Oooohhh, so exciting.... (Blade II (DVD))

Member Name: legend999

Product:	Blade II (DVD)
Date:	18/10/02 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wesley snipes, excellent effects, loads of extras

Disadvantages: none

Blade was one of the greatest action films of all time when it was originally released back in 1998, and today it still remains my favourite film. So, can Blade 2, the sequel, deliver a film as fast and frantic as the original? Read on to find out….

Blade, played by Wesley Snipes, is actually based on a character from Marvel Comics, which has been turned into two feature length movies. Just in case you are reading this without having seen either of the two films, I’ll outline the main plot of the original first. Blade has a dark past. When his mother was pregnant with him, a vampire bit her, and as a result, Blade was born half human, half vampire. He is able to walk by day, stalk by night. He has all of the strengths of the vampires, yet shares none of their weaknesses. Together with his partner Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), their aim is to rid the world of vampires before it is too late. As you can probably guess, Blade is battling hordes of vampires and the film ends with a high speed all action battle with vampire bad guy Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff). The film ends, leaving many possibilities for an excellent sequel.

And the writer (David Goyer), producers (Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, Patrick Palmer) and director (Guillermo Del Toro) of the sequel, together with New Line Cinema, definitely delivered the goods, and produced an action filled thriller, which lives up to the original in every way.

Once again, Blade (Wesley Snipes) is out to avenge the outcome of his birth and eradicate vampires before it is too late and they take over the world. Or so it seems. But Blade learns of a new breed of super force known as the reapers. His only choice is to team up with his enemies to take on the reapers, who are able to feed on both humans and vampires. The Day walker teams up with a group of specially trained combatants known as the Blood Pact, who were originally being trained to kill him. Needless to say, there i
s a lot of tension between them, but Blade has his ways of sorting them out. As well as having the group of warriors with him, Blade is again joined by Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and a new member of the team named Skud, and together they set off on a violent, action packed chase to hunt down and kill the reapers before it is too late.

So, does the film cut it?

Plot/Storyline: A good plot with some excellent twists and turns, traps and traitors. 9/10

Cast: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Norman Reedus, Luke Goss.

As you can see, Wesley Snipes (Blade) and Kris Kristofferson (Whistler) are recalled for the second film. In my opinion, they suit their characters very well, and Snipes was the perfect choice for Blade. 9/10

Content: Once again, the highlight of the film is the action, from the very first scene right trough to the end, there are some of the best action and fight scenes ever, using a variety of weapons including swords, spinning glaives and guns, and pitting reapers, vampire spys and of course, Blade against each other. 9/10
Soundtrack: The soundtrack to the movie is awesome, with punk/rock/rap/hip hop beats and tunes from Fatboy Slim and Eve to name a few. The soundtrack is also available to buy separately.

Special effects: Out of this world. The way the vampires disintegrate, watching a vampire get cut in half and the way in which they explode are just awesome. 10/10

Overall: A thrilling action adventure, in my opinion THE film of 2002. I would rate this film 9/10. It scores really well in all of the above categories, but in my opinion, this is not quite as good as the original. However, I would highly recommend both films.

The DVD version of this film, which I am reviewing here, comes in a two disc set. Disc one is the feature film. Included in this dics is

Anamorphic widescreen
Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS
ES 6.1 Surround Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound
Animated Menus
Optional Commentaries by director, producer, writer & Wesley Snipes
English Subtitles

Disc two contains loads of additional features, including

Deleted/alternate scenes with optional commentaries (around 18 scenes)- This shows all of the scenes which were taken out of the movie for whatever reason. The optional commentary tells you which parts are different, and also the reasons why they were taken out. They appear in the same order as the scenes in the film.
Blood Pact behind the scenes documentary
Blood Pact branching clips and sequence
Video game survival guide- This is a short video (around 3 mins)which offers tips, advice and strategys for the Console version of Blade 2.
Visual Effects
Music video
Theatrical press kit
Trailer- This is the trailer that was shown on T.V, and there is also the full length Theatre trailer.
Animated menus
Notebooks
Art Gallery- Original artwork of some of the characters. Makes for quite an interesting look.
English subtitles

As you can see, this DVD comes packed with loads of extras, and when the film is as good as it is, it makes Blade 2 DVD version an essential purchase.

Feature running time- 117 minutes

Blade 2 is available at all DVD retailers and is rated 18.

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