Blade (1998)

Blade
	; "Part Man. Part Vampire. All Hero."
Directed By	Stephen Norrington
Written By	David S. Goyer
Cast	Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson
Produced By	Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, Robert Engelman, Andrew J. Horne, Avi Arad
Cinematography By	Theo van de Sande
Film Editing By	Paul Rubell
Music By	Mark Isham
Studio	Marvel Enterprises, New Line Cinema, Amen Ra Films, Imaginary Forces
Distributed By	New Line Cinema
Franchise	Blade Franchise
Country	United States
Language	English
Release Date	August 21, 1998
Runtime	119 Minutes
Rating	R
Budget	$40,000,000
Gross	$131,183,530

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Overview[]

Blade is a 1998 American produced supernatural superhero film starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, and N'Bushe Wright. It was directed by Stephen Norrington and is an adaption of the Marvel Comics vampire hunter known as Blade who first appeared in 1973 as a minor supporting character.

Blade was a huge commercial success and resulted in several direct sequels and a TV series adaptation being made. It is credited as being a cult film which prompted future Marvel film adaptations and the immense popularity and success of this film resulted in Marvel Comics transitioning the comic book version into becoming more in-line with Snipes' portrayal of the character.

Half-human and half-vampire Blade is blessed with all of the strengths and powers of the vampire while lacking their same weaknesses. A modern day vampire hunter, he stalks the shadowy world to destroy them once and for all.

Plot[]

There is another world out there. A world of fantasy and shadows. Of vampires who preys on humans. And a half-vampire who preys on them.

Eric Brooks' mother was pregnant when she was attacked by a vampire and died giving birth to him. Somehow, he inherited the vampiric strength and bloodthirst yet is also immune to their weaknesses as well. He was found as a child by a vampire hunter, Abraham Whistler who taught him how to fight and kill vampires, how to track them, and how to keep his bloodthirst in check through a special serum. The vampires call him "Daywalker" but everyone else calls him Blade.

While in pursuit of a notorious vampire known as Quinn; Blade encounters Dr. Karen Jenson who has been bitten and takes her with him to be treated by Whistler. Unfortunately, she is infected and Whistler warns that she may turn into a vampire after a few days and that she may want to think about buying a gun. Whistler morbidly adds that if she can't stand sunlight and starts feeling thirsty but water doesn't slake her thirst in a few days; to use the gun on herself.

Jenson however is convinced from her study of vampire blood that it is a disease that can be cured. Skeptical of her claims at first, Blade and Whistler become interested as Jenson quickly adapts a medical serum EDTA to kill vampires effectively. Whistler is hopeful that even if she can't cure vampirism; she might be able to create a more effective serum for Blade as it appears to be losing effectiveness for him.

Meanwhile, an upstart vampire Deacon Frost seeks to supplant the current order of Vampire Elders. The Elders believe in maintaining the status quo and working to control humanity through their human familiars and control over the police and politicians; Frost seeks a violent overthrow of humanity and is gaining popular support in the younger and more radical sect of vampires who view humans as mere cattle. Frost is also researching an ancient vampire myth called "La Magra" which Blade will play a key role as the Daywalker.

Frost sends his right hand man, Quinn to apprehend Blade and he fails although his men do manage to kidnap Jenson and mortally wounds Whistler as well as infecting him with multiple vampire bites. When Blade returns, Whistler demands his help in committing suicide before he can turn. A heart broken Blade agrees and tracks Frost back to his lair. There, he is shocked when he recognizes one of Frost's female vampire lovers as none other than his mother and is ambushed and captured. Frost subsequently reveals that he was the one who bit Blade's mother all those years ago.

Held in captivity while Frost's army captures the Vampire Elders and prepares for the ritual to awaken La Magra, Jenson reveals that she had managed to synthesize her vampire cure just before she was kidnapped. Blade inquires if it will work on him. She admits that it would turn him human ... but he would lose his strength and other abilities as well.

Blade has most of his blood extracted while 12 Vampire Elders are "sacrificed" to La Magra which transforms Frost into the Blood God. Escaping, Jenson frees Blade and realizing that he is extremely weakened, offers herself for him to feed on to restore his strength. Resisting at first, Blade finally gives in and drains Karen. Healed of his injuries and his strength restored, Blade slays his mother and Frost's minions. Engaging Frost in combat, Blade is shocked when Frost is able to regenerate from even fatal injuries thanks to La Magra. Taunting Blade, Frost realizes that Blade is desperate to get to several EDTA vials which he mistakenly believes is Blade's "serum". As it so happens, the EDTA is horrifically effective as it causes Frost to explode, beyond his ability to recover from.

Afterwards, Blade declines Jenson's cure, believing that he will need all of his powers to continue the long fight against vampires.

Cast[]

Wesley Snipes as Blade
Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost
Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler
N'Bushe Wright as Dr. Karen Jenson
Donal Logue as Quinn
Udo Kier as Gitano Dragonetti
Arly Jover as Mercury
Traci Lords as Racquel
Kevin Patrick Walls as Officer Krieger
Tim Guinee as Dr. Curtis Webb
Sanaa Lathan as Vanessa Brooks
Eric Edwards as Pearl
Donna Wong as Nurse
Carmen Thomas as Senior Resident
Shannon Lee as Resident
Kenny Johnson as Heatseeking Dennis
Clint Curtis as Creepy Morgue Guy
Judson Scott as Pallantine
Sidney S. Liufau as Japanese Doorman
Keith Leon Williams as Kam
John Enos III as Blood Club Bouncer
Eboni Adams as Martial Arts Kid
Lyle Conway as Reichardt
Freeman White III as Menacing Stud
D.V. DeVincentis as Vampire Underling
Marcus Salgado as Frost's Goon
Esau McKnight as Frost's Goon
Erl Van Douglas as Von Esper
Matt Schulze as Crease
Lennox Brown as Pleading Goon
Chris Casamassa as Vampire
Laura Cordova as Vampire
Ryan Glorioso as Blood Bath Vampire
Aruni Devi Hansen as Vampire Lord
Steven Ho as Frost's Goon
Diana Lee Inosanto as Blood Bath Vampire
Ted King as Vampire at Rave
Henry Kingi as Kenji-Bartender
David Matthiessen as Vampire
Stephen Norrington as Vampire
Gerald Okamura as Vampire
Frankie Ray as Vampire Lord
Gerard Smith as Vampire
Michael Stumpf as Sword Thrower
Jen Taylor as Vampire

Production[]

Additional/Alternate Movie Taglines[]

The power of an immortal. The soul of a human. The heart of a hero.
Against an army of immortals, one warrior must draw first blood.
Sometimes it takes one to kill one.
Part Man. Part Vampire. All Hero.

Reception[]

Trivia[]

Originally, Deacon Frost was intended to be physically transformed into a large swirling mass of blood during the finale as "La Magra". However, test audiences hated the fight scene and much preferred Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost over the blood storm which the filmmakers admitted didn't look very good or believable. As a result, film makers went back and reshot the final battle with Dorff starring as the climatic nemesis.
Michael Morbius was originally hinted as being the next major villain that Blade would face in the sequel. However, the character rights were tied up with Sony Pictures resulting in the film makers cutting several scenes to drop the idea.

External Links[]

IMDb