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Blade
review by Terry Wickham
Surprisingly good. I am not a fan of Stephen Norrington's first film Death Machine, but he's really improved, has a good cast and a solid storyline by David S. Goyer. On a technical level, the behind the scenes crew is impressive from top to bottom. Blade is of course based on the Marvel Comics anti-hero Blade, who is a vampire who hunts vampires. Kind of like a vigilante in human terms. Wesley Snipes has been going through the motions in quite a few of the films he's done over the past five years, but this role is perfect for him. It's like he was born to play Blade. Snipes is able to mesh his physical skills into the character. Stephen Dorff does a nice job playing the creepy, nasty adversary Deacon Frost. Udo Kier is an inspired choice for the vampire leader Dragonetti. Having previously played Count Dracula in Andy Warhol's Dracula, Kier seems to fit right into the skin of a vampire. I also liked the casting of Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler, Blade's human mentor. Kristofferson has that lived in look that brings the voice of experience. Kind of the salty old sea dog Robert Shaw played in Jaws. Composer Mark Isham created a fine score that punctuates the action. It's fairly different sounding score for Isham, compared to his usual trumpet touting scores. Cinematographer Theo Van De Sande does a brilliant job of exposing film with light, lenses and coordinated camera movement with Director Norrington Norrington has proclaimed his admiration for James Cameron and with this film he has effectively captured some of that influence. The action is fast and filmed kinetically, which is Cameron's trademark. If Norrington stays on this path, he will be creating work along the lines of Cameron. This DVD is part of New Line Home Video Platinum Series, which includes: Widescreen version of the movie converted from the new, High Definition transfer of the film. Audio Commentary by Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, writer David S. Goyer, and more. Isolated score with commentary by composer Mark Isham. Four featurettes about the story, the production design, dark comics, and vampire mythology. Pencil sketches through production designs. Original theatrical trailer. Cast biographies, filmographies and more. Blade delivers the goods on all counts and New Line Cinema has done an extraordinary job putting together this DVD.
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