Loosely based on the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity (2002) was the result of a long arduous process by director Doug Liman. He was very particular about story elements, setting, film techniques and keeping the studio as far away as possible. The end result is a powerful action film, but a very expensive one... having gone about $8 million over budget. The Bourne Identity was a huge success, though, and set off three more installments in the Bourne series. The great Paris car chase is notable and Matt Damon claimed one of his most memorable characters in Jason Bourne.
An Italian fishing boat, sailing off the coast of France, spots an unresponsive man floating in the water and takes him on board. The man has two gun shots in his back, but is alive. After some healing and recuperation it is learned that the man (Matt Damon) is suffering from amnesia...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
A chip implanted in his hip leads him to a bank in Zurich, where he finds a safety deposit box filled with cash, passports (with different aliases) and a gun. He takes on the top name in the pile of documents: Jason Bourne...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
A guard at the bank tips off the CIA (led by Chris Cooper), who have been watching the bank and are after Bourne, and he must fight his way out, during which time he discovers his instinctive combat skills...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002 |
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
Jason encounters a woman, Marie (Franka Potente), at the American embassy and offers her $20,000 to drive him to Paris...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
She complies, but they find danger and are pursued in Paris as well. They must run...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
All the while Jason and Marie are getting closer to each other...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
and Jason is trying desperately to find out who he is, who is after him...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002 |
and why...
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Matt Damon |
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| The Bourne Identity. 2002: Franka Potente |
