Blade II
Director: Guillermo del Toro (Mimic)
Writer: David S Goyer (Blade)
MPAA Rating: R
Genre: Action | Thriller | Horror

Our Take on the Film
30-Second Plot Review
How Does It Look?
How Does It Sound?
Bonus Features and Material
Easter Eggs
Parent's Guide
DVD-ROM

OUR TAKE ON THE FILM
As noted in last week's review of "Queen of the Damned", I'm not a big fan of vampire movies. However, "Blade II" is proof that you can never judge a book by its cover. This is not a vampire film - it's a visually stunning video game come to life, stacked with action, and best of all, it stands on its own. You do not need to know the first film inside and out to enjoy it - background is taken care of in the opening credits and the film progresses from there. I was surprised by how seriously this film was treated by the filmmakers - everything is taken care of, from the script to the excellent effects, even through to the sound and score. From the moment you put this DVD in your tray you will be brought into Blade's world - and it's fun! As with any fantasy-style film it's best to leave your logic at the door and just strap yourself in. The film moves relatively quickly, but believably, and in the end I was surprised how much I had enjoyed it. That said, where this DVD truly shines is in the bonus material we are presented with. There are literally hours upon hours of bonus material, including a behind-the-scenes feature that comes in at over 90 minutes. Every single detail on the making of a film like this is tended to - I doubt you could have a single "how did they do that?" style question upon completion of this two-disc set. Moreso than ever before we are invited to sit with the creators of the film on every aspect of making it. Even if you don't think you enjoy this 'type' of film I implore you to rent the DVD. Chances are you will enjoy it far more than you thought you would, and I can't imagine anyone could be disappointed in the wealth of special features. Congratulations go to New Line Cinema for giving this film such a great treatment.

30-SECOND PLOT REVIEW
When the world is threatened by a new and deadlier breed of super vampire known as Reapers, the legendary Blade (Wesley Snipes) and his mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) must join forces with the Bloodpack, an elite team of vampire warriors made up of his sworn enemies. As they battle trust issues and mutual hatred the unlikely team delves deep into the underworld to stop a quickly growing threat that could destroy them all.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?
The film is presented only in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen - no full screen to be found! Kudos to New Line and the filmmaker's for making this decision. The movie is so well done visually that it would be a complete shame to not view it in widescreen, and I'm sure the creators realized that. So much attention has been paid to sets, costume, makeup, and even processing that I found myself completely accepting of the oddities that take place inside. You believe what you're seeing and that has to be the utmost credit to the filmmakers. Scenes taking place during the day are bathed in a cold blue light while night scenes are bathed in yellows and browns. These subtle changes do so much towards setting atmosphere and mood throughout. My only complaint on a visual aspect would be a couple of scenes where it is quite obvious that Blade's character has been completely created via computer effects. One such scene is during the ninja battle when it is so completely obvious that we're watching a computer that you begin to wonder where the movie ends and the video game begins. It's an unfortunate distraction because, as noted, the film is exceedingly well done on a visual plane and deserved a better treatment here. The transfer is impeccable, though - you won't be disappointed. The full animated menus are also quite nice, especially in their briefness. Too often I find animated menus to go on so long you just want to get to the meat. They're well done here, however.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?
The film is offered in Dolby DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound in English, Dolby Digital 2.0 in French. Subtitles are offered in English only. While I found the lacklustre French track and absentee foreign subtitles to be unfortunate, it is important to note that the English audience is going to be ecstatic with these offerings. The sound itself is very well done, and I'm impressed with the DTS offering. The 5.1 track, which I used to watch the film, is excellent. Ambient noise is amazing, directional sounds enhance the viewing, and the sound effects are exceedingly well done. I could find no issues at all with the sound in the film, including the score (available on a separate track on the first disc). Some argument could be made to the use of hip-hop songs at varying points of the film but I found it to be acceptable. Noting that the intent of the director was to create a video game/comic book on the big screen, I think the score, soundtrack, and sound effects work well together to create the mood he was seeking.

BONUS FEATURES AND MATERIAL
The strength of this DVD lies in the massive quantity and quality of the special features, spanned over two discs. Our first disc, while containing the film itself, holds only two commentary tracks and an isolated score. The majority of your features are available on the second disc, and reviewed below. To start things off we get Commentary by Director Guillermo Del Toro and Producer Peter Frankfurt. As expected, this track contains less information towards technical specs and details and more towards the mind of the filmmakers who are making the film. Frequent mention is made towards the differences between the first "Blade" and this sequel, and it is quite obvious that each film had a different Director. I enjoyed the early reference to the initial belief that most viewers would know the first film and they could therefore continue from there, which didn't end up being the case, hence reshoots to create a new introduction with a background reference. On a tangent, this is well done towards bringing viewers in on what happened in the first film and certainly allows you to enjoy this film even if you haven't seen the first. Del Tomo introduces his thought process on making this film as a realization of a comic book come to life as opposed to 'real life', something he continues to note throughout the commentary and on the features through the second disc. Our second option is Commentary by Writer David Goyer and Wesley Snipes, which is similar to the first in that it moves even moreso towards the "behind-the-scenes" feel than technical making-of information. While some might question offering two technical tracks with none featuring those responsible for the superb effects in the film, our second disc's features certainly make up for this, and therefore no points are lost here. The two casually discuss the film, making it, being in Prague, and continued stories throughout. It's well done and entertaining. Finally, the 5.1 Isolated Score gives us the entire film with all dialogue and sound effects removed - it is quite simply the full orchestral score and music, offered in Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound. Save for the lengthy gaps in scenes that contain no score, this is a very well done transfer that might show you exactly how much a good score can do to create mood and help lead you in thinking the way the filmmakers want you to think. Our first option on the second disc is a Production Workshop, which is further broken down into new options. The first here is The Blood Pact: The Making of Blade II, a whopping 83-minute behind-the-scenes feature (this ain't no featurette) with the additional benefit of mini-behind-the-scenes click options to take you to more detailed information on certain scenes. The option also exists to simply watch the feature itself and then watch the additional clips afterwards. Obviously with a length of almost an hour and a half this is a very detailed look at making the film from the inception of the plot and script through casting of the Director and straight through every aspect of the film itself. Fans are going to be in heaven with this - it's basically a second film based on the length, but extremely detailed and in-depth. We get a look at the origins of the Blade character and films, the major differences between the first and second, a discussion on del Toro's direction process and Goyer's writing, the production design, the costume and makeup design with detail on creating the Reapers, costume design, stunts and the creation of combat scenes, and the composing of the film's score. They have kindly also given you the ability to access this feature by chapter. New Line and the folks behind Blade II have more than outdone themselves with this option alone - excellent work. Next up is Sequence Breakdowns, a chance to view six scenes from the film as the original script, the shooting script, storyboards, visual effects breakdowns, prep filming, and the final scene. It's an exhaustive look at the entire filmmaking process through six separate scenes and, once again, an excellent addition. The prep filming, or "On the Set" as it's referred to here, is excellent. We see the scenes as they are prepared and are taken through the meaning of certain lighting setups, makeup, and all other aspects of creating the scene before we view the final product. Visual Effects is next, headed off by Synthetic Stuntmen, an interesting and informative look at the use of virtual "stuntmen" for a series of scenes that would have been too difficult for true stuntmen. The Digital Maw allows us to follow the artists at the digital production studio as they create the "mouth" effects of the Reapers. Considering how true-to-life the effect was in the film this is some welcome insight into the work of some very talented CGI artists. Finally, Progress Reports is going to likely be one of the most adored aspects of this DVD. As most of the filming was done in Prague, while special effects were being created in the United States, the film's makeup designer Steve Johnson created videotape progress reports that he would send to the del Toro, the Director, so he could keep apprised of changes and advances. It runs as one featurette with seven chapters timing in just under an hour. Casual fans will enjoy the intensive and exhaustive look at creating 'movie monsters' - genre fans will be completely fascinated by this - and even younger fans will get a full realization of the difference between movies and real life. It's a tremendous addition to this DVD and should be reference material for other special effects and makeup focused films in the future - the things the fans truly want to see but are rarely offered. The only improvement I might recommend would have been a small PIP screen to show us the final effect alongside these makeup reference reports. Notebooks are up next with chances to read through the Director's Notebook, the Script Supervisor's Notebook, as well as Unfilmed Script Pages. The Director's comes with a video introduction while the others are entirely screen reading. I'm not a big fan myself of reading things on my television, but if you are, you'll probably enjoy these. Fans of the movie will certainly enjoy the unfilmed area - a sort of Deleted Scenes without the actual scenes themselves. Finally, Art Gallery is broken down into Sequence Concepts, Props & Weapons, Costume Design, Set Design, Character Design, and Storyboards. If you enjoy animation and art this is the most comprehensive gallery I've seen on DVD yet. Back to the root menu of our second disc we move on to Deleted & Alternate Scenes, one of my favourite additions to any DVD. This one comes with an introduction by the Director who hilariously alerts us that "what you will see is mostly crap." In keeping with the rest of the features so far this is completely exhaustive in its coverage - everything is included from major cuts to minor changes to one example where all that was changed was the score. I suggest you use the "Play All" option if you plan on watching the scenes with Commentary (which I always do) as it would appear we are viewing a featurette with chapters, and hence, if you play individual scenes you will cut in on commentary and perhaps lose your place. In a rare treat all deleted and alernate scenes have gone through the full production process and are presented not only in anamorphic widescreen but also with full Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound with special effects and sound enhancements intact. The commentary version, with del Tomo and the Producer Peter Frankfurt, may lack in its technical propensity but makes up for it in humour - this is good stuff, especially the 'Michael Bolton' scene. I will repeat my earlier warning of adult content here - there's quite a bit of material and language that won't be suitable for younger viewers. Our last root menu option is Promotional Material, headed off with the Blade II Video Game Survival Guide. Of course, this is only a usable option if you have purchased or rented the 'Blade II' video game for Playstation 2 or Xbox. I watched it anyways and found it to be more of a commercial than a strategy guide of any kind. Any hints are of the obvious nature, however, if you do have one of the aforementioned machines I have it under good authority that Jumbo Video is also renting the video game. Next up is the Theatrical Press Kit which gives us an on-screen version of the movie press kit sent to promote it to the media. Nothing too entertaining here, unless you're a fan of someone in the cast. The inevitable Trailers come next with a 35-second teaser and a full two-minute theatrical version. Both are presented in full anamorphic widescreen, and in a welcome change of pace, don't give away the entire film in under two minutes. We close off our special features with a Music Video - Cypress Hill and Roni Size's "Child of the Wild West". Surprisingly presented in widescreen format you'll enjoy it if you enjoyed the music in the film.

EASTER EGGS
On the second disc, simply press left from any of the three main Special Features options to highlight the New Line Cinema logo for some DVD credits. Fascinating. Those with home theatres should pay attention to the note that the film is "optimized for DVD no equalization required."

PARENTS GUIDE
The MPAA rates this film an R for strong pervasive violence, language, some drug use, and sexual content. It's Canadian Home Video Rating is 18A. While the film is meant to be a comic book come to life, it might be important to note that this comic book might not be the ones you're used to seeing. This is closer to 'Heavy Metal' than 'X-Men' in all aspects. You can expect to see drug and alcohol use, a large amount of coarse language, small amounts of sexual content (moreso at the conclusion of the deleted scenes), and of course, constant and omnipresent violence. While much of this violence is cartoony there is quite a bit of it that is also realistic and will be frightening to younger viewers. Not a film for young children, but not so bad for anyone over the age of 12 to 14 that hasn't played a substantial amount of video games already.

DVD-ROM FEATURES
Putting this DVD in your DVD-ROM drive releases a few decent features. The first item, outside of just playing the DVD, is a Script-To-Screen comparison. It will essentially allow you to watch the film with a small window containing the script. As noted on the screen "presenting the differences between the (screenplay and final film) allows viewers to gain an insight into the filmmaking process." Neat stuff. Next is a link to the Original Web Site for the film. I liked the fact that the website was hosted right on the DVD, unlike most which seem to simply link to an external source. At least you're guaranteed to always have access to the site. The site is fairly well done and packed full of material such as wallpapers, trailers, message boards, photo galleries, conceptual art, soundtrack samples, exclusive videos, screensavers, AIM icons, and E-cards. Any fan of the film is going to be ecstatic with the material offered here. The final option is the Hot Spot, a little piece of New Line Cinema promotion that promises to take you somewhere new - in my case, a quiz about "Lord Of The Rings". :/ It's nice to see some DVD-ROM features included on the disk - they're not super-intensive, but enough to keep a fan happy.

This film reviewed Sunday, September 1, 2002 in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround on the DVD format.