Blade Production

According to writer David S. Goyer, "New Line originally wanted to do something that was almost a spoof. And I said, 'No.' There is humor in the film, but I wanted to do it dead serious."

The film was produced on a budget of $45 million. Filming was in large part done in Los Angeles, with some scenes being shot in Death Valley. The effects for the film were done by Flat Earth Productions.

Blade Connections to the Comic

The character Blade was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan as a supporting character in the 1970s comic The Tomb of Dracula. The comic Blade used teakwood knives and was much more the everyman in his behavior and attitude.

Though courageous and brave, he displayed flaws as well, such as an inability to get along with certain other supporting cast members and a hatred of vampires that bordered on fanaticism. The character was not originally a "daywalker" but a human being immune to being turned into a vampire.

Lacking the superhuman speed and strength of his undead quarry, he relied solely on his wits and skill until he was bitten by the character Morbius. The film version of Blade was updated for a 1990s audience and the comics character was subsequently modified to match.

The film's version of Deacon Frost also differs greatly from his comic counterpart. Although the movie retains Frost's upstart ambitions, he was a great deal younger and more updated for the 1990s. A Blade Anime series was also done by Madhouse Company in 2011. The series consists of 12 episodes.

Blade Soundtrack

Blade is the soundtrack to the 1998 film, Blade. It was released on August 25, 1998 through TVT Records and Epic Records and featured a wide range of musical genres including hip hop, techno, electronic and alternative rock.

The soundtrack managed to make it to #36 on the Billboard 200 and #28 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and featured one charting single "Wrek Tha Discotek" which peaked at #42 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on May 19, 1999 for sales of over 500,000 copies.

Blade Release

Blade was Marvel's first film success, and set the stage for further comic film adaptations. Blade followed Howard the Duck as the second Marvel property to get a wide theatrical release in the United States. The Punisher and Captain America both had films made previously, but neither saw a theatrical release in the United States.

Reaction to Blade among critics was mixed, with the film earning a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, writing:

"Blade ... is a movie that relishes high visual style. It uses the extreme camera angles, the bizarre costumes and sets, the exaggerated shadows, the confident cutting between long shots and extreme closeups. It slams ahead in pure visceral imagery."

Conversely, James Berardinelli gave the film 2� stars out of 4, writing: "Blade has the capacity to dazzle, but it also will leave many viewers dissatisfied."

Blade went to number one in both Spain and Australia for their opening weekends. With 200 theatres showing the film, Spain's cinema goers earned the film $1.5 million (US) in three days, whilst Australia earned $1 million from 132 cinemas showing the film.

In the Flemish Region of Belgium, the film earned $323,000 from 20 cinemas, and the Netherlands earned the film $246,000 from 44 cinemas. France made $1.9 million in five days from 241 cinemas, but the film was less successful in Hong Kong (with $182,000 from 22 cinemas) and South Africa ($159,000 from 64 cinemas).

The United Kingdom was more successful, taking in $5.7 million over 10 days, as was Brazil, making $855,000 in four days from 133 cinemas. The film was banned from showing in Malaysia, widely considered to have the most controlling censors in Southeast Asia.

Resources:
IMDB.com, Wikipedia.org

BLADE TRILOGY - Complete Story and Screenshots

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | Page 05

Only after Blade has found the bomb and is surrounded by dozens of hungry Reapers does Reinhardt radio Blade to inform him that the denotator doesn't work. Holding off Reapers with both hands, Blade kicks at the lever until it finally gives. Ten seconds later, UV light floods the tunnels. It fries the Reapers, but it also hits Nyssa and Reinhardt.

Whistler has met up with Nomak who, instead of attacking him, has given Whistler a ring and told him to tell Blade the truth, which Nomak whispers in Whistler's ear. Meanwhile, Blade has caught up with Nyssa to find her severely burned by the UV bomb and badly in need of blood, so he cuts his wrist and makes her drink his blood.

Suddenly, Blade is shot in the back with stunguns. Kounen and Reinhardt step in. Vampires from the Council round up Whistler, Nyssa, and Blade and deliver them to Damaskinos. When Nyssa regains consciousness, she is back in her father's study. She tells him how Blade saved her life and asks whether he is still alive.

Blade, Scud, and Whistler are being held in a chamber deep in Damaskinos' sanctuary. Just as Whistler begins to tell Nomak's "truth" to Blade--that the Reaper virus didn't evolve, it was genetically designed--Damaskinos, Nyssa, and Reinhardt enter the chamber.

Damaskinos explains that he has been searching for a way to rid the vampires of their hereditary weaknesses by recombining DNA. As he talks, he shows Blade a cylinder filled with hundreds of small fetal vampires. Nomak was first, Damaskinos says, but Nomak was a failure in that he isn't immune to light.

Soon, however, Damaskinos thinks he will have created a new pure race of daywalking vampires, immune to silver and sunlight. All he needs is to figure out why Blade is immune to light and then program that quality into his fetal vampires. Whistler tosses Nomak's ring at Damaskinos' feet. Nyssa recognizes it immediately as the Damaskinos family crest.

Turns out that Nomak is Damaskinos' son, Nyssa's brother! She storms out, followed by her father. Reinhardt takes this chance to beat up on Blade, but Blade pulls out the detonator to the UV bomb on the back of Reinhardt's head. He presses the detonator button, but nothing happens. Scud laughs.

I designed the bomb to be a dud, Scud explains as Reinhardt pulls it off his head and tosses it to Scud. Scud then tells Blade how he's been Damaskinos' familiar all along. What do you think of that, Scud asks Blade. Two things, says Blade. One, I've known about you all along and, two, the bomb isn't a dud. Blade then presses a second button. Goodbye Scud.

Blade is then repeatedly stun-gunned and taken to an operating room where Kounen drives spikes through Blade's body in order to secure him. Kounen explains that he is going to harvest Blade's blood and body parts in order to search for the key to what makes him a Daywalker.

However, Whistler manages to get out of his handcuffs, knock out Reinhardt, and escape through the floor ducts to the operating room. He shoots Kounen, and releases Blade. Blade is drained of blood and severely weakened, so Whistler carries him into a bloodbath where Blade quickly regenerates.

The first thing Blade does after leaving the bloodbath is to take out two or three dozen guards. Next, he slices Reinhardt in half from head to toe. Then he's off to find Damaskinos while Whistler destroys the fetal vampires. Meanwhile, Nyssa is having it out with her father. She feels totally betrayed because Damaskinos sent her and her Bloodpack out, expecting them to die.

He used both of his children, her and Nomak, for his own purposes, and he used Blade, too. Blade, her supposed enemy, saved her life. As she debates where her loyalties lie, Nomak has succeeded in invading the inner sanctum where Nyssa has sealed herself and Damaskinos.

Damaskinos attempts to apologize to his son for all that has befallen him, but Nomak bites his father's neck anyway. As Damaskinos lay dying on the floor, his bluish-green blood spilling out, Nyssa takes off her family ring and tosses it in her father's blood. Nyssa then offers herself to Nomak who dives into her neck, too. Enter Blade.

A drawn out fight ensues between Blade and Nomak until Blade manages to thrust his sword through Nomak's side, the one place where his heart is unprotected by bone. Nomak seems almost happy and, in fact, thrusts the blade in further, and his body disintegrates. Poor Nyssa has been bitten and can already feel her body changing into that of a Reaper.

I want to die while I'm still a vampire, she tells Blade. I want to see the sun. Blade carries her outside. Together, they watch the sunrise before Nyssa burns up in Blade's arms. In the end Blade disposes of Rush, the vampire he had left alive in the beginning of the movie, at the vampires' half-way house.