Blade

Plot synopsis:
The movie begins in the year 1967 with a pregnant woman being admitted to a hospital, bleeding from the neck. Paramedics think she was attacked by some type of animal. Doctors perform an emergency C-Section, and her baby (a boy) is born alive just as she dies.Thirty years later a young man named Dennis (Kenny Johnson) is riding in a car with an attractive redhead named Racquel (Traci Lords) heading to an underground nightclub (located, oddly, in a slaughterhouse) somewhere in Los Angeles. After addressing the doorman in Russian, Racquel brings the young man into the club. The man is confused and trying to understand the rules of the club. Some of the regulars indifferently push him aside. Saying he needs a drink, the sprinkler suddenly system activates, raining blood down on everyone inside. It is then that he (and the audience) realizes that everyone in the club is a vampire.Dennis desperately tries to get away and winds up at the feet of a menacing figure in a black-leather trenchcoat. The vampires look on this figure with awe, mumbling the words: "it's the Daywalker!" This is our first look at Blade (Wesley Snipes), the vampire killer.Blade pulls out a shotgun and opens fire on the vampires, who instantly burn to ashes when killed. When the gun is knocked out of his hands by Racquel, Blade uses a set of silver stakes to kill Racquel and more vampires, including the disk jockey. Soon all the vamps are either dead or have fled except for one; a heavyset vamp named Quinn (Donal Logue), whom Blade has apparently run into before. Blade pins Quinn to the wall, and then sets him on fire before confronting the last member in the club (the human man from the beginning). Finding no vampire bite marks on Dennis, Blade lets him live and makes his escape as the police arrive.Quinn is extinguished and taken to the local hospital. A morgue technician examines his blood and shows the results to Dr. Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright), who finds a number of irregularities, including abnormally developed jaw muscles. As they are discussing the test results, Quinn springs back to life and bites both doctors. Before he can finish Dr. Jenson, Blade shows up and saves her, cutting off one of Quinn's arms.Blade brings Karen to his hideout and asks for help from his mentor, an elderly man named named Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Whistler injects Dr. Jenson with a solution of garlic essence and silver nitrate and remarks that she has a 50/50 chance of recovering.Meanwhile, a group of vampires are discussing Blade's latest attack on their members. Apparently this club (and to an extent, Quinn) is the property of a vampire named Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff). Frost wants the vampires to outright rule the humans and use them as a food source while the others (particularly an older vampire named Dragonetti) prefer to maintain a peaceful co-existance. Dragonetti (Udo Kier) in particular does not like Frost because Frost is not a "pure-blood" (ie: was not born a vampire, merely became one through the bite of another). Frost is also arrogant and his & the actions of his followers draw unnecessary attention to the vampire underworld.The next morning, Jenson awakens and sees Whistler injecting Blade with some type of serum. She tries to run away but Whistler confronts her and tells her that he and Blade are hunting vampires. Karen of course is skeptical, but Whistler goes on to talk about what they use to hunt- explaining that vampires are severely allergic to silver & garlic while also being vulnerable to sunlight (ultraviolet rays in particular). Whistler fuels up Blade's car and gives him a new UV flashlight to use when hunting that night. Whistler also gives Karen a type of "vampire mace" (garlic & silver nitrate in a liquid form).Blade drops Karen off at her apartment and she tries to pack up and get out of town. A police officer, identifying himself as Officer Krieger (Kevin Patrick Walls), arrives and questions her about the events at the hospital last night, as a pretext for trying to attack her. Before he can kill her, Blade returns and subdues the policeman. Blade explains that this officer is a "familiar," (also called a "Reinfield" or a "bug-eater") a human slave owned by a vampire. Blade reveals a tattoo called a "glyph" on the back of the officer's neck and recognizes it as the mark of Deacon Frost. Blade lets Officer Krieger go free in the hopes of tracking him to another vampire club.Sure enough, Blade and Karen arrive at a new underground club and have a confrontation with Pearl (Eric Edwards), a morbidly-obese vampire who works as a record keeper. Pearl confesses that Deacon Frost is researching ancient vampire prophecies... one in particular involving a ritual and a creature named "La Magra." Karen burns Pearl severely with Whistler's giant UV light and Blade steals part of Pearl's hard drive.Blade and Karen move further into the vampire records and find pages from "The Book of Erebus," the vampire Bible. They are suddenly ambushed by a group of vampires led by Quinn, now healed and having regrown his lost hand. Quinn tortures Blade for information (and for his own amusement) but realizes that Blade has a radio link in his ear.Whistler suddenly arrives (having been listening in the whole time) and opens fire on the vampires. The three heroes escape through the subway system, and Blade cuts off Quinn's other hand to get away. When he and Karen board a passing subway car, Blade steps back and injects himself with more serum. Karen suspects that Blade is actually a vampire himself, but Blade responds in the negative; he is something completely different.At a vampire club, Officer Krieger arrives where he reports to Frost about Blade and of his new alliance with the doctor, Karen. Frost is angry for letting Blade get away, but does not kill Krieger. Frost lets his blond vamp girlfriend Mercury (Arly Jover) biting out Krieger's throat in gory fashion.Back at the hideout, Whistler explains Blade's history to Karen: Blade was the baby seen in the opening scene; his mother was attacked by a vampire hours before he was born. She died but Blade lived and Whistler found him on the streets. Due to the unique circumstances of his birth, Blade is a hybrid of human and vampire abilities; he can resist garlic & silver, can walk in open sunlight (hence the nickname "Daywalker" given by other vampires) and has enhanced strength and healing abilities, however he also has inherited the vampire's thirst for blood. Whistler developed a serum to curb Blade's cravings, but Blade's body is starting to resist it. Whistler also gives Karen a bit of his own history: his own children and wife were killed by a vampire years before and he acts out of revenge, as much as social justice. Whistler also shares his own history: he was married with children and one night while they were all home, a vampire held Whistler and his family hostage. The vampire killed them all but left Whistler himself alive.Whistler also learns that his attempted cure of Karen was ineffective and that she is growing close to turning into a vampire. Karen refuses to give up, taking a few items from the hospital where she worked to try and find a cure for both her and Blade. The first item she brings (an anti-coagulant formula known as EDTA) is found to have a violent reaction when mixed with vampire blood, so she gives it to Blade for use as a weapon.Meanwhile, Quinn is at Frosts' headquarters, berated for his second failure. Frost encourages Quinn to go back out and get Blade... alive. Quinn is confused by the order since the vampires have been trying to kill Blade for a very long time.Afterwords, Frost takes Mercury and his entourage of followers and abducts Dragonetti, taking him to a beach near sunrise and forcibly ripping out the elder vampire's fangs. Frost's gang shields themselves with sunscreen, black clothing and motorcycle helmets, leaving Dragonetti to burn to death in the sun. Frost confronts the remaining elders of the Vampire Council, asking for 12 people to "volunteer" for his "La Magra" project.While Blade purchases more items for hunting, Whistler and Karen discuss her latest attempt at a cure. Karen is sure that the new formula will work on her, but is unsure what effects it might have on Blade since he was born with vampirism. The stronghold is attacked by Frost's followers and Karen is abducted while Whistler is brutally beaten by the vampires.Blade returns to find Whistler in severe pain and infected by the vampire bites. In an emotional scene, Blade assists Whistler in committing suicide before loading up to raid Frost's stronghold.Blade kills many of Frosts' followers, even trying the EDTA formula (which makes vampires swell up and explode in a shower of blood). Blade finally reaches the final room of Frost's hideout, where he is confronted by a lone woman who calls him "Eric." It is Blade's mother, reborn to serve the Frost.Frost ambushes Blade, taking him hostage while revealing that HE (Frost) was the vampire who bit Blade's mother. Blade and Karen are transported to another location. Blade, despondent, asks Karen if she has finished her "miracle cure." Karen says that the cure would presumably rob Blade of his strength and healing powers while neutralizing his thirst, effectively making Blade fully human.Blade and the 12 members of the Vampire Council are to be used as offerings for Frost's "La Magra" ritual. Blade is put into a large torture device, where most of his blood is extracted for the ritual. The 12 members of the Council are executed and their souls are absorbed by Frost, turning him into La Magra: the Blood God.Karen escapes using the mace previously given to her by Whistler, and frees Blade - now terribly weak. Knowing that there is only one way to get Blade healed in time, Karen requests that Blade take some of her blood. Blade resists at first, but finally seeing no other choice, bites Karen.Blade's mother suddenly appears and fights Blade, ultimately being stabbed in the heart with a bone. Blade fights his way through the remaining vampire guards, reclaiming his trademark sword and decapitating Quinn to reclaim his sunglasses. Blade then takes on the vampire guards in marital-arts fashion, defeating them all. Mercury attempts to kill Karen who opens fire with a shotgun containing silver buckshot, but Mercury is too fast and knocks the gun out of Karen's hands and easily bests her in hand-to-hand combat. Karen finally kills Mercury by using the garlic mace to spray Mercury in her mouth just as she is about to bite Karen, making Mercury's head explode in a gory mass of blood and brains.Blade and La Magra fight, effectively clashing swords. Blade cuts off Magra's arm and slices him in half, but the Blood God merely regenerates without any effort. La Magra taunts Blade, mentioning the "serum" that Blade is so dependent on. Blade realizes that Magra is actually referring to the EDTA vials that Blade brought on the hunt. He grabs the packet of vials and unloads every one into the Blood God. La Magra swells up and explodes in a massive shower of blood.Karen and Blade exit the ruins. Blade finally declines the cure, deciding that even with Frost gone there are many other vampires out there and he needs the additional skills. Blade asks Karen to make him a more efficient serum, and she agrees.The movie ends with Blade resuming his hunt in a Russian-speaking country.

Tags: gothic, stupid, cult, violence, good versus evil, action, revenge

Review:
The best vampire slaying movie ever my number one favorite Blade film.
Blade (1998) is the best action/horror vampire slaying movie ever made!
Blade is humanity's last hope!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.This movie right here oh my god!
Since he teamed up with whistler (Kris Kristofferson) he has hunted down vampires who have lived amongst us unnoticed for centuries, but omnipotent overlord Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) is tired of living in harmony with the humans (Food as he calls them) and he plans to waken the blood god and take control of the world.This movie is well cast, written and directed; ensuring the viewer has a thrilling ride from start to finish.
The Blade character (Wesley Snipes) is pretty amazing in this film and mixes martial arts with Batman like darkness.
Stephen Dorf provides the best acting in the film and his chilling performance as Deacon Frost stands as one of the best screen villains I have perhaps ever seen.The story is good and, I feel, renews the vampire genre (something that hasn't been done since Robert Rodrigues' From Dusk Till Dawn) by adding a lot of contemporary elements and maintaining the comic book feel.
The fact that the overall effects were well done adds to the credibility of the film which would otherwise have fallen flat on its face.As previously stated Norrington has a very distinct visual style that sets him apart from the directors of the following Blade movies.
Some of the effects in the final fight are a bit lacking and they make the usual horror movie mistake of showing too much and having it be less effective than the build up and suggestion of the monster was.Snipes doesn't exactly display a great emotional range here but he is good in the title role nonetheless.
The support cast contains no real standouts; Lathan is no more than a cameo and isn't really good while people like Lords only stick in the memory due to their name and not their performance.Overall this is an enjoyably slick vampire/action movie.
The end product may be more style than substance but the character of Blade is darkly interesting, even if neither Snipes nor the film really give too much away in terms of his inner workings.
Blade is a fantastic action/thriller that keeps you captured for the whole duration and Wesley Snipes delivers what I would say to be his best performance yet.This film has everything that you would ask for in an action/thriller, it has plenty of blood, guts and gore, a twisted, disturbed bad buy, moments of humour but most importantly a very good story line with plenty of twists.Their is constant action throughout the film with breathtaking stunts and effects, Wesley Snipes fighting movement is fantastic.This film is in my opinion a must see, Wesley Snipes cool, solid appearance makes this film and I can't wait for the sequel 'BLADE 2' being released next year.My IMDB Rating - 9 out of 10.
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.
It has Blade as a central character (Wesley Snipes is phenomenal) and a crazy enough story thread to hold/justify the action scenes!
Stephen Norrington's 1998 release "Blade" (based on the Marvel comic character) is the film that arguably lead to the recent trend of comic-book movies.
The film is an incredible, Gothic ride with great performances and unique visuals, and should be seen by any fan of action, horror or film in general.Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a half-human, half-vampire.
Blade and his mentor Whistler (Krist Kristopherson) spend their nights hunting and killing vampires who feed on the humans.At the same time, a vampire named Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorf) is plotting to overthrow the noble heads of the various vampire clans, and using them as sacrifices to bring about "La Magra" a vampyric blood-god, to destroy humanity and grant himself untold power.
Wesley Snipes is one of my favorite actors and is perfect for the role of the tortured half man, half vampire Blade.
Blade is a great film with two great stars, perfectly executed fight scenes, and lots of cool shots of vampires heads exploding.
This is the kind of film that you end up watching if it comes out on TV, even if you already own a copy of it!Watch the "Trivia"-section to find out how they almost ended up screwing this good head-start of comic-book action heroes to silver screen (LL Cool J as Blade, eh!)And, believe or not, the sequel is even better!
The film's opening scene is a great one and it's rather sad that the rest of the movie doesn't quite manage to stay on the same level – we've seen the best the film has to offer after the first ten minutes or so.Blade is kinda cheesy fun, a guilty pleasure of some sort.
If there was a better ending - it would have been a more satisfying ending.The movie seems to pay homage to both Hong Kong action films and newer stuff like "Mortal Kombat" (eg: lots of martial arts set to a thumping techno soundtrack) - although I wish there was a bit less orchestral music and more techno!Wesley Snipes is impressive in the action sequences but his character is a little bit shallow (makes Batman look deep!).OK - but could have been much sharper and better!.
wesley snipes was great for this role - and i'm sure blade 2 would be just as good.blade is by far one of my favorite action/horror movies out there!
This is more or less professional.....It's a bit lengthy, but bear with me.Hollywood, which over the decades has brought countless vampire horror/action movies to the silver screen, now spawns yet another series of blood-guts-and-gore filled thrillers-from this summer's "Scream 2" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" to the more recent Wesley Snipes film, "Blade."The latter movie leaves an incredibly mixed impression, so much so that I am still not entirely certain whether I enjoyed it or not.
It is a peculiar mix of fast-paced, "edge-of-your-seat" action and a plethora of gruesome scenes, all shown in pitiless up-close detail.Blade, portrayed by Wesley Snipes ("US Marshals," Money Train") is a half-human half-vampire whose mission it is to find and destroy the vampire who killed Blade's mother and turned him into the "freak" that he is.Blade saves and teams up with Karen, played by N'Bushe Wright ("His and Hers," "Dead Presidents"), a doctor who in a matter of days invented the cure for anemia-a form of which supposedly makes vampires what they are-that real-life doctors took decades to discover.Together, the two hunt out vampires, led by the charismatic renegade Deacon Frost, played by Stephen Dorff ("City of Industry," "Blood and Wine"), who takes over the grand council by neatly disposing of the former leader and cowing the rest of the hardcore vampires into submission with the help of a host of fellow humans-turned-vampires.All of this transpires among chaos wrought by the incompetent handling of scene changes by director Stephen Norrington ("Death Machine," 1994).
The special effects, jumbled as they are, are nevertheless impressive, from the majestic, if somewhat Spartan and computer animation-reeking, grandeur of the temple of the Blood-God to the sped-up passing of the of the days and nights in the city.However, the most redeeming features of the movie are the martial arts scenes that rival Jackie Chan in his new movie "Rush Hour," and sword fights that make the "Highlander" series' Adrian Paul look like a rank amateur.The realistic, fast-paced action scenes almost make up for the numerous incongruities of the movie-Blade looks surprisingly like Batman with added bulk, the moon above the city is always full, despite the fact that the movie itself takes place over a span of several days, and the police attempt to shoot Blade down despite him having an innocent civilian with him.
That snarl...That scowl...The acts of random violence...The gutteral voice...The fetish wear...That shaven head...It can mean only one thing...GRACE JONES IS BACK!Actually my sources tell me that the title role in Blade wasn't played by the 1980s diva, but by Wesley Snipes.All in all this is not an improvement.Blade is an adaptation of a comic character; somehow in the transfer from the simplistic, two-dimensional world of the printed page it has become even more simplistic and lost a couple of dimensions.The plot is hackneyed almost beyond belief and adds nothing to the vampire genre, in fact, much like Nosferatu, it seems to suck the life out of the audience.
And whilst a vampire can be a tragic character, this is not true of Blade, he is relentlessly cruel, scornful and not a whole lot better than the bad guys.I assume that Wesley Snipes has an 'acting' career purely so that everyone else can be compared favourably.
Likewise no other actor is allowed any chance to give a reasonable performance; the likes of Steven Dorff *CAN* act, but they have to play second fiddle to Snipes' tedious performance.Kris Kristofferson used to appear in good movies, here he is reduced to a sidekick that you just know isn't going to make it through to the final reel.
The rest of the film devolves into a silly tale about reviving blood gods and whatnot, most of it incomprehensible junk that serves as filler in-between the action, which quickly grows redundant.The movie is packed to the brim with stunts and fight scenes, but most of them lack the precious sense of fun that makes the best of action movies exhilarating (the recent Equilibrium wildly succeeds with its action in comparison to where Blade resoundingly fails).
Seeing the preview lowered my expectations, and the movie itself was a disappointment.It is most of the time nothing but an average action movie, and even if the effects and fighting scenes are good to excellent, the story itself was quite flat and boring, and there was nothing about horror.
The start of the film is the best part of the whole picture; Traci Lords plays Racquel (even if nobody ever calls her with a name in the movie), a vampire woman, which takes a human victim (a man which believes she loves/likes him) to a vampire disco.
In all his films, Wesley Snipes is a natural cool one; but here he _tries_ to be cool all the time, and becomes, of course, very uncool this way.This film has been compared to Spawn, but Spawn is a totally different kind of film; a good family movie where good fights against evil, and good wins.
The Direction was totally laughable, Wesley Snipes (Who was good in White Men Can't Jump) plays a silly, unoriginal character!!I would ultimately compare this movie to 'Street Fighter', and it would be fun to see which one was actually better!This is purely a Franchise movie, with big-bucks in mind, nothing more!
The film then continues to show how the vampires lived in secrecy but Deacon Frost wishes to take control of the world using 'La Magra', the blood god!The music from this movie is great, its filmed very well and the story flows completely.
The gore spills out realistically and the burns also look realistic, Udo Kier combusting in sunlight is an image that sticks with you.In terms of overall plot this is relatively simple - Blade tries to take down Deacon Frost, the vampire that killed his mother.The execution is purely for those who like action-oriented vampire films such as Underworld or people who know the comics and want to see their favourite vampire-hunting comic book hero to be brought to life.Overall if you are into these types of films, this is a must see.
The range of characters is suitably colourful and impressive, with a great turn from a gruff and scruffy Kris Kristofferson, as The Whistler (who's a vampire hunter) and sexy, sultry black girl Dr Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright).However, it's Wesley Snipes, always looking lean, mean and imposing and great in his black leathers that transports the film from a hum-drum half-hearted affair to knock-out action movie.
The other great characters in this movie are the villains Deacon Frost(Stephen Dorf) and his right hand man Quinn(Donald Logue) they add some menace and humor to the film.
But despite it's many flaws Blade is a very entertaining film thanks to its style,energy and great action scenes.
Balde is a decent vampire movie from director Stephen Norrington who does a good job in making this but the lack of suspense, the dialogue at times, and a rushed finale are what weigh it down.
Stephen Dorff is effective as the villain Deacon Frost but he isn't given much to except for a few action sequences and his showdown with Blade at the end is sort of a let down.
Despite it's problems Blade is a decent adaption of a comic book with enough impressive martial arts action, cool special effects, and solid performances by most of the cast who make it worth watching if only the film had been a little better I would've enjoyed it more than I did..
While Blade is great to see on screen being portrayed by Wesley Snipes all the other characters along with the main villain do nothing for this story to make it interesting.
Overall Blade does have good fight scenes and is defiantly different from most vampire films.
Being based on a comic strip it has over the top action sequences, impossible to rationalise premises and a complete lack of seriousness but hey, it's a fun film.Wesley Snipes delivers a class performance as the hero in designer body armour and Stephan Dorff is great as the chilling vampire equivalent of a juvenile delinquent Decon Frost.
Fans of the comic may arque that Snipes doesn't look too much like Blade, but he delivers the goods.
Blade is basically an action film that has the right mix of movie styles to make it worth watching..
I don't expect him to forgive me, nor let me choose another movie to watch ever again after this.After watching "The Wolverine" I wanted to see what an R-Rated Marvel movie would be like (apart from "The Punisher", which is a guilty pleasure of mine) and I thought this would be a great idea, I was wrong and if you haven't seen it I can only ask you to please stay away from it.I'd probably give it a 1/10 if it wasn't for a scene where a little Asian girl the bad guy, played by Stephen Dorff, is holding as a hostage gets thrown away into what seems to be a hot dog stand and from there to the steet, it was one of those Robert Rodriguez ridiculously funny moments and just because of it I'm giving the movie a star.I recommend you stay away from this...please don't watch it..
I also liked the idea behind the main character: Blade, played by Wesley Snipes, is a renegade vigilante half-vampire who fights against the underworld while having to keep his own vamp urges in check.Sadly, I didn't like much else in this movie: the huge potential for creepiness was discarded in favor of non-stop video game-like action, any hint of atmosphere was destroyed by that annoying camera work (first jerky, then slow-motion) that's characteristic of today's action movies and music videos, and the overall look of the movie is dominated by a pretty obnoxious Cigar-and-Martini/GQ-style fashion sense.I enjoyed the opening action sequences, and a bit of what followed, but Blade became increasingly stupid, and by the half-way point I was pretty much through with it..
Other than the vampires and how many rules were not kept to in this movie, Wesley Snipes gives a good performance as Blade and Stephen Dorff is great as the evil vampire.
But Blade has it's moments and I would recommend it as a good horror/action movie..
Wesley Snipes performances, is arguably one of the best comic to live action movie adaptations.
If you like your science-fiction action packed, or your action movie to have a brain, then this Blade is for you.The first is still the best in franchise.Between Snipes' potent machismo and Norrington's stylistic eye, Blade pulsates with pounding vitality.An intensely thrilling comic- book story.Lots of pumping blood and superhuman feats power this Wesley Snipes- as- half- vampire flick above the norm.A hugely entertaining supporting cast.
The film Blade, is one of the very first all-out action vampire movies that are often seen today in modern horror films.
What's great about Blade is the likability of the two main heroes, performed by Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson.
his own kind didn't even like him (Stephen Dorff's best role I have ever seen!)this film has good sometimes witty dialogue with that slight subtle humor to it, great martial arts action scenes throughout leaving you wanting more, definitely a very simple but effective Vampire film!
and I would recommend this to anyone who likes good action and Vampire films..
Blade is a quality comic book adaptation with some real visceral action and possibly the best opening sequence to any movie of this kind.
Wesley Snipes was made for the part of Blade both physically with his fight stunt work and in his brooding performance and thats what makes this film.
The plot is mostly irrelevant there's something going on about a blood god but really who cares it's all about Blade looking cool and kicking vampire a**.A quality movie for action and comic book fans that just falls short of being great 7/10.