The '90s in Action: 'Blade' (1998)

'Blade' (1998)

There is no denying that 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” proved in 2000 that the box office was there for superhero films. In 2002, it can’t be denied that “Spider-Man” proved to be the film where the superhero powderkeg blew up and Hollywood wanted to then make every superhero film known to man.

However, it was a lower-budgeted film in 1998 that proved that adult audiences were ready for more mature superhero fare. That movie was “Blade” and 26 years later, it still shows that it is one of the best superhero films ever made. It is the movie that lit the fuse on the aforementioned superhero powderkeg.

For anyone who may not have watched this movie, it is about a character called Blade and he is played to perfection by Wesley Snipes. Right off the bat, this character is quickly established, showing that he was born to a mother who had just been bitten by a vampire.

Blade grows up with a thirst for killing any vampires that cross his path. The movie opens with an unwitting man being dragged to an underground nightclub. He soon learns that he’s in a room full of vampires, but just before he can be devoured by the members of this sadistic club, Blade enters like an old Western gunslinger, ready to massacre them all.

This intro into the movie establishes that you’re not getting your usual superhero fare and that you’re also getting one of the best superhero films ever made. Blade is indeed a gunslinger and swordsman who also happens to have the help of Abraham Whistler, a fellow vampire hunter and father figure.

Blade and Deacon Frost face off in 'Blade'!

Blade is trying to get to Deacon Frost, a vampire who wants to fulfill an ancient prophecy involving a vampire god that will help him take over the human race. Frost is played to perfection by Stephn Dorff and a perfect villain for the more serious Blade.

The movie is 26 years old and the only thing I can say about the movie is that the special-effects, particularly those towards the end of the film, don’t work quite as great as they did back when the movie was initially released. Yet again, I can forgive this simply because the movie is damn near three decades old now.

The movie itself is a particularly dark yet also darkly comedic film from director Stephen Norrington. Also, the movie looks incredible and both Norrington and his cinematographer Theo van de Sande deserves a special shoutout for giving this movie a unique look and tone.

The movie’s action sequences are also top notch. It is known that Snipes is an expert martial artist and he brings the full weight of that training to the movie. From the opening nightclub sequence to the climactic battle to stop a vampire god, the fight sequences are quite amazing!

The performances are also a highlight of the movie. Snipes is perfect as Blade as is Kris Kristofferson as Whistler, Blade’s right hand man and father figure. You care for these characters’ causes and you want them to succeed. N’Bushe Wright is also great as Dr. Karen Jenson, a woman who is bitten by a vampire and tries to help not only devise a cure for herself but also a better serum for Blade who also has a thirst for human blood if he doesn’t take a special mixture every once in a while.

Of course, no great hero is great without a great villain. Dorff is great as Frost, a vampire who may be feeling a bit of an inferiority complex due to being a vampire that was turned instead of being a purebred. While Frost is most definitely a villain, he has his proper motivations for wanting to become a vampire god and wanting to turn the entire world into vampires.

I first watched this movie back in ‘98 when it initially came out and I loved it then. Now, it’s time to acknowledge another fact about the movie. It truly is the first great Marvel movie ever to be made and it still holds up after 26 years as a bonafide classic.