134 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

What I'm driving at is that you can't keep having films in which Bourne is still suffering from amnesia, and still living as a fugitive, and still being menaced by CIA and other figures from his past.

Or maybe you can. I dunno. I s'pose there are plenty of franchises in which it's all essentially the same thing every time out. Look at the Rockys, for instance - apart from the first film, it's always just challenge - training - Rocky wins.

[Roebuck]

Personally I feel a great strength of the Bourne movies is how open it

[Simon]

......... in which Bourne is still suffering from amnesia, and still living as a fugitive, and still being menaced by CIA ...........

Ah, gotcha.

I see.

In which case then, you're absolutely correct.

[H.M.Servant]

I find it strange that people would compare the Bourne Series to Bond. They're two entirely different things. I don't think CR will be anything like the Bourne films.

Two entirely different things? Both have the same initials. They are both Goverment agents(trained; former, in the case of Bourne)and are skilled in the black arts(espionage,assassination,combat,emergency driving...etc.).Both are well traveled and speak numerous languages...Ludlum blantantly used Bond as a model for Bourne and threw in the 'situation drama' of amnesia to give it a niche in the genre.I'd say they are very similiar or at least worthy of comparison. I'd like to see Bond do more stuff like Bourne in terms of demonstrating his trade craft and using his mind rather than his gagets to get out of tight spots.For that reason I think Bourne is the more interesting/compelling screen hero...Let's hope Casino Royale changes that.

Bourne is the more interesting and compelling screen hero?

There is no comparing the Bond series to the Bourne films. If you want the Bond films to be more serious, I think you're kinda missing the point.
The Bond films are a joke.

In the Bond films you get jet packs, Aston Martin's that fire rockets and have ejector seats, girls with names like 'pussy galore' and 'honey'
Henchmen like Jaws and Odd job, who work for a diabolacle madman who want to rule the world from a hollowed out volcano. And best of all you get a dashing and sophisticated British secret agent, who'll save the world and get the girl.
That's the joke, and they've been doing it for 40 years.
Doesn't reallly compare to the last two Bourne films IMO.

[Harmsway]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

[Gabe Vieira]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

Yes, I read it earlier today. Great review, to bad I can't say the same for the movie. I haven't read the books but I loved the movies, so if the next one bad, I'll be mad. And LatinoReview is a very reliable site for movie info and they give great script reviews that you couldn't find anywhere else. He gave the Halo movie an A and Splinter Cell an A-, and I can't wit for those two movies. They're, like, two or even three years away from hitting theaters. Damn.

[Harmsway]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

Yes, I read it earlier today. Great review, to bad I can't say the same for the movie. I haven't read the books but I loved the movies, so if the next one bad, I'll be mad. And LatinoReview is a very reliable site for movie info and they give great script reviews that you couldn't find anywhere else. He gave the Halo movie an A and Splinter Cell an A-, and I can't wit for those two movies. They're, like, two or even three years away from hitting theaters. Damn.

We'll see about HALO and SPLINTER CELL. If they're good, they'll be the first good video game movies. Ever. I have high hopes for HALO after that script review, as well as the involvement of Peter Jackson as producer and (potentially) Guillermo del Toro as director.

SPLINTER CELL, though, I'm not as confident about.

[Gabe Vieira]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

Yes, I read it earlier today. Great review, to bad I can't say the same for the movie. I haven't read the books but I loved the movies, so if the next one bad, I'll be mad. And LatinoReview is a very reliable site for movie info and they give great script reviews that you couldn't find anywhere else. He gave the Halo movie an A and Splinter Cell an A-, and I can't wit for those two movies. They're, like, two or even three years away from hitting theaters. Damn.

We'll see about HALO and SPLINTER CELL. If they're good, they'll be the first good video game movies. Ever. I have high hopes for HALO after that script review, as well as the involvement of Peter Jackson as producer and (potentially) Guillermo del Toro as director.

SPLINTER CELL, though, I'm not as confident about.

I thought that Resident Evil was pretty good, but I felt like killing myself after watching the sequel. Peter Jackson was repoted saying that Halo will be the first really good video game movie. With Peter Jackson producing, it better be good but I would love to see him direct it. Halo is just so epic. And I really want Splinter Cell to be good coause I love the games, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach.

[Harmsway]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

Yes, I read it earlier today. Great review, to bad I can't say the same for the movie. I haven't read the books but I loved the movies, so if the next one bad, I'll be mad. And LatinoReview is a very reliable site for movie info and they give great script reviews that you couldn't find anywhere else. He gave the Halo movie an A and Splinter Cell an A-, and I can't wit for those two movies. They're, like, two or even three years away from hitting theaters. Damn.

We'll see about HALO and SPLINTER CELL. If they're good, they'll be the first good video game movies. Ever. I have high hopes for HALO after that script review, as well as the involvement of Peter Jackson as producer and (potentially) Guillermo del Toro as director.

SPLINTER CELL, though, I'm not as confident about.

I thought that Resident Evil was pretty good, but I felt like killing myself after watching the sequel. Peter Jackson was repoted saying that Halo will be the first really good video game movie. With Peter Jackson producing, it better be good but I would love to see him direct it. Halo is just so epic. And I really want Splinter Cell to be good coause I love the games, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Well Peter definitely came out and said he's not directing. He'd be a solid director for it, but the man's exhausted after years of straight filming (LOTR and KONG back-to-back). So I'm hoping for Guillermo - he could really do a great job, too.

[Simon]

On Bourne, I'd be happy for Greengrass to return, albeit with perhaps a slightly less shaky DP.

As for the review, we knew at the end of Supremacy that his real name was David Webb - this knowledge is not dependent on reading the books.

[marktmurphy]

On Bourne, I'd be happy for Greengrass to return, albeit with perhaps a slightly less shaky DP.

True- I liked the style and it worked fine on DVD, but on the big screen it was just a little headache-inducing!

[Loomis]

Some new news! A script review is up over at LatinoReview (some spoilers, but nothing earth shattering): Bourne Ultimatum Script Review

It seems that Gilroy's script isn't that great. True, it's early on in the scripting process, as the reviewer points out, but nothing about the story gets me excited. It does seem quite boring indeed.

The "no love interest" comment is interesting. I was convinced that Bourne and Nicky would become lovers in ULTIMATUM. Don't care for the journalist idea - apart from anything else, it seems ludicrous that some hack has been on Bourne's trail all this time ("....and for the next 12 pages, Simon Ross basically sums up the events of the 1st 2 Bourne films" - erm, really necessary [or likely to be exciting]?). Presumably, the "shoot out in Moscow" is a reference to the climax of SUPREMACY (although it was, of course, more of a car chase), in which case it looks as though the bit in the pharmacy will be, as it were, a flashback. Which for some reason (okay, I'm not really applying any logic to this) seems a bit odd.

And why make it the last film in the series? There's plenty of mileage left in Bourne - just look at how they've spun out "The Sopranos", "24", ROCKY, etc., etc., and, of course, Bond. The Bourne franchise is only just getting going - why end it so soon? Even if Damon doesn't want to do more than one more (or becomes too expensive for more than one more), why not get someone like Rikki Lee Travolta in and milk it a while longer?

Still, the locations sound good (although I wish they'd take the action out of Europe and the States more), and if ULTIMATUM turns out to be only half as good as the other two it'll be superb.

[Simon]

On Bourne, I'd be happy for Greengrass to return, albeit with perhaps a slightly less shaky DP.

True- I liked the style and it worked fine on DVD, but on the big screen it was just a little headache-inducing!

Yup - I normally try to sit in the middle of the middle of the screen for a theatre showing.

This particular film should perhaps have been enjoyed by sitting on the very furthest back row.

I'm sure reviews of the next film will alert viewers as to whether the same (to quote Mr*) Shakin McTremble DP was on duty again so, forewarned will be fore-sat-at-the-back.

[marktmurphy]

I usually do sit towards the back, and I'm afraid it wasn't nice there either! Didn't ruin the film or anything, though, so I'm sure it'll be okay.

[spynovelfan]

And why make it the last film in the series? There's plenty of mileage left in Bourne - just look at how they've spun out "The Sopranos", "24", ROCKY, etc., etc., and, of course, Bond. The Bourne franchise is only just getting going - why end it so soon? Even if Damon doesn't want to do more than one more (or becomes too expensive for more than one more), why not get someone like Rikki Lee Travolta in and milk it a while longer?

Very funny.

I think the actor would probably have to be a little less famous than Damon - I don't think Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe or George Clooney would want to do this. But not so much less famous. If you cast someone like Rikki Lee Travolta, it risks becoming just another action series, or like the films Pierce Brosnan did before he became Bond and those TV movies with Rob Lowe. I think they have to be fairly well known and have some serious acting chops for it to maintain the momentum and feel of the series.

How to get round continuity and repetition would also need to be looked at. One solution might be for the main character to be another agent than Bourne. You could do this by introducing the other agent in the final Bourne film. Say he's called Latimer - he could be a little like the Russian guy in SUPREMACY, but American, and more like Bourne. With other problems, perhaps: hard to maintain many films with an amnesiac. The plot of the final Bourne film would involve Latimer, and the ending would segue into a new trilogy: THE LATIMER PROPHECY and so on.

On the basis of the above, I would look at Aaron Eckhart:


And Jason Patric:


Both are superb actors, have starred in thrillers (SUSPECT ZERO and NARC respectively), and would be drawn to darker intelligent scripts. It's a risky strategy replacing an actor - look at Patric replacing Keanu Reeves in SPEED 2 - but I think it could work if handled with care.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Hmmmm looks promising...Bourne, on the run,solving a mystery, pursued by super trained assassins around the world...what would one expect from a Bourne thriller?

btw, this reviewer isn't very sharp.

[Loomis]

And why make it the last film in the series? There's plenty of mileage left in Bourne - just look at how they've spun out "The Sopranos", "24", ROCKY, etc., etc., and, of course, Bond. The Bourne franchise is only just getting going - why end it so soon? Even if Damon doesn't want to do more than one more (or becomes too expensive for more than one more), why not get someone like Rikki Lee Travolta in and milk it a while longer?

Very funny.

I think the actor would probably have to be a little less famous than Damon - I don't think Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe or George Clooney would want to do this. But not so much less famous. If you cast someone like Rikki Lee Travolta, it risks becoming just another action series, or like the films Pierce Brosnan did before he became Bond and those TV movies with Rob Lowe. I think they have to be fairly well known and have some serious acting chops for it to maintain the momentum and feel of the series.

How to get round continuity and repetition would also need to be looked at. One solution might be for the main character to be another agent than Bourne. You could do this by introducing the other agent in the final Bourne film. Say he's called Latimer - he could be a little like the Russian guy in SUPREMACY, but American, and more like Bourne. With other problems, perhaps: hard to maintain many films with an amnesiac. The plot of the final Bourne film would involve Latimer, and the ending would segue into a new trilogy: THE LATIMER PROPHECY and so on.

On the basis of the above, I would look at Aaron Eckhart:


And Jason Patric:


Both are superb actors, have starred in thrillers (SUSPECT ZERO and NARC respectively), and would be drawn to darker intelligent scripts. It's a risky strategy replacing an actor - look at Patric replacing Keanu Reeves in SPEED 2 - but I think it could work if handled with care.

I think we agreed a while back that Wentworth Miller might be a decent Bourne. And I also reckon Kiefer Sutherland could do it. Sure, he's Jack Bauer right now (and always will be, of course), but then again he's not really a film star so much as a TV one. Leave it a few years, and it could be like Moore becoming Bond after having been The Saint. Maybe Kevin Bacon, although he's a little too old now.

I think you'd need someone who was a Damon type in some ways (which Clooney definitely isn't, although I realise that you're not advocating him): vulnerable yet paradoxically appearing capable of being a fearsome weapon; brooding and taciturn yet able to seem charming, smooth and highly intelligent; somewhat boyish looks, and so on.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I don't need another Bourne film sans Damon. I hope they make one more great film and quit while they're ahead.

[Loomis]

A small update on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, as well as - appropriately enough for this thread - INDIANA JONES 4 (beware an ULTIMATUM spoiler that I predicted as a plot development in the next film even when I was halfway through watching SUPREMACY for the first time):

http://www.darkhoriz...s06/060109n.php

A 1 August start of shooting for ULTIMATUM means that we should start hearing about directors soon, and possibly that a teaser will be playing in cinemas along with CASINO ROYALE.

[Harmsway]

Ugh. I hope INDY IV doesn't make it.

[Tarl_Cabot]

A small update on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, as well as - appropriately enough for this thread - INDIANA JONES 4 (beware an ULTIMATUM spoiler that I predicted as a plot development in the next film even when I was halfway through watching SUPREMACY for the first time):

http://www.darkhoriz...s06/060109n.php

A 1 August start of shooting for ULTIMATUM means that we should start hearing about directors soon, and possibly that a teaser will be playing in cinemas along with CASINO ROYALE.

Wow, you did call that! But that laddie a pint!


She would be a very understanding girlfiend/lover/wife/whatever for him.

[The Dove]

Wow this is good news about Bourne Ultimatum!! According to Matt Damon, Paul Greengrass is interested in returning to direct, so I hope that it works out.. Also, it looks like John Powell will be doing the score again (according to IMDB.com) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440963/fullcredits

[Qwerty]

I'm looking much more forward to Jurassic Park IV and The Bourne Ultimatum than Indy IV. It's been such a wait for that one and nothing is really grabbing me to look forward to it.

[Harmsway]

I'm looking much more forward to Jurassic Park IV and The Bourne Ultimatum than Indy IV. It's been such a wait for that one and nothing is really grabbing me to look forward to it.

I'm not looking forward to JP4 either. The first one was fine, the second one was mindless entertainment, but the third was awful. And the rumored concepts for 4 have been embarassing. We're already on dino burnout as is (KING KONG took it about as far as it can go, IMO).

[Qwerty]

I recently watched all three of the Jurassic Park films and found that I really enjoyed them all (even the third). They definitely went down in quality with each successive film, but I think there is potential for a fourth.

[Loomis]

http://actionadventu...0805bourne3.htm

Great news that Greengrass is directing. The return of Joan Allen and Julia Stiles - well, what a surprise (Pamela Landy is evidently shaping up as the Judi Dench M to Bourne's Bond). The reference to "some fresh new characters, a couple of baddies" suggests that the formula of the other two films - which aren't exactly short of people - will be followed.

Not excited by the ending, though. Frankly, I don't want Bourne to "get to a place of Nirvana and a place of satisfaction", "feel good about himself" and "sail off into the sunset". But that may be because it all sounds very cheesy when put like that. I guess we can trust Damon, Gilroy, Greengrass, Marshall and co. to carry off a happy conclusion to the trilogy (and, yes, it looks as though this'll be the final outing for Bourne) with the same class and coolness that's apparent throughout IDENTITY and SUPREMACY.

BTW, imagine Barbara Broccoli or Michael G. Wilson saying: "Purvis and Wade have made up another incredible story. It's really, really out there but it's incredible." Bond fans would go beserk! (But not with enthusiasm.)

[Tarl_Cabot]

http://actionadventu...0805bourne3.htm

Great news that Greengrass is directing. The return of Joan Allen and Julia Stiles - well, what a surprise (Pamela Landy is evidently shaping up as the Judi Dench M to Bourne's Bond). The reference to "some fresh new characters, a couple of baddies" suggests that the formula of the other two films - which aren't exactly short of people - will be followed.

Not excited by the ending, though. Frankly, I don't want Bourne to "get to a place of Nirvana and a place of satisfaction", "feel good about himself" and "sail off into the sunset". But that may be because it all sounds very cheesy when put like that. I guess we can trust Damon, Gilroy, Greengrass, Marshall and co. to carry off a happy conclusion to the trilogy (and, yes, it looks as though this'll be the final outing for Bourne) with the same class and coolness that's apparent throughout IDENTITY and SUPREMACY.

BTW, imagine Barbara Broccoli or Michael G. Wilson saying: "Purvis and Wade have made up another incredible story. It's really, really out there but it's incredible." Bond fans would go beserk! (But not with enthusiasm.)

I'm overjoyed. I want Bourne to be a trilogy. I don't wanna see a Rocky V (I pray for 'Balboa to rock) or Last Crusade happen to Bourne. Let's just end it on a high note.

[The Dove]

Yeah, I agree with that Tarl.. You gotta know when to say enough is enough. Look at the Star Trek movie franchise.. The last really great movie was First Contact.. Maybe they should have ended it after that one, instead of having the only-so-so Insurrection and dreadfully bad Nemesis.. (thats just my opinion..)

[Qwerty]

http://actionadventu...0805bourne3.htm

Great news that Greengrass is directing. The return of Joan Allen...

I loved Allen in the second one. Good to hear about Greengrass as well.

[Tarl_Cabot]

http://www.chud.com/

Part 2 of Paul Greengrass' interview.