On DVD: The Bourne Identity (1988)

The decade that spawned dozens of miniseries also gave birth to the first Jason Bourne movie long before Matt Damon was anybody. In 1988 Jaclyn Smith and Richard Chamberlain were teamed up for a film that was very true to the original book.

Let's start from the beginning. The Bourne Identity was written by Robert Ludlum during the early 1970s. By the mid 80s he had finished his Bourne trilogy. In 1988 a two part mini-series based on the first book but with knowledge from the other two came out. It was actually very well written that way and fairly true to the original Ludlum vision.

Clocking in at over three hours altogether the intricate story holds your attention. There are two problems with the main story. While Jaclyn Smith is way hotter than I ever imagined Marie to have been from the pages, she's about as animated as a mannequin. Richard Chamberlain, Mr. MiniSeries, is hard to watch. He looks like an old woman with odd eyebrows, always looking quizzical and confused. The love scenes will turn your stomach. It looks like grandma making out with the window display at the old lady's lingerie store.

The rest of the casting doesn't thrill either. You hate the villains just because they are fugly. You hate most of the good guys because they are hard on the eyes. Despite these obstacles, the story is good enough to hold your attention.

If you want to see a fairly accurate film adaptation of The Bourne Identity, this one blows away the one with Matt Damon by a long way. It's worth a view especially if you are a Ludlum fan.

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094791/