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Blade (1998)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
21 August 1998 (USA) moreTagline:
The power of an immortal. The soul of a human. The heart of a hero. morePlot:
A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires. full summary | full synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
4 wins & 7 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(110 articles)
The Unborn Poster Featuring Gary Oldman (From toxicshock. 9 January 2009, 11:10 PM, PST)
Get a scary start to 2009 on Fangoria Radio!
(From Fangoria. 9 January 2009, 1:16 PM, PST)
User Comments:
A palatable offering of Snipes and dice moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)more
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for strong, pervasive vampire violence and gore, language, and brief sexuality.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
120 min | Germany:110 min (cut version)Country:
USAColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Malaysia:18SG | Portugal:M/16 | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18A | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (cut) | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #35159) | Iceland:16 | Germany:BPjM RestrictedMOVIEmeter:
1% since last week why?Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Kris Kristofferson's character Whistler was created for Blade's cameo on the Spider Man cartoon show. He was liked so much by Marvel CEOs that he was adopted into the Marvel universe. moreGoofs:
Continuity: When Blade is wiping off Whistlers neck, telling him he is the Key that Frost needs, Blade gets most of it off in a couple of shots, but the last one all the blood is back on his neck again. moreQuotes:
[Karen sprays Officer Krieger with garlic mace]Officer Krieger: What is this? Garlic?
Dr. Karen Jenson: Yeah, well he said it would work against vampires.
Officer Krieger: Vampires? Who'd said I was a vampire?
Blade: [suddenly appears and knocks Krieger to the floor] Nobody.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in One Step Beyond: The Making of 'Alien: Resurrection' (2003) (V) moreSoundtrack:
Ni Ten Ichi Ryu (Two Swords Technique) moreFAQ
What kind of car does Blade drive?How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
What is the name of the band singing in the Japanese schoolgirl scene?
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Blade is everything Spawn wanted to be and wasn't. While Spawn was a loud, obnoxious, incoherent mess that should have stayed in Hell with its erstwhile hero, Blade is a relatively subdued (it's nice to actually hear the soundtrack), stylish, well-directed movie that actually tries to build empathy and pathos into the characters. While both are adaptations from comic-books, only one is a page-turner.
Blade, or Eric as his mom calls him, but which superhero would command respect with the name Eric, is half-man, half-vampire, made so by his mother, who survived a vampire attack long enough to give birth to him. This gives Blade a certain edge in his understandable grudge against vampires, "all of our strengths and none of our weaknesses" as his main vampire nemesis attests. The aforementioned nemesis is Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) who wants to unleash a vampire apocalypse on the world, decrying the Mafia-type approach that has served vampires so well up to this point - "humans are our food, not our allies," he explains. Blade is aided by his mentor/weapons specialist Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and a female hematologist he rescued, Karen. Her expertise lends her to both create anti-vampire blood, and a possible cure for Blade that would make him fully human again. Although one gets the sense that Blade's fate isn't entirely tragic. He relishes kicking vampire butt.
The movie Blade succeeds for two reasons. It's technically polished, with good acting, excellent directing and production design, and awesome special effects - the way the vampires turn to skeletons and blow away like dried parchment when they die is way cool. There are three accomplished action sequences, the opening party scene which Blade inconveniently crashes, a brush with death on a subway, and the final conflict, with some special effects I can say, as a movie seasoned veteran, I've never seen before. The second reason is that Blade understands the inherent pull of the vampire myth. Vampirism represents a life given to sin, essentially. They are sensual creatures, dependent on flesh and blood for survival, shirking the light, and yet eternal, like evil fleshly lusts the Bible warns about. Vampires are not tragic, like Interview with a Vampire would have you believe, but fun, cool, and sexy. That's their power. Is not sin sexy? why would it be tempting otherwise? Vampires are cool because they live in sin without paying its consequences - death. But for that reason, they are the enemy and must die. For sin is, in the final analysis, bad. This essential good/evil conflict must be there for this type of story to work. Spawn had neither this nor the technical excellence Blade has, which is why it sucks so bad. Blade reminded me of another good vampire movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula, by Francis Ford Coppola. They would make good companion pieces on video.