Blade II on DVD
Blade 2 starts out exactly how a sequel should be
and then
turns into exactly what a sequel shouldnt be.
Blade (Wesley Snipes) has moved his headquarters to Prague (which
works out nicely, since thats where the movie was filmed). His first task
is to find Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) whom we all thought was dead, but who
is actually being kept alive by the vampires (Why? So he can appear in the
sequel, of course!). His base is then infiltrated by a couple of what we assume
to be vampires and, after a lengthy fight sequence, we learn theyre only
there to deliver a message.
It turns out that evolution has taken another wrong turn. A new
breed of bad guy, called Reapers, has formed. Theyre stronger and faster
than vampires, and immune to silver. And to add insult to injury, they do to
vampires what vampires do to humans.
Now doesn't that suck?
So Blade teams up with a team of vampires (that was actually
trained to kill him) in order to destroy the Reapers since they will start
feeding on humans once there are no vampires left.
Everything you loved about Blade is present in the sequel. There
are plenty of great fight scenes, a simple but entertaining story, and some
great creature effects. Near the end, it gets way too similar to the original
movie, but is still fun to watch. Wesley Snipes is perfect as Blade,
Kristofferson plays Whistler to a T, and Leonor Varela and Ron Perlman make
perfect vampires.
Guillermo Del Toro stays true to the style used by Stephen
Norrington in the first film, but also adapts his own style of filmmaking to
the sequel. This time around, its closer to a horror movie than to a
music video.
The elements are all here, so if you loved the original Blade,
theres nothing you wont love about Blade II.
Having always been one of the most reliable studios when it comes
to DVDs, New Line has presented yet another fabulous Platinum Series disc. This
is the kind you can use to show off your system when friends come over.
The picture quality is absolutely stunning; one of the best
transfers Ive seen in a while. Its perfectly clean, crisp, and
sharp, and even though most of the movie is black, you still have no trouble
seeing whats going on. Often when movies are this dark, the studio will
get lazy with picture quality since you wont see it anyway. Here, there
is not a single thing to complain about.
The audio is also reference quality. Not only are we treated to a
fantastic Dolby Digital EX track, there is also a DTS track. Without massive
surround use, this movie just isnt the same and, fortunately with so many
great action scenes filled with great sound effects, the speakers are used to
full effect to engulf you in the action. At some points youd even swear
there was someone behind you firing a gun over your shoulder. Such a great
audio track easily makes the movie that much more enjoyable.
And if that wasnt enough, we even get a ton of extras. There
are two audio commentaries on disc one; the first by director Guillermo Del
Toro and producer Peter Frankfurt, and the second by Wesley Snipes and
screenwriter David Goyer. Both tracks are quite good, but I personally
preferred the director/producer commentary. Del Toro and Frankfurt are a riot
to listen to, as they clearly love the movie but are not afraid to make fun of
themselves for doing something wrong. Snipes and Goyer are not quite as
personable, and their track is a bit drier.
Moving on to disc two, we have one of the greatest making-of
documentaries Ive ever seen. Running 83+ minutes, with another 16+ of
extra footage, this doc covers everything you could possibly want to know about
the making of Blade II. It features interviews with all the main players
(though we would have liked more with the cast), plenty of behind-the-scenes
footage, and insight into the scriptwriting process, set design, costumes,
special effects, choreography, and anything I missed. With a total of nearly
100 minutes, if you have the time to check it out, youll thank yourself
later.
Next up are 25 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes with
optional director/producer commentary. Del Toro introduces the clips, stating
that most of what you are about to see is crap. Most of it is
pretty bad, but theres some pretty good stuff there as well. Del
Toros commentary reveals why it was cut, and he even wonders why he shot
some of it in the first place.
Finally, there is a directors notebook, which is basically
an interactive reproduction of Del Toros notes, with an intro by Del
Toro; an art gallery, a music video, a video game survival guide, and the
trailer.
Blade II, from Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment
120 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
EX, 6.1 DTS ES
Starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela,
Luke Goss
Produced by Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, Patrick Palmer
Written by David S. Goyer
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro
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