The Bourne Supremecy: Blu-ray/DVD Combo

If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for it is good packaging (… heh). When I buy my movies there’s certain things I like to find waiting for me inside the box. The first, is some sort of a piece of paper on the inside right cover of the case. It doesn’t have to be anything cool (although mini-posters are nice) just something that lets me know the studio cared enough to give me some advertisements for products I might be interested in. The second is a movie disk that has a nice looking cover with some artistic merit. What I hate, HATE, more than anything is to open a Blu-ray case and find a blank mirror of a disk starring back at me. It seems lazy, cheap, and downright improper.

I had to fight the urge to throw The Bourne Supremacy Bluray across the room when just such a thing happened to me after opening the case. I looked to inside right cover and found my advertisements, but when I looked at the movie disk I was greeted with my own un-shaven face. I was nearly turned to stone by the sight.

However, there was a reason for this transgression as the Bourne Blu-ray releases are some of the first to utilize the dual disk format. One side is a Blu-ray, the other a DVD. This might mean that someday DVDs will always be packaged with Blu-rays. Should that happen they will probably be as expensive (since you’re getting a Blu-ray movie whether you want to or not) as a Blu-ray, but then fade out of existence all together. Of course, Blu-rays will disappear as well, as soon as digital distribution catches on, but I digress.

Special Features

The Bourne Supremacy, the worth sequel to The Bourne Identity, finds Jason Bourne once again on the run from the Central Intelligence Agency. This time the film is headed by Paul Greengrass who got the job based off of his work on the film Bloody Sunday. It was important to Greengrass to maintain the franchise’s attention to realism, which he did. It was also important that the film be more awesome than its predecessor, which it was.

The special features on Supremacy are far better than those on Identity mostly because there is greater involvement from Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. Their insight brings a lot to the table, and you get a great sense of the creative talent that went into making this series as good as it is. I won’t discuss all of them, but I will say all are worthy of viewing. The following were some of my favorites:
“Matching Identities” is a short feature about the film’s casting. Greengrass talks about why he brought on Joan Allen to play Pamela Landy and Brian Cox for Ward Abbott. Allen and Cox talk about how great it was to work with each other and Damon. Karl Urban talks about playing a killer and how much fun he had.

 “Keeping it Real” discusses why the producers brought on Paul Greengrass. Greengrass himself talks about the idea of making the scenes seem “unconsidered” meaning: everything always seems fresh to you. The audience is seeing it as Bourne sees it, as if it was for the first time. It’s a great concept and when I watched the movie again I actually noticed the attention given to the first time Bourne walks into a room.There is a short feature on the score with John Powell. Pretty typical, but I thought it was cool that it was there.

“The Go-Mobile” is probably the most interesting feature on the whole disk. Opening with a sweet short film made specifically for the feature, it goes on to show how Greengrass and friends were able to get the awesome angles during the car chases thanks to a new invention named the Go-Mobile. Essentially, the Go-Mobile is a type of flatbed truck that only consists of a driving pod, a platform to put cameras on, and a half a car that the actor sits in. I realize that’s probably a confusing and terrible explanation, but take my word for it, it’s really cool. Matt Damon calls it the “N.A.R.” or “No Acting Required” because; it puts the actor IN the action, so much so that there is… no acting required. It’s great to watch if you’re a car buff, but I think any film fan could appreciate how cool it is.
The other features strip down the secrets to the fight scenes and explosions.

There are also continuations of the “Diagnosis” and “Ludlum” features from The Bourne Identity disk, but these are not too interesting. It should be noted that the My Scenes option is also available on this Bluray (see my review of The Bourne Identity). Despite my packaging issue, The Bourne Supremacy is a fine Bluray. Definitely worth picking up if you’re a fan of the series.

Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Styles, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Franke Potente, Karl Urban
Director: Paul Greengrass
Runtime: 108 Minutes
Rating: PG-13