The legendary superhero Blade was first introduced in the pages of Marvel comics and brought to life in the 1998 hit film, Blade. Producer Peter Frankfurt and screenwriter David S. Goyer’s working relationship goes back to the original film. ‘I met David Goyer and he was this total comic book aficionado,’ says Peter Frankfurt. When the time came to plan the sequel there was no question that Goyer would once again write it. ‘He is the mind from where all this comes and he was absolutely essential.’
Goyer, who also serves as an executive producer, says that he ‘envisioned a trilogy of films’ when he first wrote Blade, so consequently while writing, he left himself a couple of ‘outs’. ‘One of the outs we left ourselves was that you don’t actually see Kris Kristofferson’s character, Whistler, on camera taking a bullet to his head. You hear the gun shot but you don’t actually see what happens.’
Goyer and Frankfurt both admired director Guillermo del Toro and believed his dark sensibilities to be ideal for Blade II. Frankfurt first met del Toro when Frankfurt’s design company, Imaginary Forces, did the title sequences for Mimic. ‘I admired Mimic and got to know Guillermo through that film,’ says Frankfurt. ‘Both David Goyer and I have been fans of his since Cronos and were enthusiastic about him coming on board. Guillermo is such a visual director and has a very strong sense of how he wants a movie to look. When you sign on with someone like Guillermo you’re not going to tell him what the movie should look like, you’re going to let him run with it.’
Adds Goyer, ‘Guillermo has been a friend of mine for years and he knew I was writing Blade II. I kept saying to him, “When I’m done we’re going to be coming for you.”’
Everyone was unanimous in wanting Blade II to be much scarier than the first. Frankfurt says, ‘Guillermo understood what worked in the first movie and was very excited about keeping that kind of baseline and amplifying it in places, but then also bringing what he does best – to make it really, really scary.’
Like Goyer, del Toro also has an enormous passion for comic books. ‘Guillermo was weaned on comic books, as was I,’ says Goyer. ‘I was a huge comic book collector… my brother and I had about 12,000 comic books that we assembled when we were kids, so I know my background.’
Del Toro was very careful not to alter the script too much as the idea had already been created by Goyer and Snipes. ‘I wanted the movie to have a feeling of both a comic book and Japanese animation,’ says the director, ‘I resurrected those sources and viewed them again. I dissected most of the dailies from the first movie; I literally grabbed about four boxes of tapes and one by one saw every single tape from beginning to end until I perfectly understood where the language of the first film came from. I studied the style of the first one and I think [Stephen] Norrington used a tremendous narrative style. His work is very elegant.’
Stepping back into Blade’s shoes was a challenge Wesley Snipes relished. ‘I love playing this role. It’s fun as an actor to test your skills at doing a sequel, to see if you can recreate something that you did,’ Snipes says. Peter Frankfurt adds, ‘Wesley is Blade; so much of the character was invented by Wesley and his instincts are so spot on. He takes his fighting, his weapons and attitude very seriously. He’s incredibly focused, but he’s also very cool and fun.’
‘Wesley knows Blade better than David Goyer, better than me, better than anyone else involved in the franchise,’ adds del Toro. ‘He instinctively knows what the character would and wouldn’t do, and every time he twists something around, something better would come out.’
Once again serving as a producer, Snipes has been very much involved in the film from the beginning, ‘from the script, to the day-to-day goings on, to the choreography of the fight scenes.’
For Snipes, working with del Toro was a great experience. ‘I like his passion,’ says the actor. ‘I’m in awe of his stamina, the fact that he loves this movie and he has put one hundred and ten percent of his life and time into it. He has very clear ideas of what he’s looking for, a great eye, great sense of timing and he’s comfortable, open and talented enough to be a true collaborator. I would love to work with him again and I think what he’s doing in this film is fantastic.’
Snipes was also inspired by the darker feel del Toro brought to the film. ‘It’s like being a little kid in a haunted house,’ says Snipes. ‘As an actor, you see these films and think “wow! I’d love to be in a movie like that,” and now I get the opportunity to do it in this one… and with a guy who is very good at it. When we met in New York and Guillermo showed me his ideas for the weapons and the idea for the Reapers, I thought, “Any guy that can think of something like that deserves to direct this movie!”’
Snipes underwent extensive training for this physically demanding role. With a number of complicated fight scenes in the film, getting the choreography right called for top stunt coordinators. Snipes had worked with Jeff Ward since Ward first became Snipes’s stunt double 12 years earlier. ‘Jeff is one of the key elements of the success of the first Blade and he brings an uncanny instinct for fights and choreography that is at the same time street and very real and at the same time, very beautiful,’ says del Toro.
Through their friendship and collaboration over the years, Snipes and Ward developed a relationship that carries through on each project. ‘We’re teammates, partners, and together we come up with the structure and he executes it,’ says Snipes. ‘He’s a great martial artist too. If you put us together in a room, and then add Clay (Fontenot), my stunt double, and we’re all together, it’s ridiculous!’
Del Toro also enlisted cast member and famed Hong Kong fight coordinator, Donnie Yen (Fist of Fury, Iron Monkey), to help choreograph what del Toro wanted to be predominantly wire-free fighting. ‘Donnie Yen is one of my most admired martial arts actors and artists from the Hong Kong films he has done,’ says the director. ‘His stuff is usually a little more whimsical – we actually had to tame him down a little because Blade’s fighting style is not acrobat; it’s more street, it’s very violent, very direct and hard punching. But I absolutely loved the stuff Donnie Yen choreographed. I think the combination of Jeff and Donnie was extremely successful.’
Production notes
Blade II
Director: Guillermo del Toro
©: Linovo Productions GmbH & Co. KG
Presented by: New Line Cinema
Production Company: Amen Ra Films
In association with: Imaginary Forces
Executive Producers: Lynn Harris, Michael De Luca, David S. Goyer, Toby Emmerich, Stan Lee, Avi Arad
Producers: Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, Patrick Palmer
Co-producers: Andrew J. Horne, Jon Divens
Associate Producer: Robert Bernacchi
Executive in Charge of Production: Carla Fry
Production Executive: Leon Dudevoir
Unit Production Manager: Patrick Palmer
Unit Manager: Mirka Janatová
Production Manager: Pavel Typolt
Production Supervisor: Michelle Weller
Senior Production Co-ordinator: Wendy Cox
Production Controller: Alexander Matcham
Location Manager: Doug Dresser
Post-production Supervisor: Sara Romilly
1st Assistant Director: Julian Wall
2nd Assistant Directors: Greg Palmer, Mark Taylor, Andy Howard
Script Supervisor: Lori Wyant
Casting: Nancy Foy
Casting (UK): Jeremy Zimmermann
Casting (Prague): Nancy Bishop
Screenplay: David S. Goyer
Based on the Marvel Comics character by: Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan
Director of Photography: Gabriel Beristáin
A Camera Operator: Tony Gaudioz
B Camera Operator: Martin Grosup
Steadicam Operator: Craig Fikse
Wescam Operator: Simon Werry
Stills Photography: Bruce W. Talamon
Visual Effects Supervisor: Nicholas Brooks
Executive in Charge of Visual Effects: Lauren Ritchie
Visual Effects Producer: Susan MacLeod
Visual Effects Editors: Dirk Westervelt, Peter S. Elliot
Digital Stunts/Creature Effects: Tippett Studio
TippS Visual Effects Supervisors: Blair Clark, Craig Hayes
Digital Visual Effects: Framestore CFC
Additional Digital Visual Effects: C.O.R.E Digital Pictures, Pixel Magic, Pacific Title Digital, Riot Pictures, Image Resolution Inc
Digital Timing: Framestore CFC
Special Effects Supervisor: Nick Allder
Additional Special Effects: Flash Barrandov Special Effects Ltd, Special Effects Unlimited
Modellers: Jaroslav Tittelbach, Jaroslav Hejkal
Motion Control Operator: Eric Pascarelli
Editor: Peter Amundson
Associate Editor: Jana Lynn Gold
Production Designer: Carol Spier
Vampire ‘Look’ Consultant: Timothy Bradstreet
Visual Consultants: Wayne Barlowe, Mike Mignola
Supervising Art Director: Elinor Rose Galbraith
Prague Art Director: Jaromír Svarc
Senior Set Designer: Michael Madden
Concept Designer: Ty Ruben Ellingson
Costume Designer: Wendy Partridge
Costume Supervisor: Diane Routly
Head Make-up Artist: Michelle Taylor
Key Make-up Artists: Nikita Rae, Marese Langan, Tomás Kuchta
Contact Lens Technicians: Jemma Scott, Olina Norková, David Fabry
Tattoo Artist: Fernando Negrete
Prosthetic Make-up/Animatronic Effects: Steve Johnson’s XFX Group
Hairstylist for Mr Snipes: Cliff Booker
Head Hairstylist: Jeanette Freeman
Main Title Sequence Design/Production: Imaginary Forces
Opticals: Pacific Title
Colour Timer: Dan Muscarella
Music: Marco Beltrami
Additional Music: Danny Saber
Music Supervisor: Happy Walters
Choreography: Ladislav Beran
Sound Supervision/Design: Scott Martin Gershin
Sound Supervision: Mathew Waters
Sound Mixer: Mark Holding
Re-recording Mixers: John Ross, Michael Keller
Stunt Co-ordinator: Jeff Ward
Fight Co-ordinators: Jeff Ward, Wesley Snipes, Clay Fontenot
Blade Stunt Double: Clay Fontenot
Martial Arts Choreography: Donnie Yen
Vampiric Language Writer: Anna Vovsová
Cast
Wesley Snipes (Blade)
Kris Kristofferson (Whistler)
Ron Perlman (Reinhardt)
Léonor Varela (Nyssa)
Norman Reedus (Scud)
Thomas Kretschmann (Damaskinos)
Luke Goss (Nomak)
Matthew Schulze (Chupa)
Danny John Jules (Asad)
Donnie Yen (Snowman)
Karel Roden (Kounen)
Marit Velle Kile (Verlaine)
Tony Curran (Priest)
Daz Crawford (Lighthammer)
Santiago Segura (Rush)
Xuyen Tu Valdivia (Jigsaw)
Marek Vasut (Golem)
Pete Lee Wilson (blood bank doctor/reaper)
Paul Kasey (blood bank guard/reaper)
Andrea Miltner (blood bank nurse)
Ladislav Beran (drug dealer)
Jirí Sieber (blood bank guard)
Bridge Markland (vampire with exposed spine)
Jamie Wilson, Stuart Luis, Ladislav Mohyla, Jan Malik, Jan Révai, Mario Wild, Tomás Böhm, Zdenek Bubák, Jan Loukota, Jan Bursa, Petr Krusalnicky, Jaroslav Misek (reapers)
Karel Vávrovec (St. Cloud)
Jaroslav Peterka (Choad)
Milos Kulhavy (Little G)
Ivan Mares (Tea Bag)
Lennox Brown (man in London porno shop)
André Hyde-Braithwaite (young Blade)
USA 2002
117 mins
Digital
With thanks to
Cai Mason, Lisa Taback, Imogen Munsey and the Netflix team, Gary Ungar
SIGHT AND SOUND
Never miss an issue with Sight and Sound, the BFI’s internationally renowned film magazine. Subscribe from just £25*
*Price based on a 6-month print subscription (UK only). More info: sightandsoundsubs.bfi.org.uk
BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with three cinemas and a studio, a world-class library, regular exhibitions and a pioneering Mediatheque with 1000s of free titles for you to explore. Browse special-edition merchandise in the BFI Shop.We're also pleased to offer you a unique new space, the BFI Riverfront – with unrivalled riverside views of Waterloo Bridge and beyond, a delicious seasonal menu, plus a stylish balcony bar for cocktails or special events. Come and enjoy a pre-cinema dinner or a drink on the balcony as the sun goes down.
BFI PLAYER
We are always open online on BFI Player where you can watch the best new, cult & classic cinema on demand. Showcasing hand-picked landmark British and independent titles, films are available to watch in three distinct ways: Subscription, Rentals & Free to view.
See something different today on player.bfi.org.uk
Join the BFI mailing list for regular programme updates. Not yet registered? Create a new account at www.bfi.org.uk/signup
Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email