WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Blade 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:15.280 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird How Cinema. This 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.760 is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick, and Hey today, 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.560 are we getting into the Marvel Cinematic universe? Is this 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:26.160 is this a Marvel superhero movie? Um? Uh, well, no, 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.240 I'm not quiet for the first question, but yes for 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.479 the second question, because we're gonna be talking about the 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.440 movie Blade, a movie that is kind of it is 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.960 kind of the precursor to the Marvel Cinematic universe, but 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.839 unlike the PG era and PG I guess thirteen probably 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:47.520 era of Marvel films that we have today, and even 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.519 the darker d C films that we have, and certainly 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.200 those have more in common with Blade. Uh. We're talking 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.720 about a solid are here, mostly for violence and language, 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.000 a little bit of sexuality, but you know, several differ 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.800 and things that wouldn't fly in the Marvel movies that 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.920 are so popular right now. It is hilarious that this 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.640 is essentially I would say, a movie for kids, but 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:14.560 absolutely not for kids, hardcore R rated comic book movie. Uh. Like, 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:19.320 basically every other word is the F word. It's relentless. Yeah, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.640 Blade as a superhero. He has several different superpowers, but 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:25.840 one of them is definitely that he gets to say 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.960 the F and he gets to say the F as 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:29.640 many times as he wants to, as far as I 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:31.959 can tell, I don't think there's a limit. And there's 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:37.280 constantly blood spraying everywhere on everything. Yes, yeah, there's a 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.759 lot of blood in this one, um and a lot 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.360 of attitude. So it's this is a movie where we're 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.720 once more getting pretty close up to U the dawn 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.360 of the millennium here, uh, and in the end of 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.520 the millennium that we say spend most of our time, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.320 and then the century we spend most of our time. 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.680 And because this is ninety eight, I think I think 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.560 the closest we've come to to to to breaking the 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.120 millennium point has been Deep Blue Sea is that. I 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.400 think it was ninety nine, But we're pushing the boundaries 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.160 again here. Well. So I was thinking about this and 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:13.040 about how Blade is not only a vampire superhero movie. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.240 It is also very much in terms of like the cinematography, 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:20.919 the way this movie looks and uh, in the the 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.959 way the fight senator stage. It is very much a 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.880 millennial R rated action thriller, and so what does that mean? 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:35.120 I would characterize it as follows sets with tons of slick, 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:42.400 gleaming surfaces and gun metal gray coloration. Everything is wet. Uh, 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:48.520 lots of casual depiction of futuristic digital devices like like 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.160 laptops and cell phones doing things that they absolutely did 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.280 not do at the time in and no one finding 0:02:56.280 --> 0:03:00.000 this unusual even though the movie is set in the present. Uh, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.760 and just lots of wires everywhere. Uh. Beyond that, I 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.200 would say muted colors in general, with kind of harsh 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.760 white lighting, like not not soft yellow lighting, harsh white 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.400 lighting reflecting off of all the slickness in the sets. 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.560 And then extreme gratuitous gun violence where like rooms of 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.560 bad guys are sprayed with bullets causing huge panes of 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.720 glass to explode and shower down in slow motion, and 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:30.760 then finally sunglasses inside all the time. Yeah, the gun 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.359 violence is interesting in this film because it's not the 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.480 thing that I think of when I think of Blade, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.760 but it's it's clearly part of of of these movies. Uh. 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:42.680 You know, when I've looked back fondly that I'm thinking 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.160 about the times that he's he's kicking vampires and stabbing 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:51.240 vampires and using that katana sword and so forth. But yeah, 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.200 he's also blasting room fulls of of vampires. But but 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.480 I don't know. That stuff doesn't seem to I don't 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.400 know with me anyway, it doesn't resonate as much as 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.960 the martial arts action. Oh yeah, the martial arts is 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.480 clearly where it's at. Blade kicks and he you just 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:08.360 imagine like when you're watching this movie, like if Blade kicked, 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.680 you be like getting hit by a bus. Yeah. Yeah, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.320 every every time Blade, really, anytime anyone is hit in 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.000 this movie. I buy it. Like it. It does a 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.520 really good job of selling the physical violence. Now, before 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:23.360 we go and eat any deeper, I'm gonna, I guess 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.880 I'll mention this. We we started mentioning where to watch 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.240 a film earlier on in the episode for folks who 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:32.400 want to go in unspoilt. But basically, you can watch 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.600 Blade everywhere. You can get it on DVD, you can 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.320 get it on Blu Ray. I think there's a three 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.440 pack of Blade films out there. Uh, and there's also 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.040 you can simply go to I think HBO Max as 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.520 of this recording in the US has has all all 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.000 three of the original blades of streaming. So Blade one, 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.280 the excellent Blade Too, and also Blade three or Blade 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.479 Trinity if you will. Now, I think you're more of 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:58.360 a connoisseur of Blade than I am of my earliest experience. 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.480 Uh well, they Sally, I think i'd only ever seen 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.640 this first movie before I saw it, probably like eight 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.839 through ninth grade, so not too long after it came out. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.359 I think I watched a VHS tape of it in 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:17.360 a friend's garage. Uh so, yeah, that's the setting. Uh, Whistler, 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.080 for some reason put a movie on for you know, 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.920 you just just he had a TV in his garage. 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.400 I don't know why. We go. We go in there 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.600 and we watch Blade because that's what you do. You're 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:36.200 in eighth grade and there you go. So, wait, have 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.440 have you not seen Gamma do Toro's Blade Too? No? 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.200 I haven't seen any of the sequels. Oh my goodness. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.200 Blade two is amazing. Blade Too is is everything that 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.600 this film brings to the table. But then Gammada to 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.880 a weirdness on top of that, So all sorts of 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:56.040 like weird um quasi catholic imagery and uh and and strangeness. 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.800 I'll touch on a little bit of this as we perceive, 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:01.000 but I'll try not to get into Blade to too 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.880 much because it's its own special treat Well, so that 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:08.080 made me want to raise something. Uh. Germo del Toro 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:12.680 obviously loves magic, and I wonder how his influence affects 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:18.359 what I would consider the mostly materialist vampire ideology and Blade. 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.280 So Blade, the Blade universe is full of vampires, but 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.600 with a few exceptions, they don't really seem to be supernatural. 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.599 Like the vampires are not affected by holy objects. They 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.039 don't seem to be spiritually demonic in nature, though they 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:39.760 are evil. Uh, they're treated as products of genetic mutation, 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.600 you know that, like they have a virus or a 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.559 mutation in their bodies. I would say the only major 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:46.560 exception to this is suddenly at the end of the 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.040 movie they bring in this like apparent magic ritual that 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.359 does seem to have effect, like it actually works to 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.040 summon a blood God. Yeah, i'd say, when del Toro 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.800 comes along, you know, granted he's he was beholden to 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.560 what was established in the first film, but he seems 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.839 he seems to embrace the materialist view of the vampire, 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.760 but with the key difference being for for Norrington and 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.840 company in this film, Uh, vampires are kind of people 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:17.680 with supernatural powers. But for del Toro, obviously a vampire 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.120 is a monster. He is a man of monsters and 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.720 his vampires are going to be monsters. Oh yeah, that's interesting, 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.120 I would say in this Yeah, you're right. The vampires 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:32.280 are just like people who are universally bad and they 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.520 have super strength than they drink blood. Yeah, so then 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.800 again I should stress for Del Toro, monster has different 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.360 connotations perhaps than it does for other people. Like he 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:43.960 loves his monsters. It doesn't mean the monster doesn't have 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.600 a lot of personality and depth. In fact, there's a 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.240 good chance that the monster will have more personality and 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.320 death than any human character h that he might be 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:56.320 dealing with. Now. Another thing that sort of sets Blade apart, Uh, 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.080 that I think I noticed when I first watched it 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.880 back in the day A was that this is a 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.440 movie that has a vampire hunter character of the classic 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.840 Van Helsing type. I would have, you know, seen movies 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:10.520 with Peter Cushing doing this role on TV, probably when 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.760 I was younger. Um, But a big difference is that 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.360 this is a high tech vampire hunter and this was 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.880 not the first movie to have characters like this. I mean, 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.320 I'm sure there were plenty. I can think of. John 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.680 Carpenter's Vampires came out earlier, and and that one. The 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.400 Vampire Hunters have all kinds of technology and stuff, don't 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.760 they now. Actually, John Carpenters Vampires came out the same year. 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.679 I'm not sure exactly like where they fall um in 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.080 terms of each other though, well either way, I mean, 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.600 I'm sure this was not the first movie to do this, 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:43.360 but that that was kind of a change up on 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.320 my expectations because the the earlier you know, the vampire 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.280 hunter is more of a uh, sort of a holy warrior, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.480 kind of a kind of a priest slash professor who 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.880 wields a steak and across and all that. Again, you know, 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.959 you're you're Peter Cushing type. Here it is like the 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.079 toughest dude you've ever met, and he's decked out in 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.920 all kinds of with like gizmos and gadgets. He's like Batman. 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.960 He's got a you know, utility belt full of stuff. Yeah, 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.240 he has a secular vampire hunter as opposed to the 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.679 holy man that we see certainly in the in European traditions, 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.120 but also in in Eastern traditions as well, there's stuff 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:21.240 like Mr Vampire. You know that's that's the roll with 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.520 a holy man to deal with the vamps. I wish 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:26.240 they had had some rice in this movie though. Hey, 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.640 they used the garlic, but they don't use any any rice. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.960 A glutinous rice dealer scene would have really set Blade apart. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.199 That would have been it would have been brutal. Can 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.680 you imagine the dressing down a corrupt rice dealer would 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.880 get from Wesley Snipes as Blade, Because that's one more 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.199 thing that really sets Blade apart is the way Wesley 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.600 Snipes completely embodies this character. I don't know what so 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:52.600 this is based on comics. I have no idea what 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.319 Blade is like in the comics, but it is hard 0:09:55.440 --> 0:10:00.360 to imagine this character as anything other than than Wesley Snipes. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:04.160 Wesley Snipes brings a kind of uh, I don't know, 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:09.320 a like a weird poise and and sort of almost 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:13.280 ironic sense of line delivery. It's it's beautiful and it's 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.679 very singular. Yeah, I will come back to this, but 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:20.080 I think Wesley Snipes is as perfect in this role 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.520 as anyone you can point to in a given role 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:27.120 like he everything he does as Blade is just spot on. 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.640 You buy it, you believe it. It's absolutely perfect. It's 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.960 like Robert Shaw as Quint just is the character. Yeah, absolutely, 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.240 all right, before we go any further, let's let's have it. 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.520 Let's here part of the trailer. I don't I don't 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.320 really love this trailer, so we'll just listen to a 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.160 little bit of it, just to remind you what you're 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:53.960 dealing with in Blade. Better wake up. The world you 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.120 live in is just a sugar cot top. There was 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:09.839 not the world, real world. For thousands of years, they 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:13.479 had existed among us. You keep your eyes open. They're everywhere. 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:15.719 Chances are you see him yourself and didn't know it. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:21.000 A secret nation. Our Livelihoart depends on our ability to 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.840 blend in with the lust for power. We should be 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:28.720 ruling the humans. These people are food. They've got their claws. 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:32.720 That everything politics financed real estate. There's a war going 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.520 on out there. He mixed the weapons I use of. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.880 Now one will lead them to conquer mankind Tonight, at 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.000 the age of man comes to an end, we're gonna 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:47.120 be gods, and one will try to stop him dead. 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:54.439 There worst things out tonight than vampires like me Blade. Yeah, 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:59.200 trailers were bad in the nineties. Yeah, yeah, I don't. 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.840 I don't love it. Um you know, maybe it's different 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.000 depending on an age and what one is nostalgic for. 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:06.880 But yeah, this is a trailer. I'm like, no, no, no, 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.360 the movie is great trailer. I can I can take 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.120 it to leave it all right, Well, let's let's get 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.520 into the folks involved in this film, shall we? Oh please? Alright? 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:20.360 Starting at the top, the director is Stephen Norrington, sixty four. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.640 This is this isn't the first time we've discussed Steven Norrington, 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:28.760 as he did creature designs on Split Second. That that 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:34.640 really fun? Rugger Howard, what soft post environmental apocalypse monster 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.160 Hunter film? Yeah? Yeah, Now let's see. My memory is 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.600 that in Split Second we did not get much of 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.120 a look at the creature. They kind of kept it 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:47.000 mostly obscured. Yeah, you don't see much of it. I 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.080 I if memory serves, there were like a lot of 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.720 last minute changes. But it ends up working pretty well 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.520 because you don't see a lot of it. But when 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.360 you when you do see more of it, you realize 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.480 it's kind of a mix between a Xena Morph and 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:03.080 Joege Death from the Judge Dread comic books. Alright, So 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:08.040 Norrington is a London born effects makeup artist who worked 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:12.640 on such films as Aliens, Young Sherlock Holmes, Hardware, Alien 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.760 three and Jim Hinson's The Storyteller, and then he would 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.640 go on to direct the film Death Machine, which had 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.080 Brad Dorriff and Richard Brake in it, and he followed 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.640 this up with Blade. From here he went on to 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.520 make The Last Minute and the film that reportedly kind 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.679 of made him step back from actually directing The League 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.920 of Extraordinary Gentleman. But I believe he has continued to 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.920 work in effects and other areas of filmmaking, and every 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.679 now and then catch some buzz of some possible project 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:46.640 coming together with Norrington involved. But at any rate, I 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.200 like his work in this film. Oh yeah. And I'm 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.839 really impressed that he did effects on Storyteller, which has 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.840 marvelous special effects. I love it. Yeah. Yeah, Storyteller is 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.200 a lot of fun like those uh the meducest at 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.800 You Coming to Life and all that. Oh yeah, it's that. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.040 That's great stuff. Uh wow, I never saw a League 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.520 of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But I distinctly remember the day that 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.040 my friends went to see it in the theater and 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.040 they were talking about it for the rest of the day. Uh. 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.560 It made an impression on them, and it was not 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:19.360 a good one. It seemed to be one of those 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.360 films that it caused a lot of people involved in 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:23.720 it were kind of kind of had to question what 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.120 they were doing with their lives at that point. I guess, 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.440 but I don't know, but I haven't seen it. Maybe 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.760 I would actually enjoy it. I don't know. Um, I 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.200 will say that. With Blade, however, you mentioned like some 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.480 of the stylistic choices, and I think some of those 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.680 definitely are just tied to the style of the day, 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:44.440 But I also really like some of the choices that 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.600 they made in terms of how they portrayed night and day. 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.400 Like a lot of the night scenes tend to feel 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.160 hyper and alive, like they're they're literally twitching, like they 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:57.080 they're just gonna start dancing at any second, while the 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:01.960 daylit world often feels languid underwater, you know, kind of 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:07.320 in a sense that that really meshes with this idea 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.480 of like creatures of the night and creatures of that 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.320 are mostly of the night, are being drawn further into 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.880 that world. I know exactly what you're talking about, that 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.480 underwater feeling, and also that this movie has a lot 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.960 of Again this is as I said earlier, this is 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.120 common to a lot of these action movies of the time. 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.080 But lighting often feels harsh in this movie, Like even 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.320 lights just coming out of the ceiling are like, I 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.360 don't like that. It feels bad. All right. So that's Norrington, 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:41.440 that's the director. Screenwriter on this is David S. Goyer. Yeah, 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.160 this is a huge name in the screen screenwriting world. Um. 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.080 His earliest screenplay credit is for Death Warrant, a Jean 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:53.240 Claude van Dame martial arts movie from and he followed 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:57.720 that up with Albert Pions Kickboxer two, which did not 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:01.000 start Jean Claude van Damme hand. He also did the 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:06.280 Charles Band produced Peter Manoogian directed horror film Demonic Toys 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.400 in Is this just a parallel to the puppet Master 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.640 movies or was it trying to sort of copycat them? Um? 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.200 I think it was part of you know, this is 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.120 certainly getting into the area of of Charles Band and 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.560 company figuring out what works and then like and then 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.360 continuing to pump pump that out. I've never seen a 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.960 Demonic Toys movie, but I know they like later Demonic 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:32.480 Toys have crossover adventures with their Charles band properties. The 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.400 Jetson's made the flint Stones, except their toys with like 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.320 drills and razors attached to them. Now. He went on 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:43.560 to work again for band Camp on the film Arcade, 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.240 but he quickly moved up from there, working in TV 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:51.120 and film projects until he collaborated with Alex Proyas and 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:56.320 Limb Dabbs on Dark City. Just an excellent weird film 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.480 in my opinion, A Dark City is amazing that that one. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:01.720 I haven't watched it in a while, but for a 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.320 long time that was one of my favorite movies. Yeah, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.040 same here. I haven't watched it recently, but back in 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.520 the day, absolutely loved it. Totally blew me away when 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.960 I watched it, so definitely made a huge impression on me. Now. 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.080 I should also mention though, that same year, uh Goya 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.560 was also involved in the Nick Fury Agent of Shield 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:24.159 TV movie that started David Hasselhoff. So he was and 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.280 he was already getting in and getting a little marvel 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.760 e with his screenwriting. I did not know that existed, 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:31.560 but at any rate. Yeah, then he moves on to 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.960 Blade and Blade it's kind of the perfect goy or 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.560 screenplay when you say, especially when you consider many of 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:41.160 the products that came afterwards. It's a dark, largely serious 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:45.000 comic book adaptation. He followed this up with screenplays for 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:49.280 the again the Excellent and Weird Blade, to also Blade Trinity, 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.359 which Goyer himself directed. Blade Trinity did not continue the 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.399 upward trajectory of the Blade franchise, but it does have 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.240 at least one great Blade ism in it, so has 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.880 that going for it. There are so many great Blade 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.480 lines that I would love to quote, but we can't 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:10.520 do it without making this episode need a parental advisory stickers, right, 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.040 because again Blade will say the F and all his 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:16.040 best lines have to f in them. Yeah. Now, Blade 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.399 Trinity was said to be a difficult shoot, but Gotya 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.159 didn't give up on directing and came back with some 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.920 various TV projects and the films The Invisible and The Unborn, 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:27.639 and on the screenwriting end of things. He went on 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.520 to work on Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, Jumper, Man of Steel, 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.680 the upcoming Hell Raiser Rebooty at least has a story 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.360 credit on that Terminator, Dark Fate and the upcoming adaptation 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.960 of the Sandman graphic novels. So um, yeah, Goyer is 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.560 a huge name. You can't really uh no matter what 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.200 you think of some of these films, there's no denying it. Now. 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.280 Of course, we should drive home that Norrington and Goya 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.359 did not invent Blade. This was the work of two 0:18:55.400 --> 0:19:00.000 comic book creators, credited to first of all, Marv Wolfman. Uh. 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.840 This is a character creator credit. He was born nineteen 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.760 forty six. He worked on Marvel Comics The Tomb of Dracula. 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.040 So this was a horror comic that ran for seventy 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.560 issues between nineteen seventy two and nineteen seventy nine. It 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.119 concerns vampire hunters, including you know, the Van Helsing's, and 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.480 of course it has Dracula in it. Like straight up 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:24.320 Marvel Comics version of Dracula, Blade was introduced as one 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:29.040 of these vampire hunters. Uh. And the original incarnation was 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.159 more of a like a thoroughly nineteen seventies affair, like 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:36.320 he had wooden teque daggers. I believe he had like 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.639 a like a large afro hair doue so you know, 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.480 he's very much inspired by some of the cinema of 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:47.440 that time period and the other character creator, Jean Colon 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.879 was born through eleven. He was the artist and I 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.040 think he's He has said in past interviews that he 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.600 based part of the look of Blade on Jim Brown 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:05.560 as well as other um famous black actors of the time. Now. 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.840 Colon worked on the comics Daredevil is Where It well 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:13.040 as Howard the Duck. He also co created the heroes 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:18.720 Falcon and Carol Danver's. But going back to Wolfman, um, Yeah, 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.880 the following this film, there was apparently a legal dispute 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.080 between Wolfman and Marvel. He does get an official character 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:28.280 credit on Blade two. He's written some TV shows over 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.679 the years, including a few episodes of Fraggle Rock. If 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.720 I am maybe is correct on that um and fun fact, 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:38.199 there was actually a previous Japanese animated adaptation of The 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:41.159 Tomb of Dracula comic came out in eighty but I 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:44.040 do not believe it has Blade in it. Um though 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.399 the character does show up in the Spiderman cartoon. I 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:49.919 don't know if you watched this, Joe, but um, you 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.159 know this was this was a fun cartoon that came 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:54.000 on in the afternoons after you got him from school, 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:57.720 and they eventually just throw every Spider Man related character 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:01.720 in there. So Blades showing more Bias is showing up 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.200 all these various weird Spider Man like second and third 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.880 tier characters and villains. Spider Man met Morbius. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:14.000 Morbius was totally in the mix. Fun fact, Morbius was 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:16.639 originally going to be in this film. If you go 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.680 on YouTube, you can even find some rough looking footage 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.159 where originally at the end of it, Blade was going 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.159 to have kind of like a stair down with Morbius, 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:28.159 like setting up Blade versus Morbius in the sequel. I 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:30.159 followed your link on this and I looked at the 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:32.800 scene and my thought was, like, how's anybody supposed to 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:36.879 know this is Morbious. It's just a guy standing there. Yeah, well, 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:38.840 maybe that's one of the reasons they cut it up. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.120 All right, let's get to two the actors here. So yes, 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:56.160 Blade is Wesley Snipes. Wesley Snipes is Blade. Wesley Snipes 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:59.200 was born two and really requires no introduction. I mean, 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.040 he's he appears as the character in both of the 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:04.919 Blade additional Blade movies that I mentioned Blade Too in 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:07.600 two thousand two, Blade Trinity in two thousand and four. 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.359 One of his earliest credits he is a episode of 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:14.399 All My Children, followed by early roles in such films 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:18.320 as Wildcats eighty six, Streets of Gold same year, Critical 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.240 Condition from eight seven, but then in eighty nine he 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.640 appeared in Major League, followed by King of New York 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.359 starring Christopher Walkin in nine, and then a whole string 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:31.919 of just huge films in the early nineties, New Jack City, 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:35.399 Jungle Fever, White Men Can't Jump, Passing Your fifty seven 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:40.440 Rising Sun, and Demolition Man. Demolition Man is a deeply 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.679 stupid movie, but it is also Wesley Snipes is just 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:46.240 great in it. He is so much fun. He's what 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:51.199 a criminal from the past future something that is okay 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:55.240 the premises they froze. It takes place in a sort 0:22:55.320 --> 0:23:00.200 of um in a very softened utopian future, where like 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:04.240 where there's no crime or littering or even swearing anymore, 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:07.760 and everything's all just like nice. And suddenly they accidentally 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:12.000 unthaw a frozen criminal from the nineteen nineties, and that's 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:14.440 Wesley Snipes, and nobody knows how to deal with them, 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:18.760