MovieChat Forums > The Bourne Identity (2002) Discussion > 10 things I learned from this movie

10 things I learned from this movie


1. If you are a super spy, you can lie unconscious face down in the ocean for days and not drown.
2. If you are a super spy, your wet suit acts like a bull-proof vest to stop bullets
3. If Marines are chasing you thru an embassy with sutomatic weapons, throw your ginnin a trash can, you don't want to be charged with possession
4. If you're chasing a suspect thru the embassy and come upon a busted lock on a door that is the only exit from the top floor, don't be overly suspicious
5. If its freezing cold out and you knocked out two cops, take off your coat while you run away so you can die of hypothermia
6. If you're a super spy who just got beat up by another, your only option is to commit suicide by jumping out the window in broad daylight - it's a very covert thing to do.
7. Old, dilapidated mini-cooper's tires never blow out going down a flight of stairs of driven by super spies
8. Super spies can magically make the car alarms of a dozen cars go off simultaneously - and remotely
9. Super spies can fall six stories using a fat person as a landing pad, get up, dust off and walk away.
10. Super spies can locate a random person with no access to CIA technology, even when they're renting scooters in Sri Lanka

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Sorry for the typos but my phone wouldn't let me edit

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1. He wasn't face down ;-)





If the idea is to stay alive, I'm driving.

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And that makes it all OK...

'What is an Oprah?'-Teal'c.

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You should become the publicist for Manti Te-o, you've got answers for the most ridiculous nonsense!

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[deleted]

11. sbattey is a *beep* retard.

Hama cheez ba-Beer behtar meshawad!

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No, sbattey is just speaking the truth. Nothing in this movie made any sense at all. He's just interpreting a bit too literally. It's a spy movie, they never make sense or are realistic at all. That didn't ruin anything for me. It reminded me of Ronin, it was very stylish and well done. Even if a lot of the plot didn't make sense, that doesn't matter. Clearly I wasn't going into this movie expecting it to be a paragon of realism.

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11. Super spies can travel from France to Switzerland without any travel documents or ID.

12. Super spies leave all their money, passports and guns in a Swiss bank before they go on a mission to kill someone.

13. Super spies can remember car license plates but not the number of their Swiss bank account.

14. Super spies never conceal their appearance when on the run but make sure that their female companions change their hair style.

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11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement



If the idea is to stay alive, I'm driving.

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I can personally attest that you require absolutely no papers whatsoever to cross the border between France and Switzerland. No one checks anything, you can walk right through (the checkpoint infrastructure is still in place but it is no longer in use).

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to erictopp Nr. 11:
Actually I travelled 2016 from Finland to Italy, by PLANE, stopping at Copenhagen, without showing my ID once. How curious is that?

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If you think this is bad watch Legacy or god forbid Skyfall

nothing matters

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@ jokerd92 - I wish I had read your post before I watched Legacy and Skyfall.

Nothing against Jeremy Renner, but Legacy immediately felt that the film makers were just milking the Bourne series for all its worth, and what they came up with was pretty bad.

Skyfall... sheesh. I don't even know where to begin with this one. The laundry list of problems that I had with this film would take up way too much space and honestly who would want to type all of that?

I did like the villain though.

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Completely agree with point #6 (I haven't read your other points, but I'm sure they are fine too). Thing is, having a life like that- your only goal is to kill the person you are after and if you fail, you die. They're 'objects' ...the whole movie was to show how they were all being used and none of them were to really think about who they were killing and WHY. So yeah, he killed himself, otherwise, the people who sent him would have done so. Why would you continue to give work to someone who fails the task AND they all had different identities, so even if he did kill himself in public, it would never be known that he was a spy/killer.

Also, he couldn't have known "oh, Bourne has no memory of anything, blah blah blah."

It IS a smart movie and I never get tired of it. Really has the answer to many questions :)

EDIT: This post was in response to RogueFighter's original post on this thread - your list vs. OP. Just wanted to make that clear since it shows up as a reply to your second post...

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Your post is ridiculous. I'll address a couple of these.

Number 4.
The ladder wasn't complete and it was along way down. Just because he broke the lock doesn't mean he left that way. The guy looked, didn't see him anywhere and continued his search. Very reasonable.

Number 6.
The guy was probably suicidal as it was and didn't care to live. He didn't want to be tortured by Bourne into giving information when he could just kill himself.

Number 9.
He did lay there for awhile as if unconscious for a few seconds before getting up. I am sure it's unlikely that that would happen in real life but I am sure it's possible if everything goes right.

Number 10.
Bourne did say it was hard to find her. You could tell he was very smart throughout the film so it is very reasonable that he used his "following a trail" skills to find her. And if you ask, "Why couldn't the people hunting Bourne find her?" Well Bourne did tell the guy that she was dead.

BTW, it's "assassin." Not "super spy."

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11 Swiss banks helpfully supply walk-in clients with red shoulder bags when they open safe deposit boxes, in case they wish to carry back outside guns, cash and multiple passports on their person.

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@ spookyrat - Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jason Bourne take the lining from the waste basket that was nearby to empty all the contents of the safety deposit into?

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He may have Cliff. I was surprised to find out on another thread that Swiss banks do hand out free shoulder bags for that sort of thing. If you remember, Bourne walks into the safe deposit room in nothing but his clothes and carrying nothing with him, but walks out with the red shoulder bag.

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I am watching the movie right now. He uses the trash can liner. I don't know why it has a shoulder strap but that is where he gets the bag.

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Kristen I think you'll find the red shoulder bag is sitting on top of the trash can. He puts the liner into the shoulder bag. I originally queried where the bag came from, as he walks in with nothing. But have been assured by others that Swiss banks actually give them out.

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That definitely makes more sense, thanks!

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A red bag would alert thieves someone just emptied a safe deposit box.

Thats smart.

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Thats smart.
I'm not sure whether they all are red, though I take your point about the flagging of valuables to prospective thieves. I can't comment on the numbers of mugged bank customers, though my best guess would be the figure is extremely low, otherwise I'm sure you'd hear about it.

I guess the main point that has been clarified by a number of posters familiar with the Swiss banking system, is that they do apparently give out bags to safe deposit customers where required.

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