The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Timing: 1:59 (119 min)

7.474/10
9996

7.77/10
203662

7.8/10
611000

All about film

Video 10

Photo 106

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-06-14

Country

United States, Germany, Czech Republic

Production

Universal Pictures, Stillking Films, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Hypnotic, Kalima Productions

Genre

Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Budget

$60 000 000

Revenue

$214 034 224

Website

http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/the-bourne-identity/

Director

Doug Liman

Actors

Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Gabriel Mann, Julia Stiles, Walton Goggins, Josh Hamilton
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Doug Liman, Richard N. Gladstein, Patrick Crowley, Frank Marshall, Robert Ludlum

Operator

Oliver Wood

Composer

John Powell

Artist

Fanny Stauff

Audition

Joseph Middleton, Nancy Bishop

Editing

Saar Klein, Tink Ten Eyck
All team (202)

• The film is based on Robert Ludlum's novel "The Bourne Identity" (1980).
• The film's release was scheduled for June 2001. The delay was due to director Doug Liman's desire to reshoot some scenes, particularly the famous chase scene in the middle of the film.
• Director Doug Liman did not allow screenwriter Tony Gilroy to read the short story "The Bourne Identity," upon which the film was based. Instead, Doug prepared a script outline, which Mr. Gilroy had to work with.
• Clive Owen's character drives a BMW in the film. Interestingly, Clive is a BMW brand ambassador – he has starred in several commercials for them.
• One of the rare films not burdened with a large number of opening credits.
• Most of the extras, portraying American soldiers at the American embassy in Zurich, were actual U.S. Marines sent to Europe at the request of producer Frank Marshall. Of course, they didn't need to be provided with special uniforms. Together with the director, they worked on the dialogue (which was ultimately cut from the film) and developed tactical schemes for filming the operation at the embassy.
• Composer Carter Burwell was actively working on the soundtrack for the film, but due to a delay in its release, he was forced to leave the project in 2001.
• The special edition DVD of the film for Region 2 lacks the title card present in both the theatrical and alternative versions. At the beginning of the film, viewers only see the Universal Studios logo, but the credits do not appear until the end, and even then, the title card is missing.
• At the beginning of the film, Jason Bourne looks in a mirror and speaks in Dutch: “Weet je wie ik ben? Hou dan godverdomme op met dat gezeik en zeg het me,” which translates to: “Do you know who I am? Then stop talking nonsense and tell me.”
• The Professor’s rifle is a Swiss SIG 550 Sniper.
• In the first version of the script, Marie was American, her last name was Parsell, and she had green hair. In the film, she is German, her last name is Kreutz, and she changes her hair color several times throughout the movie.
• The film was originally scheduled for release on September 7, 2001. However, when the filmmakers decided to rework the ending, the premiere was pushed back to May 31, 2002. After that, the release date was changed again to June 14, 2002.
• Robert Ludlum, the author of the Jason Bourne books, died during post-production on March 12, 2001.
• The role of Jason Bourne was offered to Brad Pitt, but he chose to star in 'The Spy Game' (2001).
• Filming scenes with Brian Cox and Chris Cooper took about five days. However, both actors later returned to the set to participate in reshoots.
• Judy Parfitt played a psychologist, but the scene with her involvement was cut from the film. This episode can be viewed on the DVD in the 'Deleted Scenes' section.
• Jason Bourne's hand-to-hand combat technique combines Krav Maga and Eskrima/Kali.
• David Self is listed as one of the authors of the screenplay dated September 2, 2000. However, his name does not appear among the screenwriters in the finished film.
• Brian Cox (Ward Abbott) had previously played in a film about an assassin suffering from memory loss after a trauma, in the 1996 film "The Long Kiss Goodnight".
• The pistol Bourne discovers in the bank safe deposit box in Zurich is a SIG-Sauer SIG Pro SP2009 (9mm).
• Among the items Bourne finds in his safe deposit box at the Gemeinschaftsbank in Zurich are an American Express credit card and a rather rare Air France Club 2000 frequent flyer card. This card is issued only to Air France management and corporate clients who manage multi-million dollar flight budgets.
• During the chase scene at the American embassy in Zurich, Bourne escapes through an emergency exit. He descends from a metal platform and hangs from the stairs by his hands. At that moment, the camera "captures" the metal platform he climbed down from, and we see that there is no snow on it (the snow fell off when the platform's mountings couldn't withstand Bourne's weight). When the embassy soldiers ran out of the emergency exit after a while, it is visible that snow is lying on the platform.
• After Bourne scans his handprint at the bank, he removes his hand from the scanner. But in the next frame, he is holding his hand on the scanner again, and removes it again.
• During the fight between Bourne and the Professor, the latter pulls a Walther P5 Compact pistol from his bag, but when he drops it, a CZ 100 pistol is lying on the ground instead.
• On the Russian foreign passport in the name of "Foma Kiniaev", the surname is written as "Ащьф Лштшфум" in Russian, which corresponds to the name "Foma Kiniaev" typed with the Russian keyboard layout enabled.
• In the scene with Wambosi's murder, as he descends the stairs, he is not wearing a jacket (he is carrying it in his hand), but at the moment of the shooting and in the subsequent scene, the jacket is already on him.
• Principal photography for the film took place from October 31, 2000, to February 2001 in the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
• The film's release date was originally scheduled for June 2001. The delay was due to the director Doug Liman's desire to reshoot some scenes, particularly the famous chase scene in the middle of the film.
• Director Doug Liman did not allow screenwriter Tony Gilroy to read the novel "The Bourne Identity," on which the film was based. Instead, Doug prepared a script outline, which Mr. Gilroy had to work with.
• Clive Owen's character drives a BMW in the film. Interestingly, Clive is a brand ambassador for BMW – he has starred in several commercials for them.
• Most of the extras, portraying American soldiers at the American embassy in Zurich, were real US Marines sent to Europe at the request of producer Frank Marshall. Naturally, they did not need to be provided with special uniforms. Together with the director, they worked on the dialogues (which were ultimately cut from the film) and developed tactical plans for filming the embassy operation.
• The role of Jason Bourne was offered to Brad Pitt, but he chose to star in "Spy Game" (2001).
• Judy Parfitt played a psychologist, but the scene with her participation was cut from the film. This episode can be viewed on the DVD in the "Deleted Scenes" section.
• During the chase scene at the American embassy in Zurich, Bourne escapes through an emergency exit. He descends from a metal platform and hangs from the stairs by his hands. At that moment, the camera focuses on the platform he climbed down from, revealing that there is no snow on it (the snow was blown off when the platform’s supports couldn’t handle Bourne’s weight). When the embassy soldiers later ran out of the emergency exit, snow is visible on the platform.
• A Russian foreign passport in the name of “Foma Kiniaev” displays the surname as “Ащьф Лштшфум” in Russian, which corresponds to the name “Foma Kiniaev” typed with the Russian keyboard layout enabled.