Blade [Blu-ray]

Director: Stephen Norrington, Steve Norrington Stephen Norrington

Overview

British director Stephen Norrington helmed this David S. Goyer adaptation of the Marvel Comics character created in 1973 by scripter Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan. In the Tomb of Dracula comic book origin, just before Blade's mother gave birth to Blade, she was bitten by a vampire, which made Blade immune to vampires. Now a vampire hunter, Blade, joined by vampire detective Hannibal King and Dracula-descendent Frank Drake, stalks vampires. In the 1990s (in Marvel's Nightstalkers), Blade teamed with Drake and King in an agency created to fight a variety of supernatural beings. The Marvel origin is retold in this 1998 Norrington film, with Blade's mother dying as he is born. Thirty-some years later, Blade now exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade's vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide -- an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/19/2012
UPC:	0794043148033
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	R
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	16,961

Special Features

Audio commentary by cast and crew; Featurettes: La Magra, Designing Blade, The Origins of Blade: a look at Dark Comics, The Blood Tide; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Wesley Snipes	Blade
Stephen Dorff	Deacon Frost
Kris Kristofferson	Whistler
N'Bushe Wright	Karen
Donal Logue	Quinn,Actor
Udo Kier	Dragonetti
Arly Jover	Mercury
Traci Lords	Racquel,Actor
Kevin Patrick Walls	Krieger
Tim Guinee	Curtis Webb
Sanaa Lathan	Vanessa
Eric Edwards	Pearl
Donna Wong	Nurse
Carmen Thomas	Senior Resident
Shannon Lee	Resident
Kenneth Johnson	Heatseeking Dennis,Paramedic,Heatseeking Dennis
Clint Curtis	Creepy Morgue Guy
Judson Scott	Pallantine
Sidney Liufau	Japanese Doorman
Keith Leon Williams	Kam
Stephen R. Peluso	Paramedic
Marcus Aurelius	Pragmatic Policeman
John Enos III	Blood Club Bouncer
Eboni Adams	Martial Arts Kid
Lyle Conway	Reichardt
Freeman White III	Menacing Stud
Marcus Salgado	Frost's Goon
Esau McKnight Jr.	Frost's Goon
Erl	Von Esper
Matt Schulze	Crease
Lennox Brown	Pleading Goon
Yvette Ocampo	Party Girl
Irena Stepic	Slavic Vampire Lord
Jenya Lano	Russian Woman
Levani	Russian Vampire
D.V. DeVincentis	Vampire Underling
Nikki DiSanto	Vampire Victim
Ryan Glorioso	Blood Bath Vampire
Erl Van Douglas	Von Esper
Mark Isham	Composer

Technical Credits

David S. Goyer

Stephen Norrington	Director,Director
David S. Goyer	Screenwriter
Wesley Snipes	Producer
Robert Engelman	Producer,Producer
Peter Frankfurt	Producer
Avi Arad	Executive Producer,Producer
Joseph Calamari	Executive Producer,Producer
Lou Carlucci	Special Effects
Stan Lee	Executive Producer,Producer
Jeff Ward	Stunts
Jory Weitz	Casting
Rachel Abroms	Casting
Lynn Harris	Executive Producer,Producer
Thomas Baumann	Special Effects
Tsuyoshi Abe	Stunts
Pembrooke Andrews	Sound Effects
Michael De Luca	Producer
Richard Tjelmeland	Special Effects
John Fleming	Special Effects
Lee Orloff	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

It took a quarter-century, but the Marvel Comics vampire-slayer created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan finally hit the big screen, and it was worth the wait. Wesley Snipes is terrific as the half-vampire Blade, fighting the undead legions with the aid of a high-tech arsenal manufactured by his crusty partner, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Stephen Dorff is equally memorable as the villainous half-breed Frost, planning to usurp the more genteel purebred vampires in order to destroy and enslave the human race. But he needs Blade's blood to call an ancient vampire-god first. The action scenes are dynamite, Greg Cannom's bloody special-effects are suitably outlandish to match the comic-book tone, and there are some nice bits by cult favorites Udo Kier and Traci Lords along the way. It's not a straight horror film, as its numerous fight scenes and hyperbolic mythologizing make clear, but -- despite its comic-book roots -- it is still another of 1998's releases to push the "R" rating to its limit with blood-soaked violence. Viewers with strong stomachs and a yen for a very dark take on the Mortal Kombat-style of filmmaking should, however, be extremely pleased.