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I am not sure that the more recent offering "The Bourne Legacy" had the same substance backing the plot of the previous three, so I felt it was somewhat predictable, even though the production quality and acting was there to provide the new film credibility.
I know I have said it before, but this probably goes back to the story not being a Robert Ludlum original. (Maybe that's just me though.)
On another note, I would really love to see "The Ambler Warning" go to the big screen, because this does have the twists and turns the audience expects from this genre, and the book was an original by Robert Ludlum, it was though archived as unfinished and completed by another author and editor, but would equal the original films with the right production and actors.
The Bourne film trilogy barely stay true to the Ludlum novels in any way shape or form, so that really isn't a strong argument in any sense.
I agree that it is not as farfetched as Craig's 007 who keeps falling from deadly hights and keeps surviving it (QoB & SF). I hate it when the laws of gravity spoil a spy-thriller.
Well Bourne's jump at the end of Ultimatum could be argued to be a little deadly, as is Cross's jump when he and Ms. Weisz are escaping police and he slides through the gap in the alley walls only to land directly on the policemen at the bottom of the drop with not an injury taken afterwards. Then there is all the car chases Bourne has and yet is still able to move affectively enough when a regular person would be battered beyond imagination.
True but both instances in QoB were deadly, the poor execution of the badly copied actionscene from MR (NO CGI by the way) could not have been survived period. SF the man was shot and fell from a deadly height............... that means that the 007 series is no part of the Highlander series???
I am just pointing out that the scifi aspect of Bourne is no more mindboggling than the DC deadly falls. And when it comes to carchases they were pretty spectacular but no more bonecrushing than some of the antics a certain 00 has survived without any real damage.
If you say that the 4th Bourne movie just is not your cup of tea, that is fine. Do not make up excuses for a movie you have not seen. The scifi aspect of the fourth Bourne movie is no more unplausible than any of Bonds recent antics.
And the tone of the first three Bourne movies has been copied by the Bond franchise, albeit not as good because what works very well for one franchise does not always compute for another. With QoB they did the inexcusable, try to take the folks who were succesfull with Bourne and insert them into a Bondmovie and then make it look like Bourne movie.
The Bourne series with this 4th episode did go in a rebooted direction, of which I hope we get to see a lot more as I found the movie actual quite decent and the actionscenes were pretty good. And as an actor I find Renner on of the nicer actionactors of recent times.
The books are different in many ways, but still the substance within the plots and original character idea's shine through, even with a scriptwriter making huge adjustments and needing to bring the story lines bang-up-to-date, the original books and films are very enjoyable.
I don't disagree with you on that point; I do think though think that the books were connected to the time of when they were first published, and the business with Jason Bourne having to track down Carlos the Jackal with the object of goading him into the open was by then out-of-date, and as an ex Vietnam covert operative, needing to mirror his opponents hits to force a showdown, again showed major deviations from the first film.
The beginning with the opening scene on the fishing boat, the amnesia and the help he received in trying to piece his life back together held close to the book, the same with the bank and his need to check the details of his accounts and the CIA having conflicting views over his mental health and whether he had gone rogue.
He also had the support of a woman who reluctantly at first, but then after experiencing the extremes of his life and nearly losing hers devoted herself to unpicking the puzzle his life had become.
What I am trying to say, is the Robert Ludlum source is the equivalent to Fleming’s ingredients for Bond and as the creators of these very unique personalities, other writers picking up from where they left off, will always be weighed in comparison to the masters.
But I think both re-boots needed to kill her, otherwise they couldn't move forward. In the books ( I think we are 7 or 8 deep now) Bourne has completely surrendered to the Bourne Identity. David Webb is gone and he knows it.
The original Ludlum Bourne trilogy had closure. David Webb had shed the Bourne identity by the end of it and had retired to a blissful life with wife, teaching school.
I do enjoy the new books. They are good thrillers. I think we just have to understand that the only way to write them was probably by doing what's been done. Bourne's idyllic life had to be blown apart and the Identiy relaunched. Same with the films.
@JRR what do you make of all the posthumous Ludlum books? In otherwords the 3, or is it 4, that were attributed to him after he died. Do you think he really had this many manuscripts on the go when he died. Seems a little dicey. Although I have to admit, they all do ring somewhat true. They all have a Ludlum touch.
I would prefer to have another Lustbader Nicolas Linnaer story over his current series of Bourne.
I have read the following of the books written after he died, and I feel that they defiantly retained his touch.
The Janson Directive
The Ambler Warning
The Bancroft Strategy
The originals I have read, and I have probably missed out a few, or just reading other authors, so haven’t got around to reading all of them yet, and it is quite nice to move away from a writer and then return after reading lots of other stuff so you don’t get board with their formula.
The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971)
The Matlock Paper (1973)
Trevayne
The Cry of the Halidon
The Rhinemann Exchange (1974)
The Road to Gandolfo (Very funny book)
The Gemini Contenders (1976)
The Holcroft Covenant (1978)
The Bourne Identity (1980)
The Matarese Countdown (1997)
The Prometheus Deception (2000)
The other more recent books either co-written, or written by completely different authors I have read are:
The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds) (2000)
The Cassandra Compact (by Philip Shelby) (2001)
The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds) (2003)
The Bourne Deception (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2009)
I quite like Gayle Lynds style, Philip Shelby keeps you turning the pages, but I am not sure why, just personal taste or me making too many comparisons to the originals but The Bourne Legacy didn’t grab me with the same intensity of a Ludlum original or even one the other writers picking up from his legacy.
Other will no doubt feel differently, individual taste is a wonderful thing and keeps life interesting.
What about yourself, do you still prefer the originator or do you enjoy another authors idea’s on Ludlum’s work?
Sorry, there was an error in my previous e-mail, I should have listed "The Bourne Deception" not "The Bourne Legacy", and I will correct it. (The book was gift from my wife, it landed with me, by what I hoped would be a considerate purchase on her part, so I began reading, hoping it would become another quick page turner…
From memory, I remember Bourne is once again nearly killed in a set up, fakes his death and convalesces on the island of Bali with his girlfriend who is torn between her career and the bliss life they are experiencing in the weeks spent together, she is strangely influenced by a witch doctor, who has an uncanny way of predicting Bourne’s fate and provides a potion to protect him.
Bourne during his recuperation period becoming once again obsessed with how and why he was shot, whilst his girlfriend returns home and back to work with a series of devastating events affecting the people around her with her new business in conflict with old acquaintances.
Too be honest, as I said before, Eric Van Lustbader didn’t get me hooked, so I have to confess I didn’t return to reading his books; if you know a fair amount about him and other books he has written, which are better than this one, I will happily take a recommendation and give his work another shot.
This is the reason, going back to your original question, which I have probably not answered to your satisfaction, I went to see “The Bourne Legacy” at the cinema, to see if the new film would inspire a refreshed interest.
As I mentioned at the end of my other comment, I am still stuck in a state of comparison and over analysing the more recent changes; Deja vu, this mirrors a similar debate with the who is the best Bond actor all over again....
Nothing like it.
The Covert One novels listed below (from wiki) are up to 9 titles with another, the Utopia Experiment, due this year.
The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds) (2000)
The Cassandra Compact (by Philip Shelby) (2001)
The Paris Option (by Gayle Lynds) (2002)
The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds) (2003)
The Lazarus Vendetta (by Patrick Larkin) (2004)
The Moscow Vector (by Patrick Larkin) (2005)
The Arctic Event (by James H. Cobb) (2007)
The Ares Decision (by Kyle Mills) (2011)
The Janus Reprisal (by Jamie Freveletti) (2012)
The Utopia Experiment (by Kyle Mills) (2013
Of this bunch, I find most of them to be a real yawn. I've slogged through them all. The early Lynds and Shelby stuff is probably the best, which figures as Lynds got it started, so she should have the best feel. Most of what has followed is awful IMO, although I did like Cobb's, The Arctic Event. Mills, Ares Decision, I thought was the worst, and unfortunately his name's on the next book. Freveletti's Janus Reprisal, was readable but not really very good. The series is a hit-and-miss hodge podge. We are now up to 5 authors, that have succeeded Lynds original work.
Janson series
The Janson Directive (2002) by Ludlum
The Janson Command (by Paul Garrison) (2012)
The Janson Option (by Paul Garrison) (2013)
I read Garrison's first continution effort, the janson command. It was awful. By awful, I mean generally dull and plodding. Like the Covert-One authors he doesn't have the Ludlum touch.
As mentioned I do like the EVL Bourne continuation novels. It's supposedly the same Ludlum Bourne, but the books are set so far in the future, from the original '80s trilogy, that it's basically a re-booted Bourne. But I do enjoy them. EVL has created a whole new 21st century Bourne universe, with a whole new cast of recurring characters. The fact that the series only has one author really helps with continuity and style too, but EVL can't write like Ludlum did. Ludlum was a true master of suspense.
Credited to Ludlum, published posthumously
The Sigma Protocol (2001, the last novel written entirely by Ludlum)
The Janson Directive (2002)
The Tristan Betrayal (2003)
The Ambler Warning (2005)
The Bancroft Strategy (2006)
Despite what wiki says above, I am not sure if we are talking 3 or 4 books here, as there is nothing in the Janson Directive dust-jacket to suggest that Ludlum had any help, so I prefer to think of only the last three titles as the books that were finished for him, as all three of these books do declare that someone else (an "editor") finished them. That said, all three titles are excellent. Way better than any of the continuation stuff. Tristan, Ambler and Bancroft all read very much like Ludlum thrillers.
Ludlum’s books just have a unique quality of making the reader journey through the complexity of his characters ever-changing emotions, the constant suspicion, teetering on the edge of paranoia combined with lost and regained hope of survival, rivets you to each page, with his ability to coax you into each new chapter hungry to understand where his plots will carry the fortunes of a hero.
If the next Bond films can weave some more of that magical influence into future scripts, the suspense will become incredible, creating some serious audience anxiety, pulling the viewers into the thrill of the moment.
The Quantum of Solace opening car chase delivered that aspect and captured the fear coupled with immediate danger and potential catastrophe threatening Bond when he is really on the knife-edge.
This has got to be one of the best elements shared between Both Fleming and Ludlum’s characters, both authors had experienced the adrenalin of life and death moments and their stories define it.
It was a brave move for EVL to pick up, and run with the gauntlet of Jason Bourne, so if he has a huge fan base, he deserves it for satisfying his audience.
For me though, I will always appreciate Ludlum’s Bourne, the same as the die-hard Sean Connery fans see him as Bond.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/28041/universal-moving-on-fifth-bourne
Peckham also wrote Don't Say A word. The fact there not spend any word on that movie, mabey the directer of that movie Gary Fleder will direct Bourne 5 or atleast be intresting choose for direct Bourne 5 if you ask me. He also direct the pilot of Beauty and the Beast.
Matt Damon i expect wil return for Bourne 6.
Until the reboot.
Plus I liked the Bourne Legacy
You really aren't missing much...if anything. I loathed the film.
Even if you didn't like the film was Aaron Cross at least likeable?
I have tried to like the Bourne films, trust me. I have tried to watch them, but i simply can't. They are truly awful, maybe it has something to do with my life-long dispassion for Matt Damon. I just can't stand that man (and once again, trust me i have tried).
So when i heard the news that a new Bourne film would be released and with the brilliant Jeremy Renner as the leading man i was quite hopeful. I'd hoped that they could create something new and better without Greengrass and Damon.
But i was so dissapointed. Bourne Legacy was as bad as the three before, Renner was misplaced, the plot was tame and the feeling of "been there done that" was as appearent as ever. Not even Weisz could save it.
So i'd hoped that Renner would have the good sense and leave this franchise behind and just leave it at this. But no. This upcoming film is a film that i'm going to stay as far away from as i can (probaly laugh at it if it has the same level of quality as the last 4).
I can respect everyone who like's these films, but i personally loath them. It is among the worst pieces of crap that i have ever watched. And i can just find one redeeming thing with these four films, and that is the sequence in Tangier when Bourne jumps into a apartment through the window in one good long shot.
Just my opinion, of course.
I agree there make the same mistake in waiting to long as happend between the second and third movie whyle there is not much difrencce seen in the 3th movie. But there are not the only one see TDKR. Like Skyfall later feels more like a movie made in 2010, TDK feels as movie for 2009 and Bourne as movie of 2005.
Universal whant something difrent with another writer. As it look like no Tony Gilroy as writer or directer.
I know Matt Damon is a bit over-rated, aloud to say this with already 16 movies with him in my collection, one on my wishlist and 2 movies in development but if there one movie i can't wait on it is Aaron Cross/Bourne movie.