MovieChat Forums > The Bourne Identity (1988) Discussion > Don't see how this Bourne is soft...

Don't see how this Bourne is soft...

posted 14 years ago by sanddragon939
5 replies | jump to latest

While I agree with most critics that Chamberlain doesn't really give us those 'killer vibes' we expect to get from Ludlum's character which Damon went on to successfully give us later on in his films, I don't understand how they can say that this version of Bourne is too 'soft'. Cuz believe me this one had some real intense and ruthless momments.

Like the bit when hes interrogating the guy in the German restaurent. When he says "I will shoot you if you lie to me again" you really believe he will, with the look of determination on his face. Or the time he shoots at Carlos's henchmen outside the church. Chamberlain's Bourne has killed more people in this one film than Damon's Bourne killed in the ENTIRE trilogy.

Damon's Bourne is an amnesiac assassin starting again with a clean slate and refusing to succumb to the killer instincts of his past save in extreme circumstances. Chamberlain's Bourne IS still a violent man, even after memory loss, by nature. We do see the more compassionate side to him with Marie but thats the David Webb persona that was buried deep beneath the Bourne identity. In fact, I think a major theme of this film was that a man can be conditioned to play the part of a killer so well that he can lose himself in the role and BECOME a killer. Which Chamberlain DOES bring out with considerable success.

[–] smoko 9 years ago

@sn939 ...I don't understand how they can say that this version of Bourne is too 'soft'.
For a start, because the fight scene at around 17 minutes in is a joke. The cuts to where they obviously used a stunt double for what weren't even stunts. That's how.

[–] sanddragon939 9 years ago

That's hardly an issue with the character, or with Chamberlain's performance.

[–] smoko 9 years ago

@sn939 You say you don't understand why Chamberlain's Bourne is seen as soft, then when someone explains why, you say that it doesn't count. Rinse and repeat.

[–] Tsotha-lanti 8 years ago

Bourne, in the original stories, wasn't a trained assassin.

````````````
Imagine that.

[–] sanddragon939 7 years ago

Actually, he was. He was a guerrilla, part of a black ops unit called Medusa that operated during the Vietnam War. Among other things, he conducted missions that involved destroying enemy strongholds and assassinating Viet Cong leaders.

The whole purpose of the Carlos mission was to assassinate Carlos ultimately.

Formerly sn939