Blade II [Blu-ray]

Director: Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro

Overview

Four years after scoring a box-office touchdown with Blade (1998), actor Wesley Snipes returns to portray the Marvel Comics character again in this sequel that teams him with Mexican horror director Guillermo del Toro. A half-vampire, half-human hybrid, Blade (Snipes) is a merciless vampire hunter bent on destroying the bloodsuckers that feed on humanity. The keys to Blade's success are a serum that allows him to resist the urge for blood and an array of inventive, deadly weapons, both of which were once supplied by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Since Whistler's death, Blade has relocated to Prague and recruited the pot-smoking slacker Scud (Norman Reedus) to take the place of his father figure, but then he discovers that Whistler's not dead after all: He's been infected with the vampire virus. Reunited with Whistler, Blade is dealt an even bigger surprise: His greatest enemy, vampire leader Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), wants to make peace with him. It seems that the vampires are facing a greater threat than Blade and hope to persuade him to fight the Reapers, a mutated super-race of vampires on a rampage of murder, indiscriminately killing both humans and their fellow bloodsuckers while sucking their victims dry. Blade agrees to a truce and joins the Bloodpack, an elite squad of commandos originally formed to fight Blade himself. Soon, the vampire soldiers discover that the virus responsible for creating their enemies is spreading rapidly and can be traced back to a mysterious "Patient Zero." Blade 2 (2002) co-stars Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Donnie Yen, and Matt Schulze.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/10/2012
UPC:	0794043141461
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:57:00

Special Features

Audio commentary with Guillermo del Toro ; Director''s notebook; Audio commentaries by director Guillermo del Toro & producer Peter Frankfurt and Wesley Snipes & writer David S. Goyer; The blood pact; Deleted/alternate scenes; Music video - Cypress Hill and Roni Size; Art gallery; Trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Wesley Snipes	Eric Brooks
Kris Kristofferson	Abraham Whistler
Ron Perlman	Dieter Reinhardt
Leonor Varela	Nyssa Damaskinos
Norman Reedus	Scud
Thomas Kretschmann	Eli Damaskinos
Luke Goss	Jared Nomak
Matt Schulze	Chupa
Danny John-Jules	Asad
Donnie Yen	Snowman
Karel Roden	Karel Kounen
Marit Velle Kile	Verlaine
Tony Curran	Priest
Daz Crawford	Lighthammer
Marek Vasut	Golem
Pete Lee-Wilson	Blood Bank Doctor
Paul Kasey	Blood Bank Guard
Andrea Miltner	Blood Bank Nurse
Ladislav Beran	Drug Dealer
Jiri Sieber	Blood Bank Guard
Bridge Markland	Vampire with Exposed Spine
Stuart Luis	Reaper
Ladislav Mohyla	Reaper
Jan Malik	Reaper
Jan Révai	Reaper
Mario Wild	Reaper
Tomá¿ Böhm	Reaper
Zdenek Bubák	Reaper
Jan Loukota	Reaper
Jan Bursa	Reaper
Petr Krusalnicky	Reaper
Jaroslav Misek	Reaper
Karel Vavrovec	St. Cloud
Jaroslav Peterka	Choad
Milos Kulhavy	Little G
Ivan Mares	Tea Bag
Lennox Brown	Man in London Porno Shop
Andre Hyde-Braithwaite	Young Blade
Pavel Cajzl	Moscow Vampire
Olga Lounová	Prostitute
Stephen R. Peluso	Paramedic
John Salvitti	Moscow Vampire Attacking Blade
Kenji Tanigaki	Moscow Vampire Attacking Blade
Sanaa Lathan	Vanessa Brooks (uncredited)
Norman Reeduss	Actor
Marco Beltrami	Composer
Danny Saber	Composer
Buck Sanders	Composer

Technical Credits

Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo del Toro	Director
Peter Frankfurt	Producer
Patrick J. Palmer	Producer,Producer
Wesley Snipes	Producer
David S. Goyer	Executive Producer
Toby Emmerich	Executive Producer
Stan Lee	Executive Producer
Lynn Harris	Executive Producer
Michael DeLuca	Executive Producer
Avi Arad	Executive Producer
Bryan Bowen	Sound Effects
Spectral Motion Incorporated	Special Effects
Guillermo Del Toro	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A ruthless new breed of vampires threatens both the dead and the undead in Blade II, the high-speed sequel to 1998's adaptation of the action-horror comic book. Wesley Snipes returns as the titular half-vampire, a "daywalker" sworn to eliminate all bloodsuckers in the coolest possible way. After reviving his captured mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade finds himself enlisted by his own enemies to help defeat the "Reapers," an evolved form of vampire that poses a serious threat to regular vamps and, quite possibly, humans. Reluctant yet cool, Blade teams with those he cannot trust, a crackerjack squad of vamps (which includes a menacing Ron Perlman) that prove to be as adversarial as the Reapers. The gore is intense, the action is fast-paced, and Snipes keeps up every step of the way, once again flying through the role of vampire hunter -- often literally. With so many faces returning from the first movie, the freshest aspect here is Mexican genre whiz Guillermo Del Toro (Mimic) in the director's chair. While maintaining the kinetic style of the original, Del Toro milks the film's Prague locale for some atmosphere and style, an approach that enhances the film's flair and makes it much more fun than your average horror sequel.

Barnes & Noble - Tony Nigro

Wesley Snipes remains the perfect incarnation of the comic book vampire hunter Blade in this intense, bloody sequel that marks a new advance in the world of special effects. Director Guillermo Del Toro (Mimic, The Devil's Backbone) has a strong record in the horror genre and he manages to avoid the many traps of doing a sequel due in large part to David S. Goyer's strong script. In smartly resurrecting the half-human, half-vampire hero's seemingly dead partner, Whistler, Goyer has brought back actor Kris Kristofferson, who delivers a gritty, blue-collar performance that gives the steely, impersonal Blade a colorful foil. From there, Goyer's story puts the duo, along with a new helper (Norman Reedus), in an uneasy alignment with the vampire race against an almost indestructible super-breed of vampire. This straightforward setup allows Del Toro and his team (including noted Hong Kong fight coordinator Donnie Yen) to focus on the choreography of the film's plentiful fight scenes. The result is an action-packed hybrid of horror and martial arts that is easily one of the most exciting and most impressive displays of monster and special makeup effects to hit the screen since John Carpenter's 1982 creature extravaganza The Thing. The hundreds of effects shots reflects a collaboration of multiple effects companies doing visuals, prosthetics, makeup and CGI -- all of which come together in a seamless, visually stunning package. Throw in a fully charged club soundtrack and a Snipes performance that combines a ton of toughness with just enough sensitivity to make him (somewhat) human, and you've got a fantastic genre sequel that has style and cool to spare.

All Movie Guide

1/2
You can sense the difference between a movie that's a technical exercise (Resident Evil) and one steamed in the dread cauldrons of the filmmaker's imagination.

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

Like the original, Blade II has superior production values and visual and special effects. Snipes and Kristofferson build on the resonance of their original portrayals.

Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas