Perhaps the Greatest Action Series to Date.

Consider this trilogy a quantum leap in the treatment of the traditionally two-dimensional action genre. Flashy pyrotechnics are eschewed in favor of razor-sharp, grimly vivid fight scenes and chase sequences. The entire series is a profound success and - hopefully - will raise the bar for future filmmakers.

Each film is completely self-contained, but fans are rewarded by the story arc spanning all three movies - plot threads introduced in the first film are thoroughly resolved in the final installment, yet the series avoid pat answers. The sense of solitude, of isolation increases gradually over the course of the films, so that the protagonist's tenuous connection to humanity bends and wavers.

Any qualms about Matt Damon in the title role were dispelled immediately in the first film. He brings a gravitas to the role that has been unseen in his previous work, and renders Jason Bourne both forgivable and unforgiving. Balancing on a fine line, he resists high drama and scene-chewing in favor of a haunted, gritty determination.

The supporting cast is, to a one, superb. Franka Potente is refreshingly unpolished and unpackaged; a rarity lately. Chris Cooper is excellent in a role that could easily have been cardboard villainy, and he's followed by fantastic character actors Brian Cox (in The Bourne Supremacy and David Strathairn (in The Bourne Ultimatum). Pamela Landy, played by Joan Allen, is a complex adversary for Bourne as he avenges past wrongs and attempts to unravel his past.

It's difficult to recommend this series highly enough - the combined, fully committed efforts of all those involved have created a set of films that's unique and flawlessly executed.

Do yourself a favor and watch these movies!

The Bourne trilogy is an action packed, no-nonsense, saga that follows the protagonist, Jason Bourne, on a whirlwind adventure across the world. Strangely, he is simultaneously fighting to find who he is and running from the secrets he unburies. These movies put you in the grit and chaos of a post-Cold War spy game that plays out in some of the most thrilling locales in the world. The characters are relentless and, unlike other spy movies, the imperative behind their actions will strike a nerve with even the most callous movie-goer. The movies are not about grand schemes to overthrow the existing regime. Rather, they are about survival, finding out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, and if there really is a difference. The confusion and chaos of clandestine ops is clearly exaggerated, but it also never felt so good.

More than mindless action..

I will start this with saying I HATED Live Free or Die Hard in the theater.. when I watched it s second timr.. I realized.. there was a bit, not much bit a bit more to it.. the whole Justin Long character being the lens of which we see the chaos the world is thrown in..

NOW.. relating to Bourne. Yes.. there were those long sequences of action.. with car crashes and chases.. that seemed inexplicable, almost.. BUT comparing it to a mindless action flick, like Die Hard 4 for example.. where the good guy has been shot.. bleeding is now driving a trailor tractor rig being shot out by missiles from an F-35 with the bridge he's on exploding RIGHT behind him.. as he jumps off the bright RIGHT before...

OK.. Bourne has always been about the action.. that's true.. It is by and far an ACTION film. BUT I also agree with a previous poster. In the first film we are stuck with Bourne.. trying to figure out WHO he is.. which follows through all three films ending in an almost CRUSHING revelation in the third film.. In which Bourne really blames eevryone for what he becomes *SPOILER* ultimately Bourne must find.. he has to blame himself. *SPOILER*

BUT.. the big thing really is.. that Bourne was from the beginning like most action heroes.. a reluctant one.. and still is.. unlike Rambo who would lay down the mantle for piece.. but be roused back into it. Bourne would have been content trying to piece himself together and stay a quiet anonymous existence living in India.. or wherever he wants.. without the gunplay and the killing.. these were never something that felt missing from him.. unlike Rambo who would never truly be himself without being through some.. torture or fight. Granted in some of the films.. we see some depth to Rambo, mostly through his end monologues (although there is a fantastic quiet scene in part II on a river boat, I am sure most Rambo fans know it). Bourne, on the other hand.. isn't that. He's very reluctant.. and sorrowful. Realizing what he was.. and.. trying for a quiet moment to atone for the wrong he has done.

This is what has really made Bourne something very different, unique and special in the action field. Granted.. he's part MacGyver.. and unstoppable when he wants to be.. but he's also one who can fight tooth and nail.. and then feel the depth of the wrongs he's done.

Ultimatum is a very odd film.. technically a PREQUEL (yeah it threw me off as well going in) AND a sequel rolled into one. Bourne finally discovers what he was.. and who he is. a very satisfying wrapup to the series.. unlike a previous reviewer, I can only say the Bourne series has gotten BETTER with each successive installment. And if there'a a fourth, I hope its great.. but if there isn't.. then that's ok too.. this is an END.. and a good one at that.