Blood: The Last Vampire Blu-ray delivers stunning video and reference-quality audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
On the surface, Saya is a stunning 16-year old girl, but that youthful exterior hides the tormented soul of a 400 year-old "halfling." Born to a human father and a vampire mother, she has for centuries been a loner, obsessed with using her samurai skills to rid the world of vampires, all the while knowing that she herself can survive only on blood like those she
hunts. When she is sent to an American military base in Tokyo by the clandestine organization for whom she works, Saya immediately senses that this may be her opportunity to finally destroy Onigen, the evil patriarch of all vampires. Using her superhuman strength and her sword, she begins to rid the base of its evil infestation in a series of spectacular and elaborate showdowns. However, it is not until she forms her first human friendship in
centuries with the young daughter of the base's general that Saya learns her greatest power over Onigen may well be her ability to make a human connection...
A teenage Japanese girl in a school uniform, bloodsucking vampires, swords, explosions,
decapitations, any
number of physical impalements, slicing and dicing, and copious amounts of (bad CGI) blood;
Blood: The Last Vampire has everything a growing boy needs. For slightly more demanding
viewers, however, this Blood may prove too thin when it comes to what's behind the thick
veneer of blood-drenched, sword-wielding schoolgirl chaos. Slightly too
complex for a movie of this sort, not particularly interesting, and far less impressive than dozens of
other Vampire films out there, Blood: The Last Vampire makes for one of those
shoulder-shrugging "so what" sort of movies. It's not particularly bad, but it's not in the least bit
memorable, either. Sounds an awful lot like most other movies.
Saya is about to unleash a whole lot of CGI blood.
Young Vampire hunter Saya (Gianna Jun), herself half Vampire/half human, has joined forces
with "The Council," an organization bent on the elimination of bloodsuckers. Saya has her own
motivation, though; she seeks not to eliminate garden-variety Vamps but instead to hunt down
and destroy Onigen, a powerful Vampire responsible for the death of her father. While in her
pursuit of vengeance, The Council assigns her to infiltrate a high school located on a U.S. military
base outside of Tokyo. She discovers a nest of Vampires has infiltrated the school and saves the
General's daughter, Alice (Allison Miller), from certain death at the hands of two particularly
hateful Vampires. With Alice at her side, Saya continues to seek her revenge as she hacks apart
Vampires that stand between her and destiny.
Though Blood: The Last Vampire is based on the 2000 anime film of the same name, it's hard
not to think first and foremost of "Buffy Vampire Slayer." No, bloodsuckers don't turn to dust
when killed in Blood: The Last Vampire, and Blood and "Buffy" share little in
common outside the teenage girl vampire slayer angle, but as something of the genre's
standard-bearer, the "Buffy" comparison -- particularly with a film like Blood -- is
inevitable. What Blood lacks in wit, charm, a good story, and memorable characters (all
hallmarks of "Buffy"), it attempts to make up for in the copious amounts of blood that flows
freely from each of the seemingly countless gashing wounds seen in the film. The blood in
Blood looks so terribly fake and chunky in every shot that it lends to the film a more
cartoonish feel rather than delivering anything quite so graphic and realistic as to place it on the
same plane as a Saw movie, which is
where Blood: The Last Vampire seems to want to go.
Either that, or the decision was made somewhere along the line that it might be too much
for even gore hounds to handle if given a more realistic appearance. Regardless, the bad special
effects serve as a major distraction from the film, and every drop of blood draws attention away
from the story and towards the unattractive CGI that almost ruins most of the action scenes.
Still, Blood: The Last Vampire is fine for what it is, a modest Vampire film with a hook
that's already been done -- and done better -- but trying to up the ante with the aforementioned
splattering of blood. Nevertheless, in an age where the video game business seems on the verge
of one-upping Hollywood, where many games feature movie-quality story lines, and where the
line between what's real and what's digital is becoming more blurred with every new blockbuster
Playstation 3 release, it's hard not to see video game elements in Blood: The Last
Vampire. Though there's no movie tie-in, Blood seems tailor-made for the digital
realm. Perhaps the film's signature scene features Saya fighting off a horde of Vampires while
attempting to save Alice. Wave after wave of bloodsuckers come straight at Saya, and she strikes
them down seemingly ad infinitum. Finally, she reaches the point where she must contest with
a single, stronger being -- the "boss," so to speak -- for one of the film's more pivotal scenes. The
scene goes on and on and on, and
it's eerily reminiscent of something out of a video game that only asks of its players to mash on
the controller until either their character or all the enemies are dead. That's much of
Blood's problem.
It's fairly unoriginal, and what novelty there is is canceled out by sheer repetition and predictable
arcs. Through it all, however, Director Chris Nahon shows some promise behind the camera,
making good use of lighting and shadows for something of a noir-ish feel and demonstrating
some skill through several
wonderfully-composed shots. Likewise, lead actress Gianna Jun handles her character's
somewhat challenging arc well as a determined, emotionally scarred, and powerful warrior. On
the other hand, the remainder of the cast turn in stilted performances but don't drag the movie
down quite as badly as those awful special effects.
Blood: The Last Vampire shows its fangs through a film-like 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer.
Parts of the film take on a decidedly golden tint, while others are bathed in red. This isn't a
particularly dark film, but it does feature several nighttime and rain-drenched exteriors that tend to
look better than anything else found in the movie. Though the image appears just a bit soft in
some places, fine detail can be exceptional, too. Leaves on the forest floor in chapter 13 are colorful
and intricately detailed and superbly rendered to the point that viewers (should they be so inclined),
could pause the disc and count them. A nighttime downtown scene in chapter four reveals
seemingly every drop of rainwater on a wet street and each bead that glistens off a black car; signs
and other objects along a strip of shops are sharp and clear, and the image enjoys a nice sense of
depth in the shot. Such observations hold true for much of the movie. It's deep, clear, sharp, and
generally wonderfully detail. Faces can occasionally appear more devoid of texture and detail than
other objects, but close-ups -- particularly those of Kato -- do reveal fine lines and hairs nicely.
Flesh tones appear generally neutral, blacks are inky and true, and a fine veneer of film grain
rounds out a handsome 1080p transfer from Sony.
Blood: The Last Vampire slices into Blu-ray with a robust and reference quality DTS-HD
MA
5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is the stuff listeners with big sound systems crave; every action
scene delivers loud but clearly-delineated sound effects that transform the living room into one of
several combat zones. The opening subway scene places listeners in the middle of the rumbling
car as it rattles about while zooming down the track, and several exterior shots feature the train
zipping on by as clearly as if the listener were standing on the platform. Surround speakers are
fully utilized here and throughout, delivering both discrete effects and supportive atmospherics
while carrying part of the musical load, too. Gunshots in chapter 10 buzz through the
soundstage and are accompanied by a powerful thudding sensation that works the subwoofer and
reverberates through the chest. The low end works even harder during a particularly hard-hitting
chase scene in chapter 14, as well as during the film's climactic confrontation; the bass thumps
not as a jumble of undefined roars but with a precision that rivals some of the best soundtracks
on the market. The track also excels in its delivery of more subtle, supportive atmospherics.
Whether a jet flying high above the high school in one scene, appearing and gradually
disappearing on either side of the soundstage, or background chatter inside a restaurant in
chapter nine, the track is up to any task -- big or small, loud or subtle -- that the movie can
possibly throw at it. Also featuring startlingly clear musical cues (Edwin Starr's "War" and Chuck
Berry's "You Never Can Tell" never sounded this good) and pitch-perfect dialogue reproduction,
Blood: The Last Vampire's lossless soundtrack does its part in making a mediocre movie
all the more enjoyable.
Blood: The Last Vampire carves out but a few extras for consumption. The Making of
'Blood: The Last Vampire' (480p, 19:07) methodically moves down the list of primary cast as
they share their thoughts on their characters and, later, on one another. The piece is intercut
with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the film. Battling Demons: Behind
the Stunts (480p, 16:48) features a more in-depth look at the work behind the special
effects, emphasizing the wire stunts utilized throughout. This disc also features storyboard
galleries (1080p) for three scenes: Gym Fight Sequence, Powell Chase
Sequence, and Monk Fight Sequence. Rounding out this collection of extras is BD-
Live
functionality and 1080p trailers for Moon, District 9, The Informers, The Sky Crawlers,
Underworld: Rise of the
Lycans, Resident Evil:
Degeneration, What Doesn't Kill
You, The Da Vinci Code,
Casino Royale, and
Close Encounters of the Third
Kind.
A decent but unremarkable film, Blood: The Last Vampire features competent execution,
fine acting from its lead character, a generic but passable story, and terrible special effects.
Vampire film aficionados won't find anything of much relevance here, special
effects enthusiasts will walk away disappointed, but the film's target audience -- young teenage
boys -- will probably enjoy it as a slice of mindless entertainment. Sony's Blu-ray release of
Blood: The Last Vampire is of typical Sony quality, delivering strong high definition picture
and sound presentations, accompanied by a few extras. The technical quality is good enough to
warrant a purchase for fans, but all others are advised to rent first.
Director Michael Bay makes films for only one person: Michael Bay. For critics,
his films provoke philosophical discussions on whether an excess of
entertainment value can outweigh a lack of artistic value. But for fans who
share his love for over-the-top ...
British studio Manga has announced that it will release 'Blood: The Last Vampire' on Blu-ray on October 12. This is the original anime film which served as inspiration for a live-action movie (also announced on Blu-ray in the UK and the US for October). Audio options ...
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