The Bourne Ultimatum (Now w/ Poll!)

[The Todd]

Nowadays, it's just superhero chicks with tight tshirts, plunging necklines and 3" heels.

Now we're talking The Todd's language!

(Guys, steer away from this comment, I'm trying to make a valid point here).

D'Oh! Too late.....

[Maui]

Nowadays, it's just superhero chicks with tight tshirts, plunging necklines and 3" heels.

Now we're talking The Todd's language!

(Guys, steer away from this comment, I'm trying to make a valid point here).

D'Oh! Too late.....

There goes that radar again.

[Pacino86845]

Your AV reminded me: I'd go so far as to say that Milla Jovovich (sp?) could be convincing... true I didn't get much out of Resident Evil or Messenger, but she was pretty solid as a "physical" actor. Don't need to say anything about Linda Hamilton (well, she doesn't fit the bill nowadays) or Hilary Swank, do I?

And of course, the very awesome Jessica Biel looks like she could sidekick The Thing through another The Thing... she does have the Hollywood "hot chick" thing going on though, but judging from the trailer for Blade Trinity she seemed to be taking the fighting bits really seriously.

Michelle Rodriguez has been disqualified from any mention due to her attitude/identity crisis problems.

I don't know, I need to think about this some more.

[Maui]

And of course, the very awesome Jessica Biel looks like she could sidekick The Thing through another The Thing... she does have the Hollywood "hot chick" thing going on though, but judging from the trailer for Blade Trinity she seemed to be taking the fighting bits really seriously.

Yeah, I agree. Biel has both - good looks and kick ass moves.

[Pacino86845]

I'm hoping you voted Jessica Biel as your favorite "Jessica" among famous Jessicas... an idea that was eventually stolen from me by some douchebag of a website. La revolucion is suffering...

[Maui]

I'm hoping you voted Jessica Biel as your favorite "Jessica" among famous Jessicas... an idea that was eventually stolen from me by some douchebag of a website. La revolucion is suffering...

Well I actually voted for Jessica Tandy. Yes, I know she wasn't in the list, but such a dear ole soul. Yeah, I picked Biel. I like her as she isn't a sissy - she is very active in sports, etc. Like a beautiful tomboy actress.

[Ribbons]

Saw the movie today, it was quite great. I like how Bourne is kind of like the pacifist ass-kicker; it reminds me of Jet Li's character in Unleashed in a couple ways.

The car chase scene was brutal but very short, probably because of how hard it is to film in NYC. But every other action sequence is long and cleverly constructed. The camera moves around quite a bit, obviously, but as long as you're paying attention it's easy enough to tell what's going on.

I really liked Greengrass's decision to use so many visual cues from the first film, in addition to the second film, which he directed; it helps tie the series together. The last shot, in particular, was inspired.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Damn, is the car chase that short really?!

That's a shame. Bourne so far has prided itself on long cool car chases.

How was the Waterloo overground/underground foot chase, anyone? I was there when they filmed part of that, and heard loads cool stories of them filming other parts of it too. Like a bit of a car crash/skidding halt plus a quick fight outside Waterloo London train station.

Also, how shaky cammisoley is Bourne Free (3) compared to Bourne Again (part 2)?

[Ribbons]

The scene at Waterloo is very cool. I just wish I knew you were in there somewhere going in, I totally would have looked for you.

I don't remember exactly how much shakycam action there was in Supremacy, but it looks like the camera is handheld for pretty much every scene Ultimatum, so I'd guess it's probably about the same in this one, or maybe a little bit less.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Thanks Ribbons!

How long is that car chase then?

The bit I'm in is amongst a large crowd of commuters in the Underground as Bourne is chasing after a guy. Bourne is running along the train platform and down to the bottom of an escalotor then running on the ground. I'm there somewhere - wearing a black jacket similar to Bourne himself!

Can you actually see the fights properly in this then?

[Hollywood_Bob]

Thanks Ribbons!

How long is that car chase then?

The bit I'm in is amongst a large crowd of commuters in the Underground as Bourne is chasing after a guy. Bourne is running along the train platform and down to the bottom of an escalotor then running on the ground. I'm there somewhere - wearing a black jacket similar to Bourne himself!

Can you actually see the fights properly in this then?

Yep the fight sequences are done exceptionally well I thought. And just a note for you kirk the chase near the escelaters is shot very clean so you should be able to see ourself in the jacket

[Ribbons]

The bit I'm in is amongst a large crowd of commuters in the Underground as Bourne is chasing after a guy. Bourne is running along the train platform and down to the bottom of an escalotor then running on the ground. I'm there somewhere - wearing a black jacket similar to Bourne himself!

A-ha! I know the bit of which you speak. Will have to look for you next time I see it.

Can you actually see the fights properly in this then?

For the most part. There's actually a pretty awesome fight scene in Waterloo where Bourne takes on 5 guys or so.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Thanks guys! Man I well wanna see this film now! These scenes sound well cool, especially the 5 man fight!!!! You always hear a little tit bit about them filming a bi of this or that on these movies in London and it's hard not to think 'oh yeah whatever, it could be anything', but when you hear about what really happens in the scene you kinda go apesh*it fot it!

Oh and Matt Damon again, seemed like a normal ordinary nice cheerful guy too!

Roll on next week when I can see the film!

When was the last time we had a hat trick of successful films, 3 in a row? LOTR aside.

[tapehead]

Pirates of the Caribbean?






well... you did say 'successful.'

[Ribbons]

When was the last time we had a hat trick of successful films, 3 in a row? LOTR aside.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I meant, when was the last time we had a hat trick of equally GREAT fil.... oh forget it.

[Pacino86845]

Hey, I liked the Pirates series!!

What about Alien, Aliens, Alien 3? That was a pretty solid trilogy, IMO.

[Chilli]

Back To The Future?

[Pacino86845]

Back to the Future and Indiana Jones suffered from rather derivative third parts... a similar argument might be made about Alien 3, but Fincher brought a decent amount of style that made the film seem refreshing even though the premise was quite similar to the first.

[Chilli]

Good point on trying something new, but I really hate Alien 3. Like, completely, even though its not a complete copy of Alien/Aliens.

[Pacino86845]

Well I guess it's off of your list then, LOL!! I quite liked it, and have seen it about three or four times. On top of that the videogame adaptation for the SNES was totally badass! Prolly one of the best movie videogame adaptations ever, no? Hello? Anyone?

[tapehead]

Rocky, Rocky II and Rocky III - that settles it.

[Chilli]

Well I guess it's off of your list then, LOL!! I quite liked it, and have seen it about three or four times. On top of that the videogame adaptation for the SNES was totally badass! Prolly one of the best movie videogame adaptations ever, no? Hello? Anyone?

I didn't want to hate it, but while watching it I couldn't even remotely get into it. It felt like I was watching the devolution of an entire series right before my eyes, the point where a piece of cinema is just dying in a horribly slow way. And I've been on record saying I wasn't a fan of Alien, but that's nothing to do with the film so much as having to do with me being unable to view it the way it should be viewed, because of nearly thirty years of hype. I've only recently been able to view Jaws as it was originally viewed, so there's hope for Alien. Alien 3? Not much hope. Its not even so bad its good for me, its just atrocious. Fincher is a damn fine director, but I have to say the thing I'm most proud of is that he disowned that piece of shit.

Course, then AVP came along.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Rocky, Rocky II and Rocky III - that settles it.

Oh yeah yeah but but then Rocky 4 and 5 came out and thus applied a mathematical mean over them thereby rendering them as only fractions of a solid whole themselves, as it introduced them as parts of an overall series something or other, therefore er, they no longer count. Anyway those films were over 40 years ago or summat like that, so er, yeah! Long time ago ya knohw?

Anyway, even the latest remake made it all go tits up again with the new actors introduced, so it makes it even worse.....

[Chilli]

Evil Dead.

[Maui]

Going to see this today!

Woot! Woot!!

[tapehead]

Evil Dead.

oh yeah -

The Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
and
Army of Darkness


Three in a row, all very good.

[Maui]

********************SPOILERS*****************






The Bourne trilogy ends with the best of Jason globe trotting, roof jumping and outsmarting the CIA. This is just action-packed from beginning to end.

To give you an idea of just how good this movie is, I had a large cu p of coffee before the movie. My bladder was about to burst half way through. Did I get up and sprint to the bathroom and knock over people in my way? This is the first time, in Maui Movie History, that I have not gotten up to go the bathroom. The Bourne Ultimatum was THAT GOOD!


The tie ins to Supremacy are clearly there. The movie starts off where Supremacy ended. A rather beaten up Bourne is running from Russian police. He is having constant recollections of his Treadstone past and still suffering the loss of Marie.

Joan Allen is back in fine form as Pamela Landy. She is everything that I would envision a female CIA agent to be. She is intelligent, bitchy and to the point. She also has her sensitive side, which shines through with her sympathy and understanding towards Bourne’s situation. She is the last of the ethical CIA agents hunting down Bourne.

Julia Stiles returns as Nicky Parsons. I always felt there were some underlying feelings her character had towards Bourne. This became more apparent in Ultimatum. It is insinuated that there was a relationship between her and Bourne, but that is where it stops. A smart move. The story needs to stay on track with Bourne’s quest for the truth about his past – not go in a different direction with a subplot of Nicky and Jason revisiting their possible romantic history. This would have been a bad twist that I would not have welcomed. Also, at the end of the movie, we see Nicky in a bar, drinking a beer, watching the news. There is that little pang, I’m sure we all felt, is Bourne going to appear over her shoulder? Again, another smart move - this would have been too similar to Identity, with Jason appearing at the oceanside shop surprising Marie. They played it right in this movie.

One thing I love about the Bourne movies is they actually go on location. They film in London, Madrid, Tangier, Paris, and New York City. The beginning scene is set at the Waterloo Station. This was just a phenomenal scene and a top notch way to start the action flowing in the movie. Bourne is communicating through a “pay as you goâ€

[minstrel]

OK! OK! I'm seeing it at 6:50pm tonight!

I watched Identity and Supremacy back to back last night to prepare. I'm looking forward to this!

[burlivesleftnut]

Yeah Maui, Finney's character was totally creepy and his voice was weird, but I think that was done on purpose. He almost was the decaying ethics of the CIA incarnate.

[Ribbons]

Then, we have Bourne jumping rooftops as though each roof has a trampoline type surface. Love this!!!

You're talking about the foot chase in Tangier, right? I loved how you could hear the balconies groan when Bourne stepped on them too; I thought that was a nice touch by whoever mixed the sound.

[Maui]

You're talking about the foot chase in Tangier, right? I loved how you could hear the balconies groan when Bourne stepped on them too; I thought that was a nice touch by whoever mixed the sound.

Yup - Tangier! Foley sound did the mixing. I stayed to see that in the credit.

[Maui]

Yeah Maui, Finney's character was totally creepy and his voice was weird, but I think that was done on purpose. He almost was the decaying ethics of the CIA incarnate.

Ok, half of me was leaning that way (your thoughts) and the other half was thinking something else...

[burlivesleftnut]

And that was... ?

[Maui]

One more thing, why would Bourne alert them that he is in the CIA office getting the highly classified information from their safe? Hello everyone in CIA, I'm in your building.



I guess he is a smartass and likes to prove how good he actually is.


Ah, heck, I'll work with it. LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! 8)

[MasterWhedon]

Poll added!

Love how this movie mirrors elements of the first two, all to provide a nice sense of closure for the series. Damon and Greengrass are the fucking men.

9/10

[Maui]

10/10

[burlivesleftnut]

1007/10!

[TonyWilson]

You're talking about the foot chase in Tangier, right? I loved how you could hear the balconies groan when Bourne stepped on them too; I thought that was a nice touch by whoever mixed the sound.

Yup - Tangier! Foley sound did the mixing. I stayed to see that in the credit.

A girl who stays and checks for the sound mixing credits?


Swooooon!

[Maui]

You're talking about the foot chase in Tangier, right? I loved how you could hear the balconies groan when Bourne stepped on them too; I thought that was a nice touch by whoever mixed the sound.

Yup - Tangier! Foley sound did the mixing. I stayed to see that in the credit.

A girl who stays and checks for the sound mixing credits?


Swooooon!

hahahah. Credits are important you know. I enjoy seeing all that stuff. I didn't know there was such a thing as Ludlum Entertainment til today.

[TonyWilson]

Hahaha, I re-watched Supremacy last week and just noticed that too. Seems like a pretty small comapny though. Just these three films and that's it.

I have a friend who was a foley artist and worked on some tv shows a few years back. He had one of the most fun jobs ever from what he said.

[Maui]

I just loved the ending - how he floats completely still in the water, while they flash to CIA courtroom scenes, then to news coverage, then Nicky in the bar, then back to Bourne still floating, then Nicky grins as she hears no sign of Bourne's body has been found! Bourne's body moves in the water.



ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!

[Maui]

Hahaha, I re-watched Supremacy last week and just noticed that too. Seems like a pretty small comapny though. Just these three films and that's it.

I have a friend who was a foley artist and worked on some tv shows a few years back. He had one of the most fun jobs ever from what he said.

I believe they used Foley mixing for Ratatouille as well.

[Maui]

I have a friend who was a foley artist and worked on some tv shows a few years back. He had one of the most fun jobs ever from what he said.

Wow, I have a friend who used to work as a sound engineer. She says the foley stage is one of her favourite places.

[Maui]

OK! OK! I'm seeing it at 6:50pm tonight!

I watched Identity and Supremacy back to back last night to prepare. I'm looking forward to this!

*Maui is tapping her foot, waiting for Squirrelly's review - hoping he enjoyed the movie as much as she did!*

[The Todd]

I have nothing to say. Just wanted to break the monotony of Maui posting eleventy billion times in a row.

Did anything happen in Ultimatum that reminded you of something that happened in another movie?

[Maui]

I have nothing to say. Just wanted to break the monotony of Maui posting eleventy billion times in a row.

Did anything happen in Ultimatum that reminded you of something that happened in another movie?

Well, yes, flashbacks of Marie reminded me of Supremacy and Identity. Does that help?

BRAT

[minstrel]

Well, it was damn good. I don’t think it was super-great, but it was damn good.

I hope there aren't any real spoilers in what follows.

The Bad: The villains were cardboard-cutout clichés. David Strathairn played his part well, but it was very underwritten. Same with Scott Glenn and Albert Finney.
Also, if you don’t like shaky-cam, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!! This raises shaky-cam to heights heretofore unimagined.

The Good: Matt Damon. His Bourne is phenomenal. Baddest badass since Rambo, and perhaps badder. I love how Bourne is totally cold-blooded when he is in action – no trace of emotion appears on his face in the fights or any of the tense spots. He only allows himself to betray emotion when he is at rest, which is very rarely.
Also, the editing is a virtuoso tour-de-force. Something is wrong if this film doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for editing.

As far as the plot is concerned, it’s nothing special. It really couldn’t be, seeing as how this film has to wrap up a trilogy, which means we have to see Bourne going back to the CIA to find out about himself, in spite of the fact that everybody doesn’t want him there. So, as far as that goes, it was very predictable.
But this film is carried off with amazing skill, and does a great job of ratcheting up the tension. It’s a very exciting film and leaves you breathless. And I guess that’s all the filmmakers really wanted to do with it, so it’s a complete success.
I give it 8.5 out of 10.

[Maui]

Well, it was damn good. I don’t think it was super-great, but it was damn good.

Glad you liked it!!!

David Strathairn played his part well, but it was very underwritten. Same with Scott Glenn and Albert Finney.

Especially Glenn and Finney. I think they likely had about 10 minutes each air time.

no trace of emotion appears on his face in the fights or any of the tense spots. He only allows himself to betray emotion when he is at rest, which is very rarely.

Rarely cracks a smile, although what's to smile about, eh? He does this very well.

It’s a very exciting film and leaves you breathless. And I guess that’s all the filmmakers really wanted to do with it, so it’s a complete success.

This is what I absolutely loved about this film. It is so freakin' exciting. It does leave you breathless, very well put.

[minstrel]

You know, when I saw Bourne Identity, I didn't really think Matt Damon could pull off an action hero part like this. He was too baby-faced, too boyish looking. He acted the part very well, but to me, he didn't really LOOK the part.

In Ultimatum, he looks the part. He looks harder, icier. Damon has figured out Bourne's facial expression: open, alert right eye, slight Eastwood squinting left eye. He LOOKS dangerous. He's still Damon, but a Damon who can kill without a thought, and has done so many times. Damon's performance is a masterpiece of understatement. Without saying a word, he conveys badassness, world-weariness, and a certain horror at what he has become.

I can hardly wait until the DVD is available for this. I'll watch it many times.