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It's the premise of vampirism as a manifestation of biology rather than supernatural superstition that makes the Blade series so intriguing. All the wonders of contemporary biotechnology can be folded into Blade's world. We learn that the subculture of vampires is no longer at the top of the food chain; the hunters have become the hunted. A new species, the Reapers, are described as vampires whose microbes have mutated to impart unusual powers and immunities, and the Reapers victimize vampires, not humans. The vampiric social order is distressed, so much so that a delegation is sent to seek Blade's help. (After all, when the Reapers wipe out the vampires, the humans will be the next targets of their blood frenzy.)  Such mutual cooperation is unprecedented. Blade's mission in life, his obsession, is to hunt down and destroy the vampires. He is considered so dangerous, that an elite vampiric combat unit had been formed to hunt him down and destroy him. It is that very unit that is offered to him for the fight against the Reapers.

There is little plot here; what little there may be only acts to interconnect the intricate and prolonged action pieces, which is why it comes as such a surprise that the film is so entertaining. The film is a smorgasbord of viscera, blood, spectacular special effects, and extreme combat. Del Toro draws his inspiration from the vivid illustrations of comic book source materials and Anime. Each set piece is lavishly produced to mesmerize the audience with images not seen before. The CGI and practical effects are seamlessly integrated and frequently leave the viewer to wonder, "How did they do that?” Some effects are clearly artificial, such as when a character performs a stunt or move that no human being - even on wires - could possibly execute. But the disintegration of dying vampires and the Reapers' facial physiology are wonderfully done.

The production values are quite remarkable and we learn in the supplements that much of the credit must go to the cost savings of filming in the Czech Republic. (The film is set in Prague, where Blade has moved his lair, even his conspicuous, souped-up Charger.) Snipes' Blade is more laid back in this film; perhaps in the intervening years the character has come to accept his fate and simply has dedicated himself to his life quest. Kris Kristofferson returns as Whistler. His death in Blade was off-screen, and we're given a perfectly rational explanation for his survival. Less rational are the actions of the characters and the obvious inconsistencies as the film's own rules are bent and manipulated to satisfy the needs of melodrama and horror. A fine supporting cast includes Leonor Varela as Nyssa Damaskinos (daughter of the titular leader of the society of vampires), Ron Perlman as Reinhardt (the leader of the Bloodpack vampire hit squad), and Luke Goss as Jared Nomak (the first and most formidable Reaper). And it took me a moment or two to recognize Danny John-Jules in a smaller role as Bloodpack member Assad; having played Red Dwarf's Cat for years, I'm sure he was quite comfortable with his fangs.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. I can't describe how I recognized it, but within minutes, I believe I had detected the LaserPacific Media Corporation look (my suspicions would be proven correct when the LaserPacific logo appeared after the closing credits). Highly detailed and with revealing textures in fabric and skin, there is no video ringing to expose extended video frequency response. Some haloing is present, but perhaps due to the dark nature of the film, it's rarely obvious and never intrudes. Shadow detail is terribly important for this film, where daylight - so lethal to vampires and Reapers alike - is rarely seen. The lack of strong or even moderate lighting is further complicated by the costumes, which are predominantly various shades of black. Thankfully, the transfer offers a commendable shadow detail. The director manipulates the color palette; yellow street lamps and blue interiors are punctuated with crimson blood, all conveyed with conviction and purity. I noticed no blocking or mosquito noise. Please don't mistake the small structure of the ashes and embers of a dying vampire as pixelization. This is a very fine transfer.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Before I describe this DVD in particular, I must touch upon one of DVD's dirt little secrets: the X-Curve. For reasons too involved to describe in detail here (but associated with theater electronics and the acoustics of a large room, as opposed to the acoustics of the typical small space found in a home theater), film soundtracks are pre-emphasized. Frequencies above 2 KHz are rolled up at 3 dB per octave (or better put, 1 dB per third-octave as measured with pink noise and a third-octave analyzer). When the soundtrack is played back at home, to restore a "flat response” and remove the unnatural brightness, the high frequencies are rolled off at -3 dB per octave from 2 kHz upward. For those of you who own THX certified decoders or digital receivers, that's what THX re- equalization does. DVD's are usually shipped with the pre-emphasis intact, requiring de-emphasis to restore tonal balance, so without equipment capable of THX re-equalization, you may be at a disadvantage. But there is one DVD audio production house that removes the pre-emphasis as the audio is transferred to the disc: Mi Casa Multimedia.

Critical information about properly playing back this DVD is located deep within the DVD credits found only on the second disc and accessible by selecting the New Line easter egg logo in the bottom left of the main menu screen. Within the credits you will find "Optimized for DVD no equalization required.” It would have been more considerate of New Line Home Entertainment to have included this rather important note on the Set Up Screen & Sound Options Menu on disc one, and it should have been displayed prominently on the DVD's box. The dirty little secret is that there is no standard to address this issue, and it's unlikely that we know whether the X-Curve is intact or not when we insert any DVD and make our audio selections. I can only hope that studio people visit our site and having had their consciousness raised, motivate standardization - at the very least in labeling! I will now step down from my soapbox.

This is an official EX mix and it's presented in two audio formats: Dolby Digital EX 5.1 and DTS ES 6.1. The surround effects are top notch; the viewer is immersed in directional and ambient sounds intended to draw the audience into the movie. Sound effects have a satisfying visceral punch with little noticeable compression. Very deep bass will require the finest subwoofer to feel the sound as well as hear it. It's unlikely that you'll be humming any of the themes found in Marco Beltrami's atonal orchestral score, but it effectively evokes the proper mood and provokes an appropriate audience reaction. Director del Toro has supplemented Beltrami's work with quite a few hip-hop source tracks. I found this to be a wrongheaded artistic choice; with the exception of an appropriate dance track in the House of Pain, every such insert pulled me from Eastern Europe and deposited me in urban America. Perhaps del Toro was responding instinctively to Anime-like Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal 2. The dialog was never overwhelmed by the music or the sound effects and remained highly intelligible throughout. Comparing the DD and DTS tracks yielded only subtle differences; once again, DTS seems to have the edge in timbre accuracy and bottom end assertion.

A third English track is offered in Dolby Surround 2.0. No alternative language track is included, only subtitles and Closed Captions in English.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

This is a two disc Special Edition, and it's a very special edition indeed; I can't recall a more generous collection of extras. On disc one, there are two feature-length scene-specific commentaries and an isolated score in Dolby Digital 5.1. In the first commentary, director Guillermo del Toro is joined by producer Peter Frankfurt for a lively discussion of the film. The director concentrates on his artistic decisions and influences, but we're given our first hints of how the film was made, aspects covered much more thoroughly in other supplements. Del Toro makes clear that he wanted to shift the style from his predecessor's to a more intentional realization of a comic book sensibility. In the second commentary, Wesley Snipes (who also acted as one of the producers) and executive producer David S. Goyer banter through the film. Here we learn more about the experience of making the film, for example, anecdotes from the set and what it was like to film in the Czech Republic (food was a bit of a problem). Within both commentaries, the filmmakers were very complimentary of their Czech participants as skillful, dedicated, and (from a pragmatist's point of view) inexpensive.

The last extra on the first disc is an isolated score in spatially faithful Dolby Digital 5.1. As with other such features, the music is timed to the onscreen action, so be prepared for lengthy gaps. The music is exclusively Beltrami's work; source cues are thankfully omitted. The composer does not comment on his music, but we're given ample opportunity to listen to his views in one of the video supplements on the second disc.

The second DVD has far more material than the first, and necessitated dual layer media to accommodate all the extras. The first major section on disc two is Production Workshop, where various aspects of the making of the film are broken down and revealed in liberal detail. The Blood Pact is a lengthy and thorough featurette that runs a significant 83:31. It includes an interactive feature similar to the White Rabbit of The Matrix; when a Vampire Glyph appears in the lower left, pressing Enter on your remote diverts you to a related supplement, then returns you to the branching time. Four of those diversions are video with an aggregate time of 16:10. A fifth is a multi-screen description of all the percussion instruments Beltrami orchestrated in the score. If you would care to ignore the Glyph, New Line has thoughtfully provided a Branching Scene Index from which you can watch those sections separately. A Blood Pact Index is also provided, so you have your choice of watching the featurette as one lengthy piece or as selected chapters. The material covers the origins of the film, the Blade character and how it has evolved onscreen, del Toro's approach to directing, the production design, creature effects, costuming, stunts and fight choreography, and the composing and recording of Beltrami's score. Frequently playful and always interesting, this is a great documentary. (Unless otherwise noted, all the video supplements are non-anamorphic.)

The next section in the Production Workshop is the Sequence Breakdowns. There are six highlighted sequences: Blood Bank; Ninja Fight; Reapers in the House of Pain; Underground; Chapel Fight; and, Caliban. For each you have the choice of reading the original script, reading the shooting script, maneuvering through storyboards and special effects breakdowns, and watching the scene from the film. But the best supplement in each of these sections is On The Set. In each of these video shorts you have a chance to see the director in action as each sequence is filmed. The six DV shorts have an aggregate running time of 28:25 and they are both revealing and informative. Unfortunately, they are marred by very poor shadow detail (making some of the sequences difficult to watch) and much ambient noise that masks the narrator's words, recorded live.

The Visual Effects section is even better. There are two shorts called Synthetic Stuntmen (6:04) and The Digital Maw (3:25), where the artists at Tippet Studios guide us through the CGI. I was most impressed with how they managed the seamless digital maw. As I watched the film for the first time, I wasn't sure how that great effect was done. Better yet is a collection called Progress Reports. Through the production, del Toro was in the Czech Republic while his special effects and creature contractor was in the States. There are seven specific sections in this featurette that run for a total of 53:05 and can, once again, be played sequentially or as individual chapters. The montage is culled from the video progress reports that were prepared by Special Makeup Designer Steve Johnson and periodically sent to the director. Each demonstrates a practical or creature effect being prepared for the filming. I found this fascinating featurette to be the most informative on the disc.

In the Notebooks section, you'll find a video introduction by the director and three sections of reproduced pages. The several pages from the Director's Notebook demonstrate del Toro's propensity to illustrate his own concepts, but the text is difficult to read. The Script Supervisor's Notebook spans dozens of pages of unreadable notes, and candid and continuity photos from the shoot. Viewer patience will be rewarded as the last few such screens are reached; portions from several pages are blown up enough to be seen, and clever and sarcastic comments are eminently readable. The last text section contains three sequences of Unfilmed Script Pages, which are clear and easy to read.

The last feature in the Production Workshop is the Art Gallery containing many stills through which you may maneuver with your cursor keys. Sequence Concepts, Props & Weapons, Costume Design, Set Design, Character Design, and Storyboards are all presented in anamorphic video.

Return to the main menu to select Deleted & Alternate Scenes. In a brief video introduction, director del Toro describes them as crap, but I rather liked the dirty version of the Epilogue; judge for yourself. There are sixteen scenes that total 24:28 running time. They may be played sequentially or individually and with or without commentary. And I'm pleased to report that they are presented in very respectable anamorphic video and with sound effects and score intact.

Returning to the Main Menu once again, our last choice is "Promotional Material." First on the submenu is a 2:45 Survival Guide to the Blade II Video Game. Next is the Theatrical Press Kit where we find what would be listed on other DVDs as Cast & Crew and Production Notes; here they are renamed About the Cast, About the Crew, and About the Production. Much of the production notes information may be found in more entertaining forms elsewhere in the Special Edition. Next are the Teaser Trailer (0:35) and the Theatrical Trailer (1:55), also shown in very nice anamorphic video. The last feature in this section is a truly annoying Music Video that runs 3:35: Cypress Hill and Roni Size "Child of the Wild West.”

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

On disc one, Script-to-Screen displays the feature in a small window in the upper left as a web-based application downloads the shooting script and displays it in the larger portion of the player window. It's up to the viewer to access manually the script's chapters. From this disc you can also click on a link that will take you directly to New Line's Hot Spot website. The official Blade II web site has been archived and may be accessed from disc two.

Parting Thoughts