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23rd August 2023
10:07am BST
Film fans have been heaping praise on Blade, hailing it as being "way ahead of its time" and having an opening scene that has "never been matched."
There's an argument to be made that Stephen Norrington's 1998 gothic vampire superhero paved the way for a lot of the superhero films that are loved by millions today.
The film is about the Marvel Comics superhero Blade, played by Wesley Snipes. Blade is a Dhampir, a human with all the strengths of a vampire and none of the weaknesses. He uses his powers for good, and actually fights against vampires.
Although the film was a box office success and grossed $70m in the US, it got a mixed reception from critics at the time.
However as time has gone on it's developed a cult following.
In particular, the film’s opening sequence has come in for praise by fans.
As Blade infiltrates a vampire-owned club in LA, human blood starts to pour down from the building's sprinklers, leaving the human party-goers terrified.
Blade to springs into action, and as 'Confusion' by New Order plays, he slays the vampires.
The scene is as fantastic as it sounds, and as the film celebrates its 25th anniversary, fans took to social media to give it some love.
One person wrote: “Happy 25th Anniversary to the legendary BLADE and happy anniversary to one of the greatest opening scenes in film history.”
Another penned: “25 years ago today, we got this absolute banger of an opening with BLADE.”
A third said: “The opening sequence for Blade has never been matched.”
While another shared: “I've said that for years... the opening five minutes of 1998's BLADE needed to be expanded into a full-length action movie.
"The opening fight sequence was paced and choreographed so well! The rest of the movie paled by comparison. You could say I'm a small fan of 1998's BLADE…"
Meanwhile, Tom Nicholson wrote for Empire Magazine that the film "looks a couple of decades ahead of its contemporaries."
"It anticipates not just the techno-goth stylings and cyber-paranoia of The Matrix, but the box office juggernaut which Marvel – and this is a Marvel film, let’s not forget – would turn into," he wrote.
Fans have a Blade reboot to look forward to as well, although it sounds like it could be a while before it hits screens.
The reboot was first announced in July 2019, with Luke Cage star Mahershala Ali set to play the iconic vampire killer.
Reports have also suggested that The Boys actor Antony Starr could play Dracula.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, production was meant to start in Atlanta in July this year, but the writers strike has put this on hold.
The outlet reported that production will restart once the strike has finished.
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