When 1998′s ‘Blade‘ came out I was there in the theater to see it, I got a souvenir comic book and everything.  Then, when it was over, I wanted more.  It took 4 years for that to happen, but it was worth it.  2002′s ‘Blade II‘ was directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Mimic) and had both Wesley Snipes (Blade) and Kris Kristofferson (Whistler) returning to the roles they played note-perfect before.

“Blade“ was a relatively unknown Marvel Comics character from the 1970′s and didn’t get his own dedicated series until 1994.  He was a half-human, half-vampire who initially fought Dracula and interacted with descendants of the Bram Stoker-created universes.  When the first movie came out in 1998 his origins were mainly kept intact, with his mother being bit by vampire “Deacon Frost” right before his birth.  This gave ‘Blade’ quasi-vampire attributes without full vampirism control over his abilities.  He makes it his sole life’s dedication to eradicate the vampires species from the earth.

The sequel finds “Blade” back in action against a mutated form of vampire race called “Reapers” who feed on their own kind.  This leads to an unlikely alliance between “Blade” and the group assigned and trained to hunt and kill him named the “Bloodpack” to stop the “Reapers” from taking over the food supply of the earth.  All along, “Blade” has been searching the planet for years trying to find his friend and mentor “Whistler” (Kris Kristofferson) who survived an assault in the first film only to become a vampire himself.

Notably added to this new cast of characters are “Rheinhardt” (Ron Perlman) and “Scud” (Norman Reedus) who make a welcome addition and quotable contributions to the film.  Ron Perlman also played “Hellboy” in the 2 feature films also directed by del Toro after the success of this film.

Some memorable sound quotes from 2002′s ‘Blade II‘ are:

‘Blade II‘ succeeds as both an action film and horror movie, there is enough blood & gore to satisfy even the truest of fans.  The well choreographed fight scenes are exciting to watch and the special effects are top notch.  Fans of the first film will probably enjoy this one even more, it tops the first movie on every level.  The acting is beter, the action is stronger & and the characters are more fleshed out than before.  A third film followed a few years later with Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel added to fight off the one and only “Dracula” once and for all.

Guillermo del Toro made this the best ‘Blade’ film in the trilogy, that much is certain.  The first film set a new standard by which comic book films should be made, this one set the bar for comic book movie sequels.  ’Spider-Man 2′ and ‘X-Men 2‘ followed this trend, it has been pretty much all uphill ever since.

Pop Quiz, Hotshot:  Did you know that Wesley Snipes stayed in character as ‘Blade‘ on the set even when the cameras weren’t rolling?  It’s true, he wore his costume and spoke in his character’s gruff voice while wearing sunglasses at all times to keep in character.  He freaked people out on the set, but the performance payed off in the film.  He did the same thing for the third film, ‘Blade: Trinity’ as well.

Check out our Blade II Sound Clips Collection page to hear more of your favorite quotes from the film, you can even share them on Facebook or Twitter & even download them as a ringtone, for free.
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