The recipe for Blade is quite simple; you take one part Batman, one part horror flick, and two parts kung fu and frost it all over with some truly campy acting. What do you get? An action flick that will reaffirm your belief that the superhero action genre did not die in the fluorescent hands of Joel Schumacher. Blade is the story of a ruthless and supreme vampire slayer (Wesley Snipes) who makes other contemporary slayers (Buffy et al. ) look like amateurs. Armed with a samurai sw…
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October 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Good action vampire stories, whether written, drawn or on film are just plain hard to find. For a while now the ‘not quite bad’ vampire and even the ‘good’ vampire have been fashionable. Not that I have anything against Angel or Henry Fitzroy and their ilk, but sometimes you want a story with a clear division between good and evil and a lot of knock them down and stake them action. Enter Blade. Blade is a half vampire with a very nasty attitude toward his relatives on the dark side. Played by Wesley Snipes, he has all the moves and attitude you could ever want. His partner in his war against the things that did in his mother is Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Later, Karen (N’Bushe Wright) a forensic hematologist who has the bad luck to find a vampire on her table, joins them. Opposing this team is Frost (Steven Dorff), a vampire rebel who thinks it is time for the un-people with pointy teeth to come out of the closet. His plan is simple. Take over the vampire council, capture Blade and resurrect La Magra – the blood god. Then there will be nothing but vampires and bloodsicles. ‘Blade’ is an extremely violent film. Almost everyone is a martial arts expert, has access to what the US Congress would consider weapons of mass destruction, or is a victim. Sometimes, they are all three. Toss in a sufficiency of special effects, great settings, and good acting and you have the film. What makes ‘Blade’ work is its intense focus. It works hard at being exactly what it is – an action film with a strong ‘wow’ factor. Sometimes that is exactly what you need. Steven Norrington, a director considerable experience in the horror/science fiction genre, has a great sense of what it takes to make comic book characters come to life on the screen. He manages to retain the strong visual impact of the original Marvel Comics series. David Goyer’s script manages to capture the essence of comic book dialogue – sparse, but not stilted. The overall effect is a film that builds smoothly from start to ending, with very few slow moments. The extras on the DVD are surprisingly good. Good sized features on the concepts and effects that went into the film, the story of the Blade comic, and an interesting survey of the vampire in human imagination. In addition, there is an extensive running commentary for the film. All of these are intelligently done. I think ‘Blade,’ despite its violence, will appeal a wide range of viewers as something more than just another Hong Kong fight film wannabe.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
This was a great action/horror film, packed with some excellent special effects, an entertaining storyline, and at least a couple of reasonably talented actors (Snipes, Dorff). Kristofferson is terrible as always (a hint to you casting people. . . Sam Elliott would have been MUCH better as the tough and gritty Whistler). But you’re not really reading this review to hear about the movie — you can get that kind of info anywhere. What you want to know is “Is the DVD worth buying instead of a VHS tape?” Weeeellll. . . This movie is undoubtedly THE showcase movie for DVD (the Mummy is another very good choice). The picture quality is fantastic, and the sound is incredible (you gotta listen to it in Dolby Digital 5. 1 on a nice home theater system to fully appreciate the sound). But what really sets this format apart from anything else are the SPECIAL FEATURES. A ton of things like information about the different Vampire houses, commentary from the director on the making of the film, and an alternative ending, really show how the DVD format can add to your viewing experience. Many DVDs (too many, in fact) are simply direct transfers from another format to DVD. No extras, limited enhancements on picture and sound. . . A perfect example of a BAD DVD is Highlander! The DVD versions of the Bond movies have also shown the industry a thing or two about how to make a truly interesting and worthwhile DVD movie. DVDs like Blade make me happy I purchased a DVD player!
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Lets face it. There have been only a handful of great films that were based on Comic Books: Superman, Batman, The X-Men, ect. With all the rest being dismal failures, usually because all involved didn’t take their source material seriously enough and went in a completely different direction. Not bothering to really understand why people truly love these characters in the first place. These kinds of people should never be allowed to direct films derived from comic books. It was the summer of 1998. The hollywood machine was throwing out dozens of entertainment fodder for the masses to engulf. I saw 14 film in the movie theaters that year. Blade was the only one of them I saw twice. Talk about a movie experience! From the opening shots, you are literally sucked in (no pun intended) to the world of the vampires. Wesley Snipes completely embraces the role of the title character and plays him to the hilt, with just a bit of dry cocky humor that is very refreshing. As we first meet Blade at a Vampire techno club (which uses a great remix of a song called “Confusion” by New Order) we just know he’s a force to be reckoned with as he slices, dices, burns & just plains blows up every vampire he gets a hold of (including Traci Lords, in a very memorable cameo). Kris Kristofferson plays Whistler, Blade’s mentor and creator of the various weapons at his disposal, including guns & knives, bombs, & more. (“We have a good arrangement. He makes the weapons, I use ‘em”). But it’s Stephen Dorff as the bloodthirsty Deacon Frost that helps catapult the film from average action fair to the stuff of comic book legend. With most actors, this would be a one or two dimensional performance, but in the hands of Stephen Dorff, he turns the character of Deacon Frost into something much more multilayared. The interaction he has with Blade as well as his other fellow vampires give off this feel of someone we should not underestimate. Because a truly great villain is a huge key to a movie’s success. The whole mythos of vampires in this film moves the genre in a very interesting direction. According to Blade, pure silver, garlic & sunlight are the main tools to combat vampires. (“Crosses don’t do d***, so forget about what you’ve seen in the movies”) But the fact that the pure blood vampires are personified as old & disposable, while the nonpure vampires are young and virile, looking to take over and run things, can really be looked at as a depiction of our society, with the old guard being kicked out by the new one, lest anarchy ensue. But “Blade” is without a doubt one of the best comic book adaptions to hit the big screen in a long time. It is truly up there with Superman & Batman as the best of the best. And New Line Cinema gives you more to praise about with the wonderful DVD Platinum Edition, that includes a nice audio commentary with Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff and others from the production and writing team. The only disappointing thing is that everyone is recorded seperately instead of all together in one big room which is more fun to listen to. Four Featurettes are also included: “La Magra” – which discusses the films evolution as well as showing some deleted scenes from the film (Deacon Frost’s idea of freezing humans and harvesting them for their blood, plus the original ending of Frost turning into a digital effects blood monster. You’ll be so glad it was deleted once you see it. ) “Designing Blade” – a look at the production designs including interior, exteriors, Blade’s arsenal and more! “The Origins of Blade” – An indepth discussion with Marvel Comics alum, Stan Lee & others on the genesis of comic books going from kid friendly to more for adults. “The Blood Tide” – A very interesting look at Vampire mythology in general beginning from the early 1900’s. Plus you get the definitions to most of the glyphs shown in the film, cast & crew bios and film credits, as well as the wonderful original theatrical trailer that still packs a punch all it’s own! Blade – A True Comic Book Classic!”Some [people] are always tryin’ to iceskate uphill” – Wesley Snipes as BladeAlso, don’t miss the incredible sequel, Blade II!
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.