I have never been a vampire fan up until my teenage years. My brother was always watching vampire movies and reading related books. I think that the Lost Boys was the first vampire movie that I ever saw. Ever since then, I have been into these blood sucking movies and I cannot figure out why. My brother told me about this movie more than three years ago, but I never got around to watching it until about a year and a half ago. I have bought the DVD since then and watched it a few more times, that's how much I enjoyed it.


Wesley Snipes… Blade
Kris Kristofferson… Abraham Whistler
N’Bushe Wright… Dr. Karen Jenson
Stephen Dorff… Deacon Frost
Donal Logue… Quinn
Tim Guinee… Dr. Curtis Webb
Udo Kier… Dragonetti
Kevin Walls… Officer Krieger


Blade is on a mission. He is after the bloodsuckers that attacked his mother when she was pregnant with him. Not only did they manage to kill her, but turned him into less than a man. Now a half-vampire, half human, Blade wants revenge. But he’s not the only one that has blood on his mind. It seems that Deacon Frost, the vamp who desires to be the head honcho and owner of a nightclub, has plans of his own for Blade.

Hey I heard you’ve been looking for me, I’m flattered.…Frost
It’ll pass.…Blade

At the beginning of the movie, we come to a nightclub. Blade arrives when the vampires in the club go on attack mode. But he gets out of there just as the police arrive. But his work isn’t finished. He arrives at an autopsy, just as the man awakes and attacks the doctor, Karen Jensen. The police arrive and attempt to shoot Blade, but the bullets bounce right off of him. He manages to get Dr. Jensen to his friend and partner, Abraham, in time for a shot to be given. He also gets his own injection, of a secret serum. Blade lets Karen know that the vampires will hunt her down now, because she is marked.

Meanwhile, the members of the house (vampire) warn Frost that he cannot break the treaty that the vampires have with the humans. The events at his nightclub that night were not to happen again. But he has no intentions of listening to them, because he already has plans of his own. And those plans involve Blade and his special blood.

The movie goes on with various situations of Blade trying to get to Frost while protecting Karen, and Frost trying to get to Blade. Abraham is there to help his friend and save his life a few times.

I’m getting too old for this sh*t! Somebody get me a god-damned wheelchair!…Whistler

Meanwhile, Blade has other things going on. Because of the nature of his birth, he can withstand garlic, sunlight, and silver…but he has acquired the thirst. His body is also beginning to reject the secret serum that keeps him from wanting the blood of humans. So Karen begins to research a way to cure Blade. But she makes a different discovery instead.

Will Karen find a way to cure Blade? Will she find a way to recover from her own bite? Will Blade get his revenge on those that murdered his mother and turned him into something less than human?

You may wake up one day and find yourself extinct.…Frost
I promise you, Frost, you will be dead by dawn.…Blade


~ DVD Extras ~
Audio Commentary…Snipes, Dorff, Goyer (writer)
Musical Score with commentary
Featurette “La Magra”
Featurette “Designing Blade”
Featurette “The Origins of Blade”
Featurette “The Blood Tide”
“House of Erebus”
Production Design Sketches


~ Soundtrack ~
Bad Moon Rising, Rattle the Fear, Soleil, Eclipse, Fearless, Yeah, Confusion, Rainbow Voice, Dig This Vibe, Playing With Lightening, Dealing with the Roster, Call & Response, Ether, Go Get On It, Chin Chin.


~ Awards & Nominations ~
Nominated:
1999 MTV Movie Award – Best Fight… Snipes
1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Supporting Actor… Kristofferson

Won:
1999 MTV Movie Award – Best Villain… Dorff
1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Actor… Snipes


~*~ My Thoughts ~*~
I’m not a squeamish person. I can pretty much watch any kind of horror movie and not have a problem. Well, that is, except those Chucky movies. I can’t really stomach a murderous doll. But I don’t have any problems with vampires. Call me crazy, but I liked Blade a lot. It was different from your regular vampire movie. I think it was because there was more action going on, which means more blood, but that’s not why I liked it better.

I enjoyed Wesley Snipes performance as Blade. He seemed to fit the renegade half-human/half vampire very well. He was able to portray the feelings of being “different” and an outcast very well. But he was also able to portray the more violent side of the vampire in a way that was very believable also. Being nicely built also probably was to his advantage because he looked like he could do all the fighting and martial arts with no problem.

I haven’t seen Dorff on screen in too many roles, but he was definitely passable as Deacon Frost. He’s a little young looking to be so powerful, but he’s just wicked and mean enough to make the character more interesting. I’ve never seen him in a role quite like this one, but it worked well for him, even if his supposed power is never really explained or developed much. But surprisingly, he’s a pretty decent match for Snipes.

I have never been a big fan of Kristofferson either. But his appearance also seemed to fit in well with his character and personality. He has this kick-a** attitude and dry sense of humor that you just cannot deny. I’ve never seen N’Bushe Wright in anything, so cannot compare her performance. But she seemed to also be well suited for her role, but did not make a huge impact on me. She provides an interesting subplot to the movie, with her intentions to find a cure for vampires, but it seems like that was just thrown in to add something else to the movie without ever being developed into much.

The action scenes varied from being weak to intense. I enjoyed most of them, but others were very graphic and I had to look elsewhere (such as the opening scene). But surprisingly, I don’t believe that they went overboard with anything that they did in this film. Blade never seems to slow down either, so I wasn’t bored with any part of the movie.

One thing you might have to watch out with this movie is the amount of bad language it contains. I would definitely not recommend Blade to anyone under the age of 16. By that age, you can assume that they have heard all the bad language they are going to hear. Of course, with this being a vampire movie, there is extreme violence that is not good for the young eyes either. And if you’re not into blood, then I would seriously forget about this movie because it contains more than a few gallons worth.

Overall, I am definitely going to have to recommend this movie. This is one of the best comic book adaptations that I can remember seeing. I’m off to see Blade 2.


~ Happy Watching!

Kim


Movie Type: Science Fiction/Horror
Movie Release: August 1998
Director: Stephen Norrington
Writer: David S. Goyer
Rated: R
Running Time: 120 minutes


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age