universal did not bother to include a Dolby TrueHD track or alternative high resolution audio format that takes advantage of the HD format. I would only recommend buying this movie if you can not rend the HD version, don't already own the DVD and can't wait for a better re-mastered version to be released.

Good action packed movie, plenty of chase scenes. Good setup for the Bourne movies that follow.

You must sit down and watch this with all three movies together. A way to spend the day when you don't have much else to do. Grab a few steaks have a barbeque with some friends and have a movie marathon.

As many of you probably already know, The Bourne Identity is the first of the three installments of the Bourne film trilogy. It is loosely based on the Novel by Robert Ludlum of the same name. I had already watched this film long before I realized that it was based on a novel and that there were actually three total books involving the Bourne character, all of which would soon have their own film adaptations. With all of that said, I was initially surprised on how good this film really was. I had my doubts that Matt Damon would be able to pull off a character like Jason Bourne. For some reason, Matt Damon just doesn't come to my mind when you think action star, but he really pulled it off here. Not only Damon, but the supporting cast is good as well, with Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, and Julia Styles all having good performances. But what I loved about this movie was the pacing. This film has very few slow parts in it, but yet it isn't just all over-the-top action either. There's a very good balance to the film. And during the more action-packed sequences, it isn't just senseless action for the sake of action, there's a purpose behind it. The main reason for this is simply because this a good story, and it keeps the audience entertained. There's more than just one storyline happening throughout the film as you get to follow the Jason Bourne character as he tries to find out just who he really is. I really don't have many negative things to say about this film. The only thing I would change would be the last action sequence in the film involving the Bourne character jumping off a staircase and shooting someone. I really thought that was completely unrealistic. Another thing that has really nothing to do with the movie, it's about the packaging of this DVD. This is supposed the the Extended Edition with a bunch of special features. But in reality, there's not a lot of difference in this edition and the regular one. There's a few more little featurettes and an alternate beginning and ending (which I didn't care too much for), and a few little other things, but nothing real special. Heck, this isn't even a 2-disc DVD! So, if you already have this movie and not this edition, then you're not missing much. But if you're thinking about purchasing this film for the first time, I highly recommend it to any fan of not only the action genre, but anyone who just wants to see a well-paced, well written story that will keep you entertained.

The Bourne Identity is a fast moving, action packed, suspenseful tour de force that is a must see for spy film fans. Matt Damon is riveting as Jason Bourne and the supporting cast is a perfect fit.

This movie, although somewhat confusing at times, was very well done. Action was great and intense. Obviously with two sequels it gathered a hard-core of fans.

Buy them all !
I like this franchise of movies , the bourne movies are action packed .

Great spy/action movie which should find its place on the shelf of any good movie collection.
The transfer to HD-DVD is very good with the bonus of U-Control in-movie info pop-ups which are a great feature of HD-DVDs

Perfect casting, well plotted, and great action sequences make this movie a 5 star show! This is one of few movies out there that deserves to be made into a trilogy.

Like the title of my review says, the first Bourne movie is still the best, at least as far as the film itself goes. I did enjoy the final film in the trilogy quite a bit (especially when compared to the second movie) but the first film is still the most fun and the most impactful. With a story like the one surrounding the ill-fated Jason Bourne, it's tough to top the character's journey in this first movie, where he slowly discovers what he can do, what he is and finally who he is.

The movie tells the story of one Jason Bourne, found floating in the middle of the ocean with an pretty basic case of amnesia. After being dropped off in Europe, he discovers he has skills and abilities that no normal person should have. With the help of a woman whom he offers $20,000 to drive him to Paris, Bourne slowly uncovers clues to his past while being chased by CIA operatives and several black ops agents with skills similar to his.

The high-definition transfer of this fast-paced thriller is pretty darn good. It's not a pristine reference-quality disc, but it's not very easy to find HD movies that look a whole lot better than this one. The level of detail is high, the film lacks overt amounts of graininess, and there is nary a sign of compression artifacts to distract from one's enjoyment of the action unfolding. It's one of the better HD movies I've had the pleasure of watching. I have no trouble recommending a purchase.

Matt Damon is Jason Bourne - an agent of the U.S. government who has lost his memory, yet retains a great deal of intelligence and martial arts skills. The CIA believes he has failed a mission he was sent to accomplish in Europe. When they learn he is alive, they quickly use a league of agents to hunt down Bourne before time runs out on the clock, and the men involved with the screw up get in real trouble. The plot gets very detailed throughout the film, but this is the basic idea.

Though there are some nice fight scenes and a great car chase in the film, the plot is always moving along, so there is little need for an abundance of action to keep things rolling. I love films like this, cause when there is action, it actually holds some meaning when it occurs. Bourne and the woman he accompanies (who the CIA is also after) share a great chemistry - both as characters and as actors. The remainder of the cast is solid, and includes stars such as Julia Styles and Clive Owen - both who actually player lesser characters in the film, though nice to see.

Best thing about this film is the non-stop running of Bourne. He rarely gets time to stop for a breather, therefore making this film a very easy one for the viewer to stay alert to. There is a detailed plot that takes a lot to follow every step of what's going on, but it is just as easy to watch if you prefer to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Compared to James Bond in a sense, Bourne actually feels much more realistic. While Bond is more fun and action packed in the long run, Bourne gives us a greater taste of reality.

Acting - 4
Action - 4
Characters - 4
Story - 4
Overall - 4

I have watched this movie twice (HD-DVD) as well as in the theatre. I keep seeing things I missed each time I watch it. Very good, exciting movie and it's excellent in HD-DVD. I highly recommend it.

First, the good news. Matt Damon makes a great Bourne, even better than Richard Chamberlain, whom I really liked in the prior version.

The bad news is the departures from the book. I suppose I could get past the stock "CIA-assassination-team" theme, but what I can't get over is the way they turned Bourne from a good guy who lost his memory into a bad guy who lost his memory. Ludlum (or his family agent) was executive producer, so there's no excuse. Shame on them for doing that. Actually, shame on them for underutilizing Julia Stiles too.

I read the book long before I saw this film. That was why I watched the film expecting to be entertained but not as much as I was. I could not imagine the film living up to the book it did. Enough said.

While this was an outstanding movie, it is not quite as good as the second one. But then the second one isn't as good as the third one. The video and sound on this one are excellent in HD and should impress. This is the series that made James Bond get a facelift. A must buy for HD DVD owners.