Blade The Series - The Complete Series (2006)

Not bad (if you're a fan)

The guy who plays Blade (Kirk Jones) doesn't do too bad a job. He looks the part, but definitely isn't Wesley Snipes. Snipes had the presence that really made the overacting just right, but this guy doesn't quite hit the mark. Jill Wagner is as annoying as all hell, but she's obviously there as eye candy. You could make a drinking game out the number of times they find an excuse to show her in a state of undress...

Still, it's good to see that they didn't try to make it kiddie friendly and that's it definitely intended for an adult audience. If they ever decide to kick off a second season, I would hit that as well. September 7, 2008

Great Series

I love this series and I hope they make another season, if they would it would be totally awesome. July 6, 2008

The only thing this show needed was...

another season WITHOUT "Sticky fingaz" as Blade!

Marcus Van Sciver did it for me with his Lex Luther-like villain portrayal. He was slick, smart, conniving and cool.

I didn't mind the girl, Krista being turned either and I found it interesting that she fell in love with Marcus, while trying to help Blade.

Chase made a great femme fatale and I was looking forward to seeing more of her. The series was cancelled to soon, as if Spike TV has so much more to show besides old CSI reruns and Ultimate Fighter episodes. *rolls eyes*

What this show didn't need was a "hero" who was a jerk. he was unnecessarily mean to people who were his friends. In the movies, Blade loved Whistler, his confidant and partner. That should have been shown in the relationship between Blade and Shen and it wasn't.

Also, Even Wesley Snipes knew when to pull back and show compassion and smile/joke a little. He wasn't ANGRY all the damn time. In the TV show, Blade was always mad!!!! Geez, lighten up a bit dude.

I think if they had had a better Blade, the TV series would still be running. June 21, 2008

NEEDED A STRONG LEAD ACTOR

After getting mostly negative reviews from critics and most fans, Blade the Series ended after just 12 episodes. New Line Home Entertainment is now bringing the complete series to fans in a four disc DVD set which includes the two-part pilot episode. These episodes are extended and unrated so even if you saw them during their initial TV run, there will be new stuff to see. More gore, profanity, as well as a bit of nudity. Was the series really that bad? Not really, there are actually some pretty good things to be found in the series.

Set in Detroit (and as a native, it's so nice to see my city once again portrayed as being strewn with garbage and abandoned cars) Blade faces off against the House of Cthon, one of several houses or clans of vampires. Leading the house of Chthon is Marcus Van Scriver (Neil Jackson) a rather dapper, gentlemanly vampire. In the pilot episode, former soldier Krista Starr (Jill Wagner) returns home from the service but the homecoming is bittersweet. Her brother is murdered and she intends to find out who killed him. This leads Jill to the discovery that her brother was a lackey and wannabe vampire. Eventually murdered by Marcus for getting a little too curious. Jill also discovers there's a new street drug called "Ash" made from dead vampires that gives normal humans the powers of a vampire for a couple of hours.

Jill's investigations lead to her discovering the existence of vampires and meeting Blade. She'll try to kill Marcus but is captured and bitten by Marcus. Blade keeps her from turning full vamp by having her take the same drugs that he takes. Jill works from the inside with Blade on the outside to bring down Marcus and the House of Chthon.

Let's start with the good...the series does have a lot of action and it's certainly never boring. The fight choreography is well done and Blade comes up with some very clever ways to kill the enemy vampires. Jill Wagner, perhaps best known for her frequent Lincoln Mercury commercials, is quite good as Krista Starr. She's more than just a pretty face. I also really enjoyed Bill Mondy as Detective Boone, a dirty cop who eventually is turned into a vampire himself. He's just wickedly fun to watch! There's also a great rivalry between Krista and fellow female vamp, Chase (Jessica Gower) who becomes jealous of Marcus' attraction to Jill.

Where Blade suffers is with the main character himself. Wesley Snipes may not have the most range as an actor but compared to Sticky Fingaz he's Robert De Niro. Sticky scowls his way through the entire series, hissing his lines and trying to be intimidating. His dialog comes off as wooden and forced, partly because of the clichéd scripting and partly because of his own lack of skill as an actor. Now for all that the directors and producers claims that they love Sticky, they seemed to realize his limitations. Sticky is not onscreen all the time and you go through long stretches in each episode without seeing him.

The other weakness of the series is making it all about Blade Vs. Marcus Van Scriver and his henchman. I think I'd have preferred to see Blade traveling about, city-to-city, eliminating vampires along the way without him having a Lex Luthor-type archenemy. It simplifies the series much too much. The series had it's limitations but probably deserved a longer run.

Extras

Not a lot. There is a solid documentary "Turning Blade" about the development of the show and the differences between the series and the films. There are also two commentary tracks on the pilot episode, one from Director Peter O' Fallon and the other from writers David Goyer and Geoff Johns.

June 16, 2008

I'm unhappy

my order never arrive, again, I take two you order that they do not arrive to me, what is happening? June 7, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...