Blade II (2002)

Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reaper vampires who feed on vampires.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Marv Wolfman (character), Gene Colan (character),

Stars:

Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wesley Snipes	...	Blade
Kris Kristofferson	...	Whistler
Ron Perlman	...	Reinhardt
Leonor Varela	...	Nyssa
Norman Reedus	...	Scud
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Damaskinos
Luke Goss	...	Nomak
Matt Schulze	...	Chupa (as Matthew Schulze)
Danny John-Jules	...	Asad (as Danny John Jules)
Donnie Yen	...	Snowman
Karel Roden	...	Kounen
Marit Velle Kile	...	Verlaine
Tony Curran	...	Priest
Daz Crawford	...	Lighthammer
Santiago Segura	...	Rush

Storyline

A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community. The Reaper. A vampire so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Now their quickly expanding population threatens the existence of vampires, and soon there won't be enough humans in the world to satisfy their bloodlust. Blade, Whistler (Yes, he's back) and an armory expert named Scud are curiously summoned by the Shadow Council. The council reluctantly admits that they are in a dire situation and they require Blade's assistance. Blade then tenuously enters into an alliance with The Bloodpack, an elite team of vampires trained in all modes of combat to defeat the Reaper threat. Blade's team and the Bloodpack are the only line of defense which can prevent the Reaper population from wiping out the vampire and human populations.

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Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Blade | Reaper | Warrior | Mutation | 

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Taglines:

Know The Mark

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong pervasive violence, language, some drug use and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema [us] Trailer, screensaver, message board RCV Film Distribution [nl] (Dutch)

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Romanian Czech

Release Date:

22 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blade 2: Bloodhunt

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$54,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$60,999 (Hong Kong) (6 September 2002)

Gross:

$60,999 (Hong Kong) (6 September 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Amen Ra Films, Marvel Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Blade himself wears Oakley Four sunglasses, the ninja-style vampires who descend near the start of the film to offer Blade a truce are wearing heavily modified Oakley Overthetops, Reinhardt sunglasses are Oakley Square Wires and a further appearance can be seen fleetingly being worn by the fat, bearded vampire towards the end of the film, he is wearing Oakley Mars. All these appearance of Oakley sunglasses throughout of the film are apparently down to Wesley Snipes being big fan of the brand though his sunglasses in Blade were a pair of BlackFlyz.

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Goofs

When Blade, Whistler and Scud confront the head Vampire, an earlier shot of Whistler talking, but with the audio removed, is used as a reaction shot, leaving Whistler to appear to foolishly mouth a line he has just said.

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Quotes

Reinhardt: [over two way, after the silver bullets have no affect on Reapers] Silver don't do jack shit man, don't waste the bullets!
Chupa: Motherfucker.
Reinhardt: You hear me Chupa?
Chupa: Say cheese!
[shoots Reaper rapidly]

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Crazy Credits

No real reapers were hurt during the making of this film.

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Connections

References Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Cowboy"
Written by Eve (as Eve Jeffers), Swizz Beatz (as Kasseem Dean), Jay Jackson (as Jay 'Icepick' Jackson), Mashonda Tifrere and Fatboy Slim (as Norman Cook)
Performed by Eve & Fatboy Slim
Produced by Fatboy Slim (as Norman Cook)
Eve appears courtesy of Ruff Ryders Records / Interscope Records
Fatboy Slim appears courtesy of Astralwerks / Skint Records

User Reviews

Now Blade has a Soul...

Blade I was what I call a good rental for "popcorn eater": good action scenes, descent acting but nothing more. Blade II is what I call a true motion picture, a cinematic experience. How many sequels (in the horror genre) are better than the original movie? Moreover how many good comics adaptation do we know of? "Few" is the answer for both questions and Blade II might be among those "few". It is a multi-layers movie where the action/horror fanatic will have what they're looking for, a Vampire/Kung Fu flick (and that's fine) however those of us who are asking for more than just another Blade sequel might discover a very thought through movie blend in a myriad of details with extraordinary fight sequences (thanks to Donnie Yen) and a "design" feel to it. Obviously the main critic against Blade II is a very "simplistic" scenario when you know from the beginning what is going to happen: the story is about Blade (Wesley Snipes) who is half vampire, half human and refuses his vampire nature trying to fight the "bloodlust" he suffers. His hatred for the vampire and therefore half of himself is unlimited. In this sequel Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire nation in order to face an even greater enemy: the reapers who feed on vampires as well as on human (who are luckily to us close to Blade's heart). The scenario is simple but not simplistic and Guillermo del Toro "tour de force" is to give volume to this scenario by blending it in a very design atmosphere exploring the notion of "Duality". Blade's duality is obvious: he is fighting half of himself like a metaphoric evil within each and every one of us. The secret of his redemption does not lie in what he is but in what he does and what he feels. His quest for humanity ends at the same time as his hatred for the vampires but moreover for himself. On the opposite the reapers are bodies/corpses, their reasons for being are purely physical, basics (they live to feed) their appearance pushes the limits of horror (reaching the borders of gore) in order to demonstrate how unhuman they really are, in other words how "Essence" (where you come from) in that case human or vampire is not what matters. This gap between the beauty of Blade (Wesley Snipes) or Nyssa Damaskinos (Leonor Varela) and the reapers (Luke Goss etc...) emphasis the gab between "Soul" and "Soulless". Guillermo del Toro delivers his best movie (after Mimic in 1997). Unlike Mimic which was a well directed but average horror movie Blade II is an exceptional horror movie supported by terrific actors (Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlam etc...). Witnessing on screen the birth of a Soul is not a usual thing. Guillermo del Toro managed to do it in a paradoxical beautiful manner.