The Bourne Legacy – Blu-ray Review

December 13, 2012 – 12:13 am - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: Albert Finney, BD-Live, Blu-ray, D-BOX, Digital Copy, Edward Norton, Jeremy Renner, Joan Allen, Oscar Isaac, Pocket Blu, Rachel Weisz, Scott Glenn, Stacy Keach, Tony Gilroy, UltraViolet, Universal Studios Home Entertainment

has an average rating of 6.7 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 7.1 MA , DTS 5.1 & DTS 2.0
are worthwhile and ALL in Hi-Def
–
– 2012
– 135 minutes
– Universal
–
This uses 34.9GB for the movie out of 42.9GB total.

Overall Verdict – Good Film / Great Presentation

Buy it on Blu-ray for $24.96 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is a sequel (of sorts) to the the three films “The Bourne Identity” (2002), “The Bourne Supremacy” (2004) and “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007). All three of those films were written by Tony Gilroy who returns here as co-writer as well as directing the first of his films in the franchise. Tony Gilory’s other directing credits include “Duplicity” (2009) and “Michael Clayton” (2007). The film was co-wrote by Tony’s younger brother Dan Gilroy whose previous co-writing credits include “The Fall” (2006) and “Real Steel” (2011). The film here even though technically a sequel to “The Bourne Ultimatum” takes place around the same time the events of that film are transpiring. In fact, you’ll see a news report and higher ups discussing “Jason Bourne” throughout the film. This is a tad of an unusual sequel but if you take all of that into consideration, it makes a tad bit more sense and plays as it was intended. It’s not a prequel to the third film either, just a companion piece really.

Our new protagonist this time around is a man we go a good long while without knowing the name of. Eventually we learn his name to be “Aaron Cross” (played by Jeremy Renner). We’re first introduced to Aaron abandoned out in the snowy wilderness. In the wilderness his main focus has been on fighting off wolves, trekking his way through the frozen forest and mountainous environment as well as taking a strict regiment of these blue and green pills daily. It’s obvious that he’s a member of the some similar “outcome program” like Jason Bourne was. He’s eventually able to make his way to finding another member of his program but things aren’t quite what he hopes for them to be. At this point we’ve seen other events transpire involving the higher ups in the CIA and such deciding that because of the Jason Bourne incident they are going to have to shut down the program. They start to try to eliminate all of their members of the program by any means necessary to cover up the whole conspiracy. This means that our protagonist’s days are numbered unless he gets more of his medication to keep going and can safely escape the higher ups in the government. It’s along the way that he’ll try to seek out a female doctor by the name of “Marta Shearing” (played by Rachel Weisz). The guys in the government, the higher ups, consist mainly of “Retired Adm. Mark Turso, USN” (played by Stacy Keach) and “Retired Col. Eric Byer, USAF” (played by Edward Norton).

“The Bourne Legacy” proves to be enjoyable as both an action film with a tad bit of mystery thrown in. In comparison to the first three films in the franchise, I can’t say this really is anywhere as good. That’s not to say that Jeremy Renner wasn’t a great leading man, it’s just those films seemed to kick a tad bit more ass. Still, this manages to kick some ass and may possibly serve as a reboot to the franchise some people speculate. We’ll see there, I can’t say I see this getting a sequel when you factor in how it did amongst critics, audiences and financially at the box-office. In terms of critics this seemed to have some mixed reaction as you can tell by the 56% (out of 100%) rating on both the “tomatometer” and audience sections over at Rotten Tomatoes. It seemed to earn a bit more higher rating over at IMDb where it holds a decent 6.8 (out of 10). In terms of box-office ticket sales, this only ended up grossing 113 million dollars in domestic and another 162 million in foreign. The film had a reported budget around 125 million dollars. This is all according to Box Office Mojo.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. According to the technical specifications listing on IMDb this was shot on a variety of formats including digitally at 2K resolution, in 1080p Hi-Def and on Super 35MM film via a variety of cameras. The cameras used here include Arriflex 235, Arriflex 435 Xtreme, Bell & Howell Eyemo, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2. The large variety of source material here actually manages to blend together quite nicely. There’s a really great amount of detail to be found here, especially in some close-ups and action sequences. There’s an obvious amount of film grain visible here and a slight bit of digital noise in the other source material but it’s very minimal. I don’t feel DNR (digital noise reduction) has been used too heavily if perhaps at all here. The black level here is solid, the color palette can at times hold a bit of vibrancy and the fleshtones seem accurate. The color tone can at times seem mostly cool but occasionally has a slight warm feel. The cinematography here done by DP (director of photography) Robert Elswit translates over very nicely to a Hi-Def 1080p presentation. The only negative thing I can say here is that the transition to use of CG in one particular scene seemed to be less than convincing to me visually. Luckily that scene used a minimal amount of CG and the part I’m talking about is short. “The Bourne Legacy” on Blu-ray delivers an impressive Hi-Def presentation worthy of a “4.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in a variety of English DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio, DTS 5.1 @1.5Mbps and DTS 2.0 Stereo @447kbps. Things start out quite nicely with the original Score (music) by James Newton Howard making excellent use of this 7.1 lossless mix especially. The music here is driven primarily through the front left & right channel speakers with a very nice amount of four rear channel presence and LFE (bass). You’ll notice sound effects as well such as that of a waterfall in the opening make use of the four rear channels (or two in 5.1 DTS). This all just in the first minute of the film. The sound of rain 2 minutes in sounds excellent and seems to totally surround you using the front and rear left and right channels. This rain sounds very realistic. Dialogue starts out to be delivered around that 2 minute point and is very distinctly driven from the front center channel speaker. In terms of sound effects here things like gunshots and explosions sound extremely realistic. The sound effect of a drone also sounds very cool. Sound effects here pack one nice bit of “punch” to them in terms of intensity. A gunfight around halfway through the film sounds downright amazing in terms of being deemed worthy of calling “demo material” for sure. The combination of action and suspense to this mix is driven perfectly by both the music and sound effects. Dialogue along the way is fine and never once is overpowered by this action-packed film. Overall you get a mix that earns itself a “5 Star Rating” in terms of audio quality.

Bonus Materials on this release are presented in full 1080p Hi-Def (HD) video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound — unless noted otherwise below.

• BD-Live is included on this Universal Blu-ray Disc release. This requires the user to be on a “Profile 2.0” capable internet connected Blu-ray Disc Player to access online content such as trailers for both current and upcoming theatrical and home video releases from the studio. This also includes access to the pocket BLU app which allows you to control the film as a remote via your smartphone or tablet device, as well as access bonus materials.
• Audio Commentary with director/co-writer Tony Gilory, co-writer Dan Gilory, editor John Gilroy, director of photography Robert Elswit, second unit director Dan Bradley and production designer Kevin Thompson
• Deleted Scenes (6:48 – HD) features DTS 5.1 @768kbps audio. There are a total of three scenes included as well as a “play all” function.
• “Re-Bourne” (6:11 – HD) discusses how they decided to expand the “Bourne” universe on a larger scale and have events happening as the third film takes place. You’ll find lots of on set footage and clips from the film here as well as interviews with the following: Frank Marshall (Producer), Tony Gilroy (Co-Writer/Director), Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“), Dan Gilory (Co-Writer), Edward Norton (“Byer“), Dennis Boutsikaris (“Ward“), Patrick Crowley (Producer), Rachel Weisz (“Dr. Marta Shearing“) and Shane Jacobson (“Mackie“).
• “Capturing Chaos: The Motorbike Chase” (7:49 – HD) takes a look at how a scene in the film that involved a motorbike doing a stunt was executed. You’ll find lots of on set footage and clips from the film here as well as interviews with the following: Frank Marshall (Producer), Dan Bradley (2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator), Tony Gilroy (Co-Writer/Director), Chris O’Hara (Stunt Coordinator), Rachel Weisz (“Dr. Marta Shearing“), Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“), Jean-Pierre Goy (Stunt Double), Patrick Crowley (Producer), Garry Elmendorf (Special Effects Supervisor) and Louis Ozawa Changchien (“Larx 3“).

Blu-ray EXCLUSIVE bonus materials:

• “Enter Aaron Cross” (7:11 – HD) takes a look at the new character played by Jeremy Renner that becomes our protagonist in this film instead of “Jason Bourne” in the previous three films in the universe (franchise). There’s lots of on set footage and clips from the film as well as interviews with the following: Tony Gilroy (Co-Writer/Director), Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“), Patrick Crowley (Producer), Oscar Isaac (“#3“), Frank Marshall (Producer), Jonathan Eusebio (Fight Coordinator), Dan Bradley (2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator), Ben Smith (Producer) and Rachel Weisz (“Dr. Marta Shearing“).
• “Crossing Continents: Legacy on Location” (8:22 – HD) showcases the two primary non-American locations of Canada and Manila used in the film. There’s lots of on set footage and clips from the film here as well interviews with the following: Frank Marshall (Producer), Patrick Crowley (Producer), Dan Gilroy (Co-Writer), Kevin Thompson (Production Designer), Louis Ozawa Changchien (“Larx 3“), Rachel Weisz (“Dr. Marta Shearing“), Jeffrey W. Weiner (Producer), Dan Bradley (2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator), Chris O’Hara (Stunt Coordinator) and Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“).
• “Man vs. Wolf” (4:36 – HD) shows how the scene in the film involving a wolf and the main character was choreographed. This includes test footage, animated storyboards, lots on set footage, clips from the film and interviews from the following: Tony Gilroy (Co-Writer/Director), Mike Alexander (Animal Trainer), Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“) and Alan Scott (Wolf Animator Supervisor).
• “Wolf Test Sequence” (1:39 – HD) is an animated storyboard in its entirety shown in the featurette for the previously mentioned scene in the film.
• “Moving Targets: Aaron and Marta” (6:11 – HD) takes a look at the relationship between the two characters in the film. There’s lots of on set footage and clips from the film as well as interviews with the following: Tony Gilroy (Co-Writer/Director), Rachel Weisz (“Dr. Marta Shearing“), Jeremy Renner (“Aaron Cross“), Jonathan Eusebio (Fight Coordinator) and Dan Gilroy (Co-Writer).

Other bonus material:

• A DVD of the film in standard definition is included with Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound. This disc includes the following bonus materials (as described above): Deleted Scenes, “Re-Bourne”, “Capturing Chaos: The Motorbike Chase” and the audio commentary.
• A Digital Copy of the film is included which is compatible with both Mac and PC as well as iTunes portable devices. This is redeemable online via a URL and code included on a paper insert.
• An UltraViolet streaming and downloadable copy of the film is included which is in the “cloud” as it’s known. This is redeemable online via a URL and code included on the same paper insert mentioned above.
• D-BOX motion code is included for those with the proper equipment to experience it.

Overall the bonus materials here prove to be worthwhile but are pretty short in comparison to those found on the previous three films’ Blu-ray releases. On this you get roughly 43 minutes or so total of featurettes along with physical and digital supplemental additions such as a DVD, Digital Copy, UltraViolet digital copy and D-BOX motion code included. Fans will be somewhat pleased with the amount and quality of bonus content presented here.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please be patient with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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