Main Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
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. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
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. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Udo Kier - Dragonetti; Arly Jover - Mercury; Traci Lords - Racquel; Kevin Patrick Walls - Krieger; Tim Guinee - Curtis Webb; Sanaa Lathan - Vanessa; Eric Edwards - Pearl; Kenny Johnson - Heatseeking Dennis
Credit
Barry Chusid - Art Director, Rachel Abroms - Casting, Jory Weitz - Casting, Jon Divens - Co-producer, Andrew J. Horne - Co-producer, Jon Davies - Co-producer, Sanja Milkovic Hays - Costume Designer, Steve Norrington - Director, Paul Rubell - Editor, Stan Lee - Executive Producer, Avi Arad - Executive Producer, Joseph Calamari - Executive Producer, Lynn Harris - Executive Producer, Chuck Jeffreys - Fights Choreographer, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Dana Sano - Musical Direction/Supervision, Greg Cannom - Makeup, Kirk M. Petruccelli - Production Designer, Theo Van de Sande - Cinematographer, Wesley Snipes - Producer, Peter Frankfurt - Producer, Bob Engelman - Producer, Greg Grande - Set Designer, Thomas Reta - Set Designer, Chad S. Frey - Set Designer, A. Todd Holland - Set Designer, Lee Orloff - Sound/Sound Designer, Jeff Ward - Stunts Coordinator, Henry Kingi, Jr. - Stunts Coordinator, David S. Goyer - Screenwriter
A man is led to a rave club by a seductive woman named Raquel (Traci Lords), only to find that the club is filled with vampires eager to feed on the human members of the crowd. In the middle of the carnage, a vampire-hunter named Blade arrives. Saving the man, Blade slaughters the vampires in the club with only a vampire named Quinn (Donal Logue) momentarily spared but horribly burned. Blade tracks Quinn down to a hospital, but Quinn is able to feed off of Dr. Curtis Webb before biting another resident hematologist, Dr. Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright), before escaping once again. Blade brings Karen back to his lair and introduces her to Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), his mentor and weapon-smith.
Learning that Blade is a half-vampire hybrid with all the strengths of a vampire but none of their weaknesses except the thirst for blood, Karen resolves to study vampirism and find a cure before she becomes a vampire, uncovering that the anticoagulant EDTA reacts explosively with the vampire infection. Meanwhile, Deacon Frost (Dorff), a young upstart in the vampire community, clashes with his vampire elders as he believes that vampires should rise from the shadows and enslave humanity. The elders shun him for his radical views and because he was not born a vampire, like they were. Frost studies ancient vampire lore and comes to believe that he can achieve it through La Magra, a vampire god. After translating their race's sacred scriptures to uncover the means to awaken La Magra, Frost kidnaps the leading elder Gitano Dragonetti, killing him off and the imprisons the other elders.
Blade combats Frost's various minions in an effort to uncover his plan, but Frost manages to invade Blade's lair, kidnapping Karen and mortally wounding Whistler with his men infecting him. Blade gives the infected Whistler a gun to commit suicide, then arms himself with a large supply of EDTA. He storms Frost's home, overrunning the bodyguards, and discovers his own mother, Vanessa Brooks (Sanaa Lathan), whom he believed dead, in Frost's bed. She reveals that Frost was the vampire that bit her while Blade was still in the womb and caused him to become a daywalker. Thunderstruck, Blade is defeated and taken to the Temple of Eternal Night for Frost to use his blood and sacrifices the elder vampires to become La Magra.
Karen manages to break free and feed Blade her blood, giving him the power to fight back. He kills his mother while Karen kills Frost's lover Mercury (Arly Jover) with garlic spray. Blade then cuts through Quinn and the rest of Frost's minions before engaging Frost in swordplay. Frost's new powers make him immune to normal weapons, so Blade injects him with EDTA, causing Frost to explode. Blade and Karen return to Blade's lair, where Karen successfully cures herself of vampirism. Blade chooses not to use the cure in order to continue hunting vampires with their own powers. An epilogue finds Blade in Russia, hunting vampires there.
Sanaa Lathan as Vanessa Brooks: Blade's mother, who has become a vampire.
Arly Jover as Mercury: A fleet-footed vampire and Frost's lover.
Kevin Patrick Walls as Officer Krieger: A "familiar", or human servant, of Frost's.
Tim Guinee as Dr. Curtis Webb: Karen's ex-boyfriend.
Traci Lords as Racquel: A seductive vampire who leads a man to the blood rave.
Production notes and cameos
Filming was in large done in Los Angeles, with some scenes being shot in Death Valley.[1]
Flat Earth Productions created the effects for the film.[2]
Stan Lee originally had a cameo that was ultimately cut from the film. He played one of the cops that came in to the blood club during the aftermath and discover Quinn's body on fire. Although Blade is a Marvel Comics character, he was created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. So far, Stan Lee only has had cameos in movies based on characters that he helped create.
David Goyer explains in the DVD commentary that when Karen Jenson wakes up at Blade's hideout after her initial attack and rescue by Blade, the script had her discover a jar with a vampire baby in it. The baby would be alive and used by Blade and Whistler as a guinea pig for testing out weapons to fight the vampires. The studio found this concept to be far too disturbing and refused to allow it.
When David S. Goyer first pitched the idea of doing a Blade movie, the executives of New Line felt there were only four actors who could possible do the role: LL Cool J, Denzel Washington, and Laurence Fishburne, but in Goyer's mind, Wesley Snipes was always the perfect choice for the character of Blade.
The original ending included an eight-story monstrous version of La Magra. This was scrapped and re-done to the current known ending after many fans were disappointed when Stephen Dorff (Frost) was taken off-camera during the film's first screening. The original ending can be found in the special features section of the DVD.
An alternate ending can be found on the LaMagra section of the DVD where Karen Jenson points out a shadowy figure on a distant rooftop wrapped in rags. The character is supposed to be the Marvel Comic vampire Morbius.
Trivia
- Blade's car is 1968 Dodge Charger.
- In the scene where Quinn has the upper hand on Blade and Stabs him with the silver. Blade mentions he is expecting company on an earpiece that is in his ear summoning Whistler. But If noticed that the earpiece was not visible at all until that scene when Blade announced Whistler's Presence.
Connections to the comic
The character Blade was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan as a supporting character in the 1970s comic The Tomb of Dracula. The comic Blade used teak knives and was much more the everyman in his behavior and attitude. Though courageous and brave, he displayed flaws as well, such as an inability to get along with certain other supporting cast members and a hatred of vampires that bordered on fanaticism.
The character was not originally a "daywalker" but a human being immune to being turned into a vampire. Lacking the superhuman speed and strength of his undead quarry, he relied solely on his wits and skill until he was bitten by the character Morbius. The film version of Blade was updated for a 1990's audience and the comics character was subsequently modified to match. The film's version of Deacon Frost also differs greatly from his comic counterpart.
Release
Box office
Blade went to number one in both Spain and Australia for their opening weekends. With 200 theatres showing the film, Spain's cinema goers earned the film $1.5 million (US) in three days, whilst Australia earned $1 million from 132 cinemas showing the film.[3] In the Flemish Region of Belgium, the film earned $323,000 from 20 cinemas, and the Netherlands earned the film $246,000 from 44 cinemas.[4] France made $1.9 million in five days from 241 cinemas, but the film was less successful in Hong Kong (with $182,000 from 22 cinemas) and South Africa ($159,000 from 64 cinemas). The United Kingdom was more successful, taking in $5.7 million over 10 days,[5] as was Brazil, making $855,000 in four days from 133 cinemas.[6] The film was banned from showing in Malaysia, whom are widely considered to be the most conservative censors in Southeast Asia.[7]
Critical reaction
Reaction to Blade among critics was mixed, with the film earning a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[8]Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, writing: "Blade ... is a movie that relishes high visual style. It uses the extreme camera angles, the bizarre costumes and sets, the exaggerated shadows, the confident cutting between long shots and extreme closeups. It slams ahead in pure visceral imagery."[9] Conversely, James Berardinelli gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, writing: "Blade has the capacity to dazzle, but it also will leave many viewers dissatisfied."[10]
Lawsuit
Marv Wolfman, the original creator of the Blade character, unsuccessfully sued Marvel and New Line for $50 million after the release of the film. He, along with artist Gene Colan, receives a "based on characters created by" credit in this film, but does not receive credit in the sequels or TV series.
