Product Description

Wesley Snipes plays a half-mortal half-immortal charged with ridding the earth of a race of vampires led by Stephen Dorff in this action-packed blockbuster.Running Time: 120 min.System Requirements:Starring: Wesley Snipes Stephen Dorff et al. Director: Stephen Norrington Edition Details: Region 1 encoding (for use in US and Canada only) Color Closed-captioned Dolby Widescreen Commentary by Audio commentary by actor Wesley Snipes (qv) actor Stephen Dorff (qv) writer David S. Goyer (qv) cinematographer Theo Van de Sande (qv) production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli (qv) and producer Peter Frankfurt (qv) Commentary by Isolated musical score with commentary by composer Mark Isham (qv) Theatrical trailer(s) Featurette "La Magra" including the original ending Featurette "Designing Blade" Featurette "The Origins of Blade" Featurette "The Blood Tide" "House of Erebus" information about the different vampire houses Widescreen anamorphic format Number of discs: 1 Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 794043470929

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5562 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 1998-12-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
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 sword made of silver and guns that shoot silver bullets, he lives to hunt and kill "Sucker Heads." Pitted against our hero is a cast of villains led by Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a crafty and charismatic vampire who believes that his people should be ruling the world, and that the human race is merely the food source they prey on. Born half-human and half-vampire after his mother had been attacked by a blood-sucker, Blade is brought to life by a very buff-looking Snipes in his best action performance to date. Apparent throughout the film is the fluid grace and admirable skill that Snipes brings to the many breathtaking action sequences that lift this movie into a league of its own. The influence of Hong Kong action cinema is clear, and you may even notice vague impressions of Japanese anime sprinkled innovatively throughout. Dorff holds his own against Snipes as the menacing nemesis Frost, and the grizzly Kris Kristofferson brings a tough, cynical edge to his role as Whistler, Blade's mentor and friend. Ample credit should also go to director Stephen Norrington and screenwriter David S. Goyer, who prove it is possible to adapt comic book characters to the big screen without making them look absurd. Indeed, quite the reverse happens here: Blade comes vividly to life from the moment you first see him, in an outstanding opening sequence that sets the tone for the action-packed film that follows. From that moment onward you are pulled into the world of Blade and his perpetual battle against the vampire race. --Jeremy Storey

Customer Reviews

Super Campy Fun....
I've been doing my own reading and retrospective on vampires over the last couple of weeks after seeing "I am Legend" with Will Smith. So I decided to go back to the iconic source. Having not read Dracula in years, I decided to read it again and began by comparing it to the contemporary (1992) movie version...Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" starring Gary Oldman. When I initially read the story as a child, I focused more on my stereotyped "Dracula as performed by Bella Lugosi" and not Stoker's original version. Reading Stoker in the original again I was charmed by the writing style and mores of the times. It holds up well. I then watched Coppola's movie which was tarted up and sexualized for today's audience. While Oldman's over the top performance is great fun to watch, the book is so much better. And if I were Stoker, I would be turning in my grave since the movie version barely follows the book and yet is "Bram Stoker's Dracula".

I then dragged Blade out of my movie collection. It is great campy fun. The first club scene is absolutely classic and really sets the mood for the rest of the movie. This is my favorite Wesley Snipes movie and he really delivers. And I love Kris Kristofferson's dissipated, whiskey voiced as Blade's compadre. The action drags a little bit in the middle, but the end is satisfying, and the bad guy really radiates "evil bad". So you are cheering Blade to the end. Yes, I know this is a B movie, and it has nothing to do with the iconic original dracula. But if you love vampire movies, I recommend this highly. It holds up well even though it it a decade old.

"Great Modern Superhero Vampire Movie"
Even though this is a bloodbath, it is sleek and stylish, and the good storyline makes this a great modern vampire movie. The superhero aspect of this is part of what makes it so good. I didn't particularly like the sequels to this, but my husband and I both loved this movie. We had to wait to watch it until the kids were in bed, since this is way too grown up for them. But we loved it, and were never really drawn to vampire movies before. This DVD is great and has something like an alternate ending, the La Magra sequence, but it actually comes a little before the true "end" of the movie. The actual end of the movie is the same as the theatrical release, which is the one I remember seeing on TV too. Even though I never really liked vampire movies, this story is so good that it makes me want to hunt down some of the comic books.

The Daywalker
Blade is an excellent niche in the market of Vampire tellings and tales. Wesley Snipes plays the part of a Daywalker, a vampire that has a genetic altering which allows him to withstand sunlight and the other various nuisances that the Vamps of the night have to deal with.

Blade is heavy on imagery and action, with a cast that is also great! Kris Kristofferson and Stephen Dorff are seen early and often and their characters bring a lot of strength to an otherwise simple storyline. Snipes as a vampire hunter is superb, and his character has a nice no-nonsense approach at taking on the vamps, which are seeing a rise in power and a change in the ranks take place that could mean the end of all mankind.

The storyline that follows Dorff's character trying to decipher an ancient vampire code was well done, and added to the supporting structure that the vampires needed in order to make them feel like something more than just "humans with fangs" who suck blood. Dark and Gothic with a sense of balance in the fact that everything within the plot seems to work very well, there are no loose ends, no sub plots that go nowhere and not a single character shown that doesn't have an impact in the impending outcome of the story. Battle scenes are early and often, with a wide variety of hardware and weaponry showcased by Blade (Snipes) and the few who stand behind him and his stand against ultimate domination by the Vampires. Blade is different, and does its best to stay away from common clichés considering how often stories regarding vampires are portrayed, therefore making it somewhat unique and having rewatchable value.