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DVDfever.co.uk – The Bourne Ultimatum Blu-ray reviewDom Robinson reviews
Universal Pictures UKBlu-ray: 
Trilogy:
HD-DVD:
DVD:
- Cert:
- Running time: 115 minutes
- Year: 2007
- Cat no: 8259732
- Released: March 2009
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 20 plus extras
- Picture: 1080p High Definition
- Sound: DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio (English only), DTS 5.1
- Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese
- Subtitles: English plus 13 other languages
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: BD50
- Price: £19.99 (Blu-ray); £19.99 (DVD); £varies (HD-DVD)
- Extras: Deleted/Alternate Scenes, Be Bourne Spy Training, Man on the Move featurettes,Audio commentary, U-Control, BD Live
Director:
- Paul Greengrass
(Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Green Zone, Resurrected, The Theory of Flight, United 93, The Watchmen, TV: Bloody Sunday, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence)
Producers:
- Patrick Crowley, Frank Marshall and Paul L. Sandberg
Screenplay:
- Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi/B> (based on the novel by Robert Ludlum)
Music:
- John Powell
Cast :
- Jason Bourne: Matt Damon
Nicky Parsons: Julia Stiles
Noah Vosen: David Strathairn
Ezra Kramer: Scott Glenn
Simon Ross: Paddy Considine
Paz: Édgar Ramírez
Dr. Albert Hirsch: Albert Finney
Pamela Landy: Joan Allen
Picking up from where the last film left off, Jason’s still looking for answers in The Bourne Ultimatum.
Beware spoilers
So, with his girlfriend still dead and Wade Abbott having topped himself, it seems just about everyone else is a targetfor a sniper bullet in the final film whether it’s that coming from the baddies or a new government program, led byCIA bigwig Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and opposed by CIA fusspot Pam Landy (botoxed Joan Allen), justso the former doesn’t have to get a decision from Washington every time and lose the chance and offing a suspect.Also in on the project is Vosen’s boss, Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn, grumping about as usual).
Early on, Guardian reporter Simon Ross (Paddy Considine) gets a tip on Operation Blackbriar, a term that is picked up instantly over the airwaves by Vosen’s team and so they want to know more about him. What’s it about? Who ishis source for this? And once the camera’s stopped moving about, will anyone care? Yes, when it comes to direction,a five-year-old could do better. It really is a case of “Let’s just throw the camera around to hide all the joinsand stop is from seeing a foot-chase or fist fight properly”. I will say that some of the more tense scenes arequite well-handled, but then there are many directors out there who could do both those and the fight scenes, suchas the original’s director Doug Liman. Why didn’t he do the sequels as well?
Also in for the ride again is CIA computer geek Nicky (Julia Stiles). I’d like to think she gets bumped off, simplybecause she’s one of the worst actresses I’ve ever seen. why does anyone employ her? she couldn’t act her way out of apaper bag, even if she was hyperventilating into it.
Amongst all this, Bourne’s plan is to finally piece it all together about his origins of his life as a trained killerand the man behind the assassination program, Dr Hirsch (Albert Finney). However, I really can’t see why anystill hires Paul Greengrass as a director. Aside from the last 30 mins or so of United 93, he even managed tomake a film about the 9/11 terrorist attack incredibly dull.
The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and has no problems with the print as they flit from the USto London to Madrid, etc, whether it’s the bright outdoors or Vosen’s dark CTU-like office.For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
The sound is in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio, as well as DTS 5.1, and there’s lots of gunshooting and fisticuffs to fillyour speakers with, but while there’s also no fault to be found there, it all feels let down in the light of what Ihad to write in the above section.
The extras are as follows:
- Deleted/Alternate Scenes (12:22: Eight of them, broadcast in letterbox format and the first of them shows what you might see after the film ends, soit’s nice to see that oneincluded here.
- Be Bourne Spy Training: Five movie clips with an aptitude test about how observant you are. It’s an okay extra, as the questions changewhen you take a retest.
- Man on the Move: Behind the scenes on five aspects of the film – Jason Bourne on foot in five different countries (23:58),Rooftop Pursuit (5:39), Planning the Punches (4:59), Driving School (3:23) and New York Chase (10:46).
- Audio commentaryfrom director Paul Greengrass.
- U-Control: More info about the Blackbriar Files, Bourne’s Orientation (i.e. things that have happened to him around the time theoption comes up, such as the fact that at the start of the film he’s being pursued by the Russian police as a result ofthe car chase in the tunnel), some Picture-in-picture info and also info about Volkswagen, attributed to their respectivescenes in the film.
The menu mixes footage from the CGI end credits with a short piece of Moby’s “Extreme Ways” playing over and over.There are subtitles in English and many other languages. Chaptering is okay with 20 throughout the 115-minuterunning time, although a few more wouldn’t hurt.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.