The Bourne Identity

Superficially the 2002 Matt Damon movie is better as far as action and pacing goes and I almost passed this by seeing that Richard Chamberlain (not my favourite actor) is in it. But this is a very well made and watchable version (though slow paced). What I found most striking was that the lead characters are played by adults and it was obviously made with that audience in mind. It's supposedly truer to the original book as well. It's not quite a classic but better than I expected and a reminder of how movies (even those made for tv) used to have substance - as opposed to just being a series of strung together action sequences.

Filmed in Europe, the story is based on a classic Robert Ludlum novel. This made for TV movie is better than the average TV fare. Originally a two part mini-series, it tends to have some periods where it drags with too much interplay between the stars but it still contains the usual amount of Ludlum action, suspense and his keen senss of scenery. Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith are supported by a fine European cast which includes Anthony Quayle and Denholm Elliott. Well worth your time. A collectors movie.

In light of its recent availability on tape and DVD (circa Sept 2002) and this year's film version there is likely to be some curiosity among movie fans about the merits of this tv movie. Here is my opinion on whether you should spend 3hours on this movie.

If you can get past Chamberlain as the hero of Ludlum's complex thriller, you will certainly enjoy the movie. The script adaptation by Carol Sobieski is very faithful to the book and it takes time to develop the romantic relationship between Bourne and Marie (a relationship that is key to the plot and to the book's sequels). Although this might discourage action fans, the complexity of the plot and the manner by which the script unfolds it, is in my opinion, very well done. The music score by Laurence Rosenthal is especially good and is not the usual tv film drek. The score is alternately eerie, menacing and moody and suitably atmospheric. The European locations are well shot by camera ace Tony Pierce-Roberts. The film looks good. The acting by a great team of seasoned pros is uniformly good (not a ham in sight!)

Some might find the key plot device---the chase for carlos---anachronistic but i think it resonates well even today when there is no shortage of villains to chase on the global stage. So savor the 188 minutes of exciting complex talespinning by an A-Team of technical crew and seasoned actors.

Incidentally the romance is largely thrown away in the 2002 film. In that version, the female lead does not figure in the development of the plot beyond acting as a device to get the hero from point A to point B. I found the intimacy depicted in the 2002 film to be rather shallow. And the film itself despite some substantial thrills and modern violence is largely unsatisfying as a result in comparison to this tv film. For a good example of excellent balance of romance and action watch how Peter Jackson (of Lord of the rings movie fame) develops the romance between Michael Fox and Trini Alvarado in the Frighteners.

If you have read the Robert Ludlum books then you have no doubt been disappointed by the way the story has been handled in the movies.

This TV mini series keeps much closer to the book than the film.

If that were the only good part about this, I would not be writing a review.

It does not have the action of the films but it has the tension of the book. It is gripping!!

Obviously it still cuts some part from the book but it does have so much more than the films.

The acting is good, to be expected from the great cast.

I am so glad that I watched this. I was so disappointed by the films until I gave up and disconnected them from the books.

Brilliant stuff and well worth watching!!!

"The Bourne Identity" (1988) is a faithful recreation of Robert Ludlum's book about an amnesiac slowly (in a very long book) discovering who he is. The supporting cast is dotted with veterans that make the movie come to life during their brief parts: Denholm Elliott, Anthony Quayle, Peter Vaughan, James Faulkner.

The stars strain to carry the movie. Jaclyn Smith is immensely watchable, though her range is limited. Richard Chamberlain is a fine actor, but, perhaps because of insufficient rehearsal time or because he was never able to find a character who didn't know who he was, he comes off with the range of Bill Bixby, though that keeps him from burying Smith. In the end, Chamberlain may be much too nice for the character, but he's a likable actor and she's a likable actress and they make a pretty pair.

Because it was originally a two-part television drama, the 1988 "Bourne" has sufficient time to let the story unfold, as well as to build the unlikely relationship between Chamberlain's character and Smith's. It also gives the supporting characters flesh out their meager parts. After a slam-bang first hour, the movie settles into a more leisurely pace (that occasionally drags), that builds again into an exciting final hour.

The possible overplotting, as well as the outright absurdities (such as the truth of Treadstone 21) are squarely to be laid at Ludlum's door. And though it's quite faithful to Ludlum, the setting of the climax makes this movie version far more poignant than Ludlum himself was capable of.

"The Bourne Identity" has the technology of '80s television, so newcomers shouldn't expect contemporary sensibilities. It may not be as exciting as the remake, but it has a solid storyline.