The Bourne Identity (1988) – B
I found out about the existence of this adaptation a month or so ago, and I finally was able to watch it today after being so curious about it. It was good, I suppose a little better than I was expecting, but just short of what I was hoping for.
It’s a two-part television film starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith that runs 185 minutes (3 hours 5 minutes) in total. The great thing is, it’s length helped it more than it hindered. It never really dragged (though I will get to an exception to that in a bit), and was an interest gathering ride the whole time.
About the things that I didn’t like. It really suffered from being a television production at some times. There the occasional spot of not-so-good acting, and points where the lack of a full budget shown. This film was good enough for me to wish it had been a higher budget theatrical release. I’m definitely going to bother editing it into one continuous film.
And now the thing that slowed it down a little and just kind of bothered me. There is a love scene in the film, and it just lasts too long for its own good. It doesn’t even really last that long, it just feels that way while watching. The main issue with the scene itself is that it is rather emotionless for being a love scene between the two protagonists. It’s just kind of static, with nicely fitting music at least (the only thing that helps a little), and the actors just don’t look as interested in each other as they should. I think I’m also going to trim that scene down to be less bothersome when I edit it.
The Bourne Identity (2002) – B-
Watched this one afterwards because I haven’t seen it since forever ago. All I really feel like I can say is that I acknowledge that this film is technically superior to the 1988 film, but I don’t like it as much. I definitely still like it though. I’ve never liked the shaky-cam action, or just needlessly handheld shots in general. This Bourne film and its sequels popularized the shaky-cam fast paced action that we know and love/hate today, and they are probably some of the only films to have done it tastefully, but I still don’t like it. It’s not the only problem I have with the film, but I’m too tired to elaborate further on my problems with it.
Both films are good, and for anyone who hasn’t seen or even heard of the 1988 adaptation, I definitely recommend it. And for clarification, I haven’t read the novel, so the 1988 version being apparently closer to the original story and such isn’t really a huge part of why I prefer it, though it is something I considered while thinking about it.
EDIT: I forgot to mention in my review for the '88 film, that I was surprised they got away with so much blood squib action. I mean, it was a TV special that aired on ABC; it was pretty violent sometimes. I loved it.