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52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Collection Worth Ice Skating Uphill For! Blade Delivers!, May 14, 2005
The Blade Collection is finally here! For moviegoers, it all began back in the summer of 1998:
BLADE (1998) 1 Disc Rated R (2.35:1) - Talk about a movie experience! From the opening shots, you are literally sucked in (no pun intended) to the world of the vampires. Wesley Snipes completely embraces the role of the title character and plays him to the hilt, with just a bit of dry cocky humor that is very refreshing. As we first meet Blade at a Vampire techno club (which uses a great remix of a song called "Confusion" by New Order) we just know he's a force to be reckoned with as he slices, dices, burns & just plains blows up every vampire he gets a hold of (including Traci Lords, in a very memorable cameo). Kris Kristofferson plays Whistler, Blade's mentor and creator of the various weapons at his disposal, including guns & knives, bombs, & more. ("We have a good arrangement. He makes the weapons, I use 'em"). But it's Stephen Dorff as the bloodthirsty Deacon Frost that helps catapult the film from average action fair to the stuff of comic book legend. With most actors, this would be a one or two dimensional performance, but in the hands of Stephen Dorff, he turns the character of Deacon Frost into something much more multilayared. The interaction he has with Blade as well as his other fellow vampires give off this feel of someone we should not underestimate. Because a truly great villain is a huge key to a movie's success. The whole mythos of vampires in this film moves the genre in a very interesting direction. According to Blade, pure silver, garlic & sunlight are the main tools to combat vampires. ("Crosses don't do d***, so forget about what you've seen in the movies") But the fact that the pure blood vampires are personified as old & disposable, while the nonpure vampires are young and virile, looking to take over and run things, can really be looked at as a depiction of our society, with the old guard being kicked out by the new one, lest anarchy ensue. A Classic. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. 120 MIN.
BLADE II (2002) 2 Disc Rated R (1.85:1) - Part 2 begins in Prague, with Blade searching for the location of Whistler, who has been turned into a Vampire and subsuquently tortured. The action sequences are even more elaborate than the first, with the camera actually following jumps and flips in a spiral fashion. By now most of you know the story, which involves a new breed of vampire called Reapors, that are trying to take over their predecessors and eventually enslave the world. The vampires turn to Blade for assistance in helping them wipe out these vicious beasts. In a sort of "Dirty Dozen" meets "Aliens" tradition, Blade teams up with an elite group of vampires, who, turns out, were originally put together to hunt him down. They instead work together to seek out the Reapors to destroy them, but find that killing them is not as easy as they'd hoped. The film gives Wesley Snipes more range to show some drama this time, with a subplot involving a female vampire named Nyssa, who's a pure blood, working for her father. Twists and turns abound in this comic book action thriller that gives off a nice feel of energy while at the same time making sense. There's plenty martial arts action to make anybody happy, as well as some much needed dry humor from Snipes and company. All in all a satisfying experience that will leave most moviegoers in an upbeat fashion. Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 6.1 Surround Sound. 117 MIN.
BLADE: TRINITY (2004) 2 Disc Unrated & R rated versions (2.35:1) - In the final installment, Blade teams up with the Nightstalkers, a ragtag group of vampire hunters lead by the sexy Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel) & the quickwitted Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) who are out to track down and kill the vampire of all vampires: Dracula (played by the musclebound Dominic Purcell). Watch out for Parker Posey, as the scene stealing Danica Talos, the equivalent of a vampire constantly tripping on acid. Snipes has less to do this time out as Blade, with the newer characters taking up much of his screen time. But when he's onscreen, he still shines and plays the character perfectly. A shame that there was turmoil between him and director/screenwriter David S. Goyer (notice, for example, Snipes's unwillingness to contribute to the audio commentaries for the movie even though he had done so for the first two films). And seeing Dominic Purcell's performance as Drake makes one wish that the Stephen Dorff character of Deacon Frost could somehow be resurrected in order to show these guys how playing a first-rate villian is really done. Still, with all it's flaws, the film still works, just not as well as most fans would've liked. The new footage in the unrated version is interesting, as well as the slightly different ending, that many fans may find much more preferable to that of the theatrical version. Worth having. Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 6.1 Surround Sound. 113 MIN & 122 MIN.
Besides the gripes about the 3rd film, the real disappointment with this wonderful collection is that the original Blade movie is not presented as a 2 disc Platinum Edition with DTS 6.1 Surround Sound the way its sequels are. It truly deserves the much needed upgrade. The Box itself is very nice to look at, with a very nicely done 3-D front cover. For the most part, this is what every Blade fan has been waiting for since that summer of 1998 when one of the best comic book franchises began its journey. This is definately a collection worth ice skating uphill for!
Blade Trilogy: The Ultimate Collection - Bloodsuckingly Brilliant!
"Blade. Ready to die?" - Dominic Purcell as Drake
"Since the day I was born." - Wesley Snipes as Blade
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One for the comic book fans, June 28, 2005
Thinking back to when comic book adaptations finally hit the big time, people tend to remember X-MEN as the one that made it happen. What most people probably don't recall is that a couple of years earlier, there was another very successful movie based on one of the lesser-known characters from the MARVEL universe, his name was Blade. Introduced in the tenth issue of Marvel's TOMB OF DRACULA in 1973, Blade was unlike any other superhero around at the time. Born while his mother was being attacked by a vampire, Blade was endowed with all the vampires' strengths and none of they're weaknesses- including being able to exist in sunlight. With his mother dying during his birth, Blade dedicated his life to exterminating these creatures of the night. Blade was the antithesis of the comic book convention; rather than dressing in a bright, colorful costume and saving lives, he inhabited the night- like his prey and wasted no time killing any creature that stood in his way. He was also an early example of the changing attitudes within the comic industry, whereas nearly all superheroes were depicted as white males, Blade was one of the first heroic black characters to regularly appear in a graphic novel series.
And so, in 1998 the comic became one of the best action-films ever made. Wesley Snipes plays Blade, who is 1/2 human, 1/2 vampire. Blade is able to walk outside at daytime (he is therefore called "Daywalker), and garlic & silver has no effect on him. He has got the strength of a vampire, but he has also got the thirst for blood from the vampires. To suppress his thirst for blood, Blade uses a special serum. The first thing you'll see in this movie is a woman, who is giving birth to a boy. A vampire has bitten the woman, she dies, but the doctors are able to save her baby, Blade. Soon there is a party in a vampire-nightclub, Blade enters it and begins killing the vampires. The action- and fight-scenes in this movie are incredibly well directed and cool to watch, the soundtrack is cool, and Wesley Snipes is perfect in the role as Blade.
BLADE 2 is superior in just about every way to the original with Guillermo Del Toro (HELLBOY) managing to amplify the horror elements while keeping the action just as intense. Second time around, Blade finds himself in an uneasy truce with his lifelong enemies, helping to track down a new breed of creature on the streets, which feeds on both humans and vampires. BLADE TRINITY finishes the franchise with a satisfying smash. Altogether, a great night in, and some cool DVD extra features.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
first two; 5 stars / third one: 2 stars, October 15, 2005
If you are interested in this set then you already probably like and are familiar with all the movies.
the first one was a surprise hit, really the first big 'Marvel Comics' movie, and it deserved the recognition it got. a cool take on vampires, Snipes' bad-ass performance, an equally bad-ass villain (Stephen Dorff) and even a great performance by Kris Kristofferson as a gnarly helper for Blade all made this a cool action film with great sfx.
The second one moved into higher gear and featured some updated danger and technology for Blade, as well as new monsters and characters and a tough guy role for Ron 'Hellboy' Perlman, and definitely lived up to reputation of the first of the series.
"Blade: Trinity" was sadly not such a good finale for the trilogy, because it featured stock performances from Jessica Biel (as the 'tough girl') and Ryan Reynolds (who was better in the Amityville remake) as the smart-ass. The vampire dogs were a dumb idea and the main bad guy was too generic.
The trilogy has ups and downs,but I think overall is a good choice for action & vampire fans.
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