![The Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy | The Bourne Ultimatum) [Blu-ray]](http://cdn.hometheaterforum.com/5/5a/50x50px-ZC-B001LPWGE6-51Ogz7vkkAL.jpg)
A word about packaging, which is fast becoming a small point of irritation. I have an aversion to packaging that won't fit on a shelf with other discs, and needs to be stored elsewhere.
I received The Bourne Trilogy at approximately the same time as The Notebook. The films have nothing whatsoever in common on almost every level. I was aware that The Notebook was a "women's" picture, a sentimental "weeper" if you will, but I needed to see it, as I'll never pass up a film that includes James Garner.
I ended up enjoying The Notebook, with very nice performances by the two leads, Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and which on a large screen held together decently from a Blu visual perspective.
What I truly hated was the packaging.
Apparently, the concept was to allow one to right down those secret thoughts, and tell your own love story -- possibly to get a book or film deal -- in a notebook filled with images of the actors and the background of the story. A nice notebook with beautifully coated paper, which will probably have difficultly retaining ink.
Let's see... "I dreamed I was at Manderley again..."
The notebook is a nice film, it isn't a film that should retail for $40, and it may just be my personal perception, but I don't see the market being owners of blu-ray players.
Along with the notebook, one also receives (as part of this deluxe edition -- there IS NO regular edition -- some note cards, bookmarks, and what appear to be those old style corners for mounting photographs. One can glue them on to the corners of digital picture frames for that '40s feeling.
The Blu-ray disc, by the way, is embedded at the end the notebook, which means that this is one more Blu-ray that will not fit on one's shelf in any normal fashion.
Warner's (New Line) may have saved this in my eyes had they included a normal blue plastic Blu-ray pack as an extra. In that way, one can save the disc in standard packaging and possibly junk the rest. My trusty assistant came to the rescue and created a normal Blu pack for me, using the artwork with a bit of photoshop on a color printer. I asked her if she wanted any of the stuff in the box. No.
But what could this possibly have to do with The Bourne Trilogy?
Simple.
The packaging created by Universal for their Trilogy is the anthesis of that created for The Notebook, and in my opinion about as perfect as Blu-ray packaging can get.
Try this.
The Bourne Trilogy comes in a heavy box, probably made of some recycled composite material. On the cover is a cut out of Mr. Damon that holds the entire unit smartly together with a magnet. The box itself is covered in a nice protective foil, and the entire unit fits perfectly on one's Blu-ray shelf.
Don't wish to give up the extra 1/4" necessary for the box?
Inside, each in its own protective Blu-ray pack is each of the three films.
Perfect. And with a far smaller carbon footprint.
For those who want to know how the discs inside the packing look, here you go.
The first in the series, The Bourne Identity, released theatrically in 2002, is most likely from the same master used originally for the HD disc released back in July of 2007. This isn't a easy film to bring to video, but it looks just fine. All of these films have a very specific look, with fast cutting and occasionally intentional grain, and all nicely replicated on Blu.
The second Bourne (Supremacy), released to theaters in 2004, arrived on HD in May of 2006, also appears to be from the same master as used for the HD. Why rework something that was fine to begin with. Bourne Supremacy is a very nice looking Blu-ray.
The latest, The Bourne Ultimatum, with its extremely fast-paced cutting, which may have set a new record for number of shots per reel, is the best looking of the three, but all are quality Blu-rays.
Each of the films at time of release on HD had a list price of $40. The three, beautifully packaged now list at $95, with a street of $65 at Amazon.
Universal has done a terrific job of bringing these films to Blu, and others might make note of efforts toward packaging sets of discs. Add to the equation, enough bonus material to take days to digest, and the bottom line is simple. This is a set with value.
Highly Recommended.
RAH
I received The Bourne Trilogy at approximately the same time as The Notebook. The films have nothing whatsoever in common on almost every level. I was aware that The Notebook was a "women's" picture, a sentimental "weeper" if you will, but I needed to see it, as I'll never pass up a film that includes James Garner.
I ended up enjoying The Notebook, with very nice performances by the two leads, Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and which on a large screen held together decently from a Blu visual perspective.
What I truly hated was the packaging.
Apparently, the concept was to allow one to right down those secret thoughts, and tell your own love story -- possibly to get a book or film deal -- in a notebook filled with images of the actors and the background of the story. A nice notebook with beautifully coated paper, which will probably have difficultly retaining ink.
Let's see... "I dreamed I was at Manderley again..."
The notebook is a nice film, it isn't a film that should retail for $40, and it may just be my personal perception, but I don't see the market being owners of blu-ray players.
Along with the notebook, one also receives (as part of this deluxe edition -- there IS NO regular edition -- some note cards, bookmarks, and what appear to be those old style corners for mounting photographs. One can glue them on to the corners of digital picture frames for that '40s feeling.
The Blu-ray disc, by the way, is embedded at the end the notebook, which means that this is one more Blu-ray that will not fit on one's shelf in any normal fashion.
Warner's (New Line) may have saved this in my eyes had they included a normal blue plastic Blu-ray pack as an extra. In that way, one can save the disc in standard packaging and possibly junk the rest. My trusty assistant came to the rescue and created a normal Blu pack for me, using the artwork with a bit of photoshop on a color printer. I asked her if she wanted any of the stuff in the box. No.
But what could this possibly have to do with The Bourne Trilogy?
Simple.
The packaging created by Universal for their Trilogy is the anthesis of that created for The Notebook, and in my opinion about as perfect as Blu-ray packaging can get.
Try this.
The Bourne Trilogy comes in a heavy box, probably made of some recycled composite material. On the cover is a cut out of Mr. Damon that holds the entire unit smartly together with a magnet. The box itself is covered in a nice protective foil, and the entire unit fits perfectly on one's Blu-ray shelf.
Don't wish to give up the extra 1/4" necessary for the box?
Inside, each in its own protective Blu-ray pack is each of the three films.
Perfect. And with a far smaller carbon footprint.
For those who want to know how the discs inside the packing look, here you go.
The first in the series, The Bourne Identity, released theatrically in 2002, is most likely from the same master used originally for the HD disc released back in July of 2007. This isn't a easy film to bring to video, but it looks just fine. All of these films have a very specific look, with fast cutting and occasionally intentional grain, and all nicely replicated on Blu.
The second Bourne (Supremacy), released to theaters in 2004, arrived on HD in May of 2006, also appears to be from the same master as used for the HD. Why rework something that was fine to begin with. Bourne Supremacy is a very nice looking Blu-ray.
The latest, The Bourne Ultimatum, with its extremely fast-paced cutting, which may have set a new record for number of shots per reel, is the best looking of the three, but all are quality Blu-rays.
Each of the films at time of release on HD had a list price of $40. The three, beautifully packaged now list at $95, with a street of $65 at Amazon.
Universal has done a terrific job of bringing these films to Blu, and others might make note of efforts toward packaging sets of discs. Add to the equation, enough bonus material to take days to digest, and the bottom line is simple. This is a set with value.
Highly Recommended.
RAH
Pardon my pedantry..."Carbon footprint" isn't the number of Carbon atoms covered by the disc on your shelf. It's a supposed tally of the carbon emissions from the manufacture and transport of the product. Throwing away a large case after purchase does not reduce the "carbon footprint". If anything it increases it by now adding trash pickup to the tally. A "far smaller carbon footprint" would mean the wasteful and unwanted box was never manufactured. 
