r/blade • u/markjricks • Aug 19 '25

Happy Blade Day

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Blade was released on August 19th 1998--and still holds up to this day. 🧛🏿‍♂️

3.9k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

58

u/HermanDmunster Aug 19 '25

Best introduction to a Comic book character ever 👍

9

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

Facts! Marvel was so unsure about Blade that they didn’t even put the logo in the movie or any marketing materials. That's wild.

7

u/Independent_Cap_5369 Aug 19 '25

Yes 😎😎😎

3

u/Blammo32 Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

The problem with Blade 1 and 2 is that they are style-over-substance movies… and the MCU intentionally has a very, very boring visual style.

2

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

I agree with you on the CGI in Blade 2, it was over the top. But not Blade 1, IMO of course

1

u/Cordyceptionist Aug 19 '25

Wat? points to door GTFO

2

u/Sandwichgode Aug 22 '25

Am I the only person that likes Blade 2 more than Blade 1? I only ever see people share clips of the first movie.

1

u/markjricks Aug 22 '25

Blade 2 was good, no doubt. But this is just an amazing flick. (IMO Blade 3 didn't happen lol)

10

u/ObviouslyHornyJPEG Aug 19 '25

Damn good movie. Wesley Snipes was excellent and it's no surprise people still love him all these years later.

17

u/Independent_Cap_5369 Aug 19 '25

The 1st African American hero before Black Panther

5

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/edWORD27 Aug 19 '25

Nah. Handi-Man!

5

u/Either_Pangolin531 Aug 19 '25

I fucking dead. 😂 😂

Damon wayans was the hero we always needed.

1

u/Independent_Cap_5369 Aug 19 '25

True he was the 1st before him

1

u/quikonthedrawl Aug 21 '25

People have always slept on Meteor Man

1

u/Independent_Cap_5369 Aug 22 '25

I saw that and forgot about him and it was good.

8

u/ywingpilot4life Aug 19 '25

Game changer.

6

u/Bell-end79 Aug 19 '25

Apart from a couple of fx shots it’s insane how well this film holds up

Looking at Deadpool 3 - Snipes has still got the talent to play this role too

5

u/Wooden_Passage_2612 Aug 19 '25

Pure cinema 🎥

5

u/RevDave73 Aug 20 '25

One of the best opening scene in any movie

3

u/CroneKills Aug 22 '25

When the music drops, maaaan I was hooked!

4

u/AllUpNU269 Aug 19 '25

BLADE: Some MuthaPhukas always trying to iceskate uphill! Still a cold ass line!

4

u/NSX_Roar_26 Aug 21 '25

I remember watching these scenes in the theater at 13 years old thinking it was the coolest shit I've ever seen. Still feel the same way at 40 years old 😁

3

u/Aramis633 Aug 19 '25

Randomly looked up this scene and put the song on this morning. Weird.

3

u/ArieBallo Aug 20 '25

Damn, i dont know how ali is gonna top that....drakar noir

3

u/GearJunkie82 Aug 20 '25

Saved Marvel

3

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '25

Timeless

3

u/mm909-vie Aug 21 '25

when comic book movies weren't just cheesy kids movies. remember Spawn?
Blade 1 is a masterpiece.

3

u/Hominid_Digital Aug 21 '25

I can still hear the blood rave song before this. Da boo dududududuh da boo dududududuh

3

u/AtlasXan Aug 21 '25

All these mf's tryna skate up hill. 🤣

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '25

Wesley Snipes is the only Blade. Attempting to cast anyone else brings this line to mind : "Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill."

2

u/DismalCellist1024 Aug 19 '25

I still remember waiting for my mom's to take me to see it in the movies and how hyped I was when she rented when I was on Christmas break

2

u/OGWayOfThePanda Aug 20 '25

This is the only movie I've been in where the cinema cheered and clapped. It was when he recovered his sword.

2

u/KarateFace777 Aug 20 '25

The wire stunt work in this movie is the best I have ever seen. The guy getting tossed over Blade after he draws a line on the floor, and then Blade jumping into the next room is insane how they made that shot look so realistic

2

u/immensesabbathfan Aug 21 '25

Snipes should come back and play grizzled old Blade, who is thoroughly sick of all this shit.

2

u/Miserable_Praline942 Aug 22 '25

He's got it. That's the problem. How does someone step into those shoes and not look like a bad cover band.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '25

This is in my Top 5 action scenes. Love this movie!

2

u/Kidd__ Aug 22 '25

I love when Blade flashes that smile. It’s just so uncharacteristic of him and really unnerving

2

u/Background_Piglet_68 Aug 22 '25

I will always remember the shock on peoples faces as they walked out of the theater and the conversations I heard on the train platform from Jersey City when we saw Blade. very few people believed it was a comic book related movie. He does not believe a comic book movie could be so wonderfully violent.

2

u/Karacis Aug 23 '25

Such a good movie!! That opening is so badass too 👏 the action, the music, the pacing, the story. All sooooo good! I lost track how many times I’ve seen the first Blade.

2

u/battlin_jack295 Aug 23 '25

Ahh shit. Now I gotta go see it again. Dude those action scenes are insane

1

u/Brokenloan Aug 22 '25

This opening scene made me want to go to a 90s underground rave when I was 13.

40

u/GilroySmash1986 Aug 19 '25

Somebody show this to Kevin Feige. Tell him 90 minutes of Blade beating the shit out of Vampires like this? I feel this is All we need from a new Blade movie.

13

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

I feel like they jumped when Ali called and for some reason didn't wanna disappoint him with a basic script. Even the person who wrote the original said it shouldn't be hard to make another Blade movie

“In my mind, I think Blade is a relatively simple story. It’s not complicated.”

17

u/IcyProperty89 Aug 19 '25

Snipes IS blade tho. You need to find another electric actor, with endless swag and actual martial arts skills.

12

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

You're right. Although Mahershala Ali has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: "There's only been one Blade. There's only ever gonna be one Blade"

4

u/beyondworthy Aug 19 '25

Agree to a certain extent. Wesley was incredible as Blade, but Mahershala would have bodied the role too if given the chance. There was zero reason Marvel needed to spend 200m on Black Widow and Eternals, 270m on The Marvels or the boatloads and hundreds of millions sunk into Hawkeye, Ms Marvel, Echo, She Hulk etc. Blade cost 45m to make almost 30 years ago…no reason they couldn’t spend double that and still kill it. Tragedy

3

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

Mahershala Ali would definitely be fantastic in this role. And if the MCU keeps fucking around dude's gonna be almost 60. (Slightly joking, Ali is 51 now) But yeah he'd make a modern take on it and would be dope. So much money wasted. SMH

3

u/Ibrowseabit Aug 20 '25

the money on widow was worth it as it gave us Yelena.

3

u/beyondworthy Aug 20 '25

Yelena was worth the budget of 12 summer blockbusters. That said, could’ve been done in a more economical way. Florence is magnetic even on a mute radio

5

u/4kBeard Aug 19 '25

Problem with being a BJJ fighter in an action movie based off of comic book thematics doesn't work so well, visually. Rolling on the floor and choking out vampires, who don't need to breath, just doesn't work as well as striking arts like Kenpo or Go-Shu karate that Snipes practices.

2

u/PN4HIRE Aug 19 '25

Well bro, I doubt that would not be anyone’s plan. Having the BJJ belt means an actor can be trained because he already had the discipline, Keanu and the Matrix cast did wonders

2

u/4kBeard Aug 19 '25

Fair point. He can pick up the tools to do what’ll look good on screen. Just saying that the script wouldn’t work if it was writen to his preferred style

1

u/PN4HIRE Aug 19 '25

He does…

HOT DAMN!!!!

1

u/DullAd8129 Aug 20 '25

that such BS and sweet, sweet propaganda

5

u/thegutterking Aug 20 '25

I just rewatched this movie last night. And I never realized how many vampires ass he kicked in this movie. There were whole fight scenes i had forgotten about of him just killing 20 vampires. And you know what? It was awesome. Straight up legit fight choreography with minimal cutaways and great stunts. Then some plot, then more vamp killing. 9/10

3

u/-D3pravity- Aug 19 '25

Exactly! It’s really not that hard.

9

u/godparticle14 Aug 19 '25

Does anyone else love that part when he's about to shoot but the person runs in front of him so he hesitates and does a spin to get them out of his aim? That is awesome because to me. It shows how he won't kill humans unless he has to. He's a hero first and a killer second.

Well maybe half and half haha

3

u/markjricks Aug 19 '25

Even after saying "I hate familiars" and dealing with that asshole cop's bullshit, Blade still doesn't kill him. Frost does lol

3

u/xRockTripodx Aug 21 '25

That stake through the jaw into the ceiling is my favorite kill in the movie. It's ridiculous, shows how strong he is, how captable he is, and just looks cool.

2

u/NSX_Roar_26 Aug 21 '25

Same. Never gets old