The Bourne Legacy appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Expect an attractive presentation.
Sharpness looked positive. A handful of wider shots came across as a little iffy, but most of the flick remained well-defined and distinctive.
I noticed no issues with jaggies or moiré effects, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also were absent, as the movie looked clean and fresh. With a nice layer of grain, I didn’t suspect issues related to noise reduction.
In terms of palette, the film usually opted for a chilly blue tint. Some warmer tones occasionally appeared – mostly during interiors – but desaturation ruled the day.
This restricted overall broadness of the colors, but they looked fine within the limited range of hues. Due to the limited nature of the palette, HDR didn’t add a lot to the experience, but that treatment brought a bit more oomph to the colors.
Blacks were dark and tight, and shadows looked clear and full. HDR made whites and contrast more impressive. This was a pretty solid image.
Downconverted to DTS-HD MA 7.1, I also thought the DTS X audio of Legacy worked well. Some of the audio concentrated on music and general atmosphere. The score and songs displayed nice stereo presence, and the film conveyed a solid sense of place.
The flick often came to life for its action scenes. We got a lot of these, and when they occurred, they offered immersive material. Elements moved around the room well and meshed together to offer a solid punch.
No issues with audio quality emerged. Speech remained crisp and concise, and music showed good range; the score and songs appeared full and vibrant. Effects worked well; those elements seemed lively and robust, with nice low-end response to add depth. This was an active piece that earned an “A-”.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The DTS X track offered a little more breadth to the already-excellent mix from the prior disc.
As for the visuals, they got the usual 4K boost, as this disc seemed better defined and livelier than the BD. While not a massive upgrade over an already appealing BD, this turned into a reasonable step up in quality.
On the 4K disc, we find an audio commentary from director/co-writer Tony Gilroy, co-writer Dan Gilroy, editor John Gilroy, director of photography Robert Elswit, second unit director Dan Bradley and production designer Kevin Thompson.
They all sit together to discuss story/character issues and the movie’s place in the Bourne universe, cast and performances, sets and locations, action and stunts, various effects, music and audio, camerawork, editing and production design, and some other topics.
One would expect the director to dominate the commentary, and that proves to be the case here, as Tony Gilroy does most of the heavy lifting. That said, all of the participants add to the proceedings, as they mesh well and give us a lot of good info. While they indulge in more happy talk than I’d like, they compensate with plenty of useful material and keep things moving at a good pace.
All the other extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, and three Deleted Scenes fill a total of six minutes, 48 seconds. We find “Pennsylvania Highway” (3:13), “NRAG Research Room” (0:57) and “Washington DC” (2:23).
“Highway” shows a tense traffic stop, and “Room” gives us additional background about the operatives in Aaron’s program. Finally, “DC” allows the Hirsch character more screentime.
Of the three, “Highway” fares the best; it’s cliché but delivers a bit of tension. “DC” also shows events that we only hear about in the final film. I would’ve liked to see “Highway” in the finished product, and “DC” would’ve been interesting as well; “Room” is more superfluous.
We can view these with or without commentary from Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, John Gilroy and Robert Elswit. They tell us a bit about the scenes and let us know why the sequences didn’t make the end release. Their notes add to the experience.
Six featurettes follow. We see “Re-Bourne” (6:11), “Enter Aaron Cross” (7:11), “Crossing Continents: Legacy on Location” (8:22), “Man vs. Wolf” (4:36), “Moving Targets: Aaron and Marta” (6:11), and “Capturing Chaos: The Motorbike Chase” (7:49). Across these, we hear from Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, Bradley, Thompson, producers Frank Marshall, Ben Smith, Jeffrey M. Weiner and Patrick Crowley, fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio, Philippines line producer Lope V. Juban, Jr., stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara, animal trainer Mike Alexander, wolf animatronic supervisor Alan Scott, stunt double Jean-Pierre Goy, special effects supervisor Garry Elmendorf, and actors Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Dennis Boutsikaris, Rachel Weisz, Shane Jacobson, Oscar Isaac, and Louis Ozawa Changchien.
The shows look at story/character areas, the film’s tone and Tony Gilroy’s effect on the production, cast and performances, stunts and action, sets and locations, and a few technical topics.
While the featurettes cover a good array of subjects, they don’t do so with much depth. These tend toward the fluffy promotional side of the street and lack a certain meatiness. That makes them decent but average.
Finally, we get a one-minute, 39-second Wolf Sequence Test. This shows what the title describes: preliminary video footage that demonstrates how scene with a fake wolf can be shot. We see a little of this in the “Man vs. Wolf” featurette, so it’s nice to get a longer clip here.
The disc opens with ads for Death Race 3, Ted, the Universal Studios Transformers ride, Grimm, Dead in Tombstone and End of Watch. No trailer for Legacy pops up here.
As a movie, The Bourne Legacy seems to exist as a place-holder, an entry created to keep a franchise alive rather than to tell a new story. While it offers a competent action film, it never threatens to become anything more dynamic, so it’s watchable but forgettable. The 4K UHD provides solid picture and audio as well as a decent collection of bonus materials. Legacy is too generic to boast much zing.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of THE BOURNE LEGACY