Blade - Trinity

Blade: Trinity is an interesting addition to the Blade franchise. It has been widely rumored that Wesley wasn’t the happiest camper on the set of Blade: Trinity as he was more or less shown the door via the amount of screen time he was given, replaced by the younger, hipper and iPod™ wearing vampire slayers; The Nightstalkers.

Blade struts his stuff

Trinity opens with a young group of vampires led by the hot and very angry Danica Talos played with absolute glee by Parker Posey who has raised the original Dracula (Dominic Purcell), or “Drake� as he is referred to, from his slumber to help the vampires take over the world.

Blade who has been setup by these vamps for killing a human is captured by the FBI and is then busted out by the young Nightstalkers Hannibal King (an insanely buffed Ryan Reynolds) & Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), Blades mentor Whistler’s daughter; who have also been fighting their own silent war against the blood suckers.

"I just have two things to say to you. One, your hairdo is ridiculous. And two, I ate a bunch of garlic and I just farted. Silent but deadly."

The film quickly turns into a race against the clock adventure as the trio (aka trinity) must stop Danica & Drake by unleashing a virus that will kill all the Vamps.

Just dropping in

Trinity is very different in its feel to the previous films in the franchise with Wesley taking the back seat here and the attention on the wisecracking and younger good looking cast. It’s definitely not as dark as the first two films, especially Guillermo Del Toro’s Blade 2. Guillermo actually passed on this to do his dream project Hellboy. Ryan Reynolds is absolutely hysterical through some off the wall adlibbing and Parker Posey who oozes sex appeal as the ultimate badass trailer park trash vampiress makes the film for this reviewer. (Ed: Ryan Reynolds hysterical? Stay off happy juice Anthony)

I’m rarely disappointed with a Roadshow transfer and the video here is confirmation of the excellent job they do here with DVD’s. The feature is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with anamorphic enhancement. The image is sharp enough to cut glass. Colour detail is vivid and black levels for this nocturnal romp are very deep.

Can I get some buttons here?

As you would expect for a film so recent the print used for the transfer is free from artefacts. The resulting image is relatively free from common film to video artefacts except for some minor instances of edge enhancement that is noticeable on larger displays; if you 'must' look hard enough.

The extended version of the feature is accompanied by two fairly solid 6.1 tracks; Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and a discrete DTS-ES 6.1 whilst the theatrical version features the Dolby 5.1 EX only. There is very little difference between the two except for a little bit more bass extension and overall presence that the DTS track offers over its Dolby cousin. Both tracks are very aggressive in their use of surround effects, however.

Another one bites the dust

I was a little disappointed with the centre rear channel usage which was basically used to smear out the score and music in the rear, where as Blade 2 and a good number of other 6.1 tracks usually give the rear channel a decent workout. There is a perfectly serviceable Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Encoded track also.

This little special release has a few extras in it's basket of goodies. There are two commentaries on offer; the first with Screenwriter/Producer/Director David Goyer, Ryan Reynolds, & Jessica Biel. Sadly Wesley doesn’t make it here but it is still a reasonable effort with plenty of anecdotes about the shoot. The real star here though is Ryan who relishes the opportunity by making wisecracks about anything and everything. (Ed: I sense a disturbance in the force, something I have not felt since the last fanboy review I read)

The second is more suitable for the film enthusiast featuring Screenwriter/Producer/Director David Goyer; Producers Peter Frankfurt and Lynn Harris; Cinematographer Gabriel Beristain; Production Designer Chris Gorak; and Editor Howard E. Smith. These are only available on the extended version of the feature.

Inside the World of Blade: Trinity (106:39) is another good example of the studios taking advantage of the space afforded on DVD and giving fans of film feature length documentaries. This does it in spades! There is plenty of information and behind the scenes interviews regarding the production with only a minor amount of fluff in between.

Not too sure about this Goyer on Goyer (5:11) piece, it comes across a little self indulgent. The films writer David Goyer and director David Goyer interviewing himself! If only it was funny it might have worked. (Ed: Funnier than Mr Reynolds)

The Alternate Ending (1:23) sets up the premise of a possible future films in the Blade franchise with the Night stalkers.

A very long and sometimes unfunny collection of Bloopers (10:58) that could have been shorter as it seemed to go on and on. There are also two Galleries featuring Visual Effects Progressions & Weapons.

And rounding out the extras package are a group of Teaser & Theatrical trailers for Blade Trinity, Million Dollar Baby & Constantine. Sadly the InterActual Script to Screen viewer and a number of other DVD-ROM extras that are present on the Region 1 release aren’t included here.

What do you mean you didn't like Van Wilder?

Blade Trinity is a sequel that I usually refer to as a “utility sequel� where the main protagonist of the franchise is moved on or done away with paving the way for a new hero, or a group of them as is the case here. The younger Nightstalkers are the real stars of Trinity while Wesley is merely the dressing.

Still it is a good film but if you are big fan of the first two Blade movies where Wesley is the star, you may find this the poorest of the three in the franchise thus far.