Comments on: The Bourne Ultimatum http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/ Michael Rawdon's webjournal Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:33:02 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Subrata Sircar http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/comment-page-1/#comment-5078 Subrata Sircar Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:04:18 +0000 http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/#comment-5078 The first book is pretty good, with the second, third (and now fourth/fifth, written by Eric Van Lustbader - Robert Ludlum died in 2001) decreasing in quality. (The books are firmly Cold-War-based; David Webb becomes Jason Bourne, freelance-assassin, to challenge and capture Carlos the Jackal. He gets shot while attempting to take credit for a Carlos kill, and when he regains his memory, he determines that he's an assassin, and Carlos makes it look like he's defected ...) Ludlum books tend to be very much the same, with a few exceptions (The Road to X books are more comedic/intrigue, rather than action/intrigue; I liked the Bourne Ultimatium and The Gemini Contenders better than the rest); one lone man against a shadowy conspiracy races around the world to uncover the truth and stop something horrible. The scenes are all punctuated by catch phrases that get repeated throughout, starting as gibberish and gradually acquiring meaning as the hero discovers more and more about what's going on. "The Man from Marseille! What do you know about The Man From Marseille!" "C is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain!" "What?" etc. Anyway, I have most of them if you'd like to borrow them. As far as the movie goes, I liked it. I too disliked the fast-cuts-rather-than-single-shot-choreography approach, but I've disliked it ever since it was introduced. It makes the action harder to follow, and makes me less willing to invest myself in the scene. I was also surprised at how easily they found Daniels, but I could justify it if I worked at it. I also thought that if I were Bourne, I'd have grabbed the files, gotten out of the building, and then called him and told him I was in his office, but then we'd have missed another car chase : The first book is pretty good, with the second, third (and now fourth/fifth, written by Eric Van Lustbader – Robert Ludlum died in 2001) decreasing in quality. (The books are firmly Cold-War-based; David Webb becomes Jason Bourne, freelance-assassin, to challenge and capture Carlos the Jackal. He gets shot while attempting to take credit for a Carlos kill, and when he regains his memory, he determines that he’s an assassin, and Carlos makes it look like he’s defected …)

Ludlum books tend to be very much the same, with a few exceptions (The Road to X books are more comedic/intrigue, rather than action/intrigue; I liked the Bourne Ultimatium and The Gemini Contenders better than the rest); one lone man against a shadowy conspiracy races around the world to uncover the truth and stop something horrible. The scenes are all punctuated by catch phrases that get repeated throughout, starting as gibberish and gradually acquiring meaning as the hero discovers more and more about what’s going on.
“The Man from Marseille! What do you know about The Man From Marseille!”
“C is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain!”
“What?”

etc.

Anyway, I have most of them if you’d like to borrow them.

As far as the movie goes, I liked it. I too disliked the fast-cuts-rather-than-single-shot-choreography approach, but I’ve disliked it ever since it was introduced. It makes the action harder to follow, and makes me less willing to invest myself in the scene. I was also surprised at how easily they found Daniels, but I could justify it if I worked at it. I also thought that if I were Bourne, I’d have grabbed the files, gotten out of the building, and then called him and told him I was in his office, but then we’d have missed another car chase :

]]> By: Dad http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/comment-page-1/#comment-5066 Dad Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:00:28 +0000 http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/#comment-5066 About the books. I started the first one when it was published but quickly got bored and quit. I've read that the movies are not at all true to the books but that a TV miniseries with Richard Chamberlain was. About the books. I started the first one when it was published but quickly got bored and quit. I’ve read that the movies are not at all true to the books but that a TV miniseries with Richard Chamberlain was.

]]> By: Debbi http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/comment-page-1/#comment-5038 Debbi Tue, 14 Aug 2007 02:05:52 +0000 http://www.fascinationplace.org/2007/08/13/the-bourne-ultimatum/#comment-5038 I am very hard-pressed to think of a sequel, or third in a series, that I liked better than the original. I agree with 2 of the 3 points above... I think the third is an amusing scene. Granted it doesn't really add anything to the movie other than to show that Voson thinks he is in more control than he is - still amusing. :) I am very hard-pressed to think of a sequel, or third in a series, that I liked better than the original.

I agree with 2 of the 3 points above… I think the third is an amusing scene. Granted it doesn’t really add anything to the movie other than to show that Voson thinks he is in more control than he is – still amusing. :)

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