Prashast Singh THE BOURNE IDENTITY is an amazing action thriller. It perfectly balances action and thrills in a perfect proportion. Today, many spy themed action movies are compared to this one, and it's while watching the film itself I discovered why. The concept itself is an interesting one. Jason Bourne is a relatable and unforgettable character brought to life by Matt Damon's energetic performance as well as Doug Liman's skilled direction. The film has excellently shot and brilliantly choreographed action sequences. Each and every action sequence is memorable, and there are a lot of intensely thrilling moments as well. Jason Bourne is a well written character, and Matt ensures he delivers a top notch act to make this portrayal a memorable as well as realistic one. Another credit to Franka Potente, who plays her part in a terrific manner and does justice to her character which doesn't feel irritating or pointless but important instead. The entire cast fits in their respective roles and delivers a good performance. The editing is top notch, as the entire screenplay works without any hiccups.That being said, THE BOURNE IDENTITY is a captivating action thriller with a watertight script and no dull or unwanted moments. I'm now eager to watch the entire BOURNE film series, and undoubtedly I would love to own the DVD.

foghorn_clj I've wondered for years why I never managed to watch Bourne Identity in it's entirety. Now having sat down and forced myself I now understand. I'm sorry it might be a realistic spy movie but it has SERIOUS pacing issues.

Takeshi-K This espionage movie is the first in the series of Jason Bourne films based on the popular coterie of books of the same name. They succeed where the current James Bond films fail. While Daniel Craig's sociopath Bond wallows in self loathing and psychopathy, the emotional sub plot in the Jason Bourne films are direct, focused and sensible.It makes sense for a man that has lost his memory to desperately try and figure out who he is, even without highly trained assassins dogging his every move. Throughout the series, he attempts to make amends for his nefarious espionage past and in doing so, blazes a path toward redemption. Having read two of the originals books this series is based upon, I can say that the Jason Bourne character is actually better fleshed out in the films and no doubt intellectual actor Matt Damon had a lot to do with that. This is an excellent action espionage series of films.

CinemaCocoa I imagine a lot of people forget the more humble, stealthy experience that is the beginning of the Bourne story.When a man is found afloat in the ocean he finds he has no memory of who he is. When a shadowy covert operation begins to send assassins after him and watch his every move, terrible truths are revealed as he is on the run.Having enjoyed films like The Fugitive, The Bourne Identity was a natural progression for me, it is probably a massively underrated film especially since its own series got so bombastic. Identity is such a moody, quiet and real experience. Damon plays a very subtle character in Jason Bourne; a man who has no identity to define himself with, but has hard truths to find answers for. The film is not exposition heavy, even when it frequently bounces from our hero to the men hunting him, it maintains a strong sense of tension and mystery without ruining it with blatancy or over explaining everything. Something action movies do far too often. Directed by Doug Liman (not Paul Greengrass, who would continue the series) and scored by John Powell, the film is drenched in a great atmosphere of tension and puzzle solving.The characters too are compellingly human, everyone is performing extremely well here, Brian Cox, Chris Cooper and Franka Potente, Clive Owen is even briefly in this well cast film. No one feels out of place, unnecessary or poorly written.The action sequences are great too. From what I remember of Greengrass' follow-up Supremacy there was a lot of shaky cam, and I was surprised at the lack of shaky cam in this movie. Sequences are very well shot, giving kinetic weight yet not loosing the audience in the process (and this was after Gladiator, when everyone wanted to do shaky-cam!) There's an awesome car chase too involving Bourne escaping in an old Mini Cooper, very memorable stuff.All in all The Bourne Identity is a superb and solid action thriller that took everyone by surprise, propelling one of the biggest action/espionage franchises since Bond forward.