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The Shadow

The Shadow

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good triumphs evil in an ultimate representation.
Review: You see Baldwin getting lessons from Tibet master that the good and evil comes down from the heart in battling the evil. And the good always wins out, and triumphs the darkness. Such great skill so attained by Baldwin later comes to use, and it continues the good deeds of mankind. Perfect acting skills by professional John Lone in creating a character that is "vividly evil", "larger than life", acurrately depicting what a great villain can be; and that, the villain has met his final challenge. Lone displays a modern version of Iago that he "must seduce the hero in joining him" -- the conquest of a new empire controlling the whole world. Great lessons come to display by Baldwin, and you see Baldwin refusing the temptation and returns mankind the righteousness. Quickly, you see Baldwin in mind controlling a piece of broken mirror in the final scene that ends the dream of a tyrant. Brilliant Special Effects, great direction, great music, exciting, hilarious, heroic, great acting skills by Lone, and clever script. Extremely entertaining. Buy the video.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 100% Pure Cheese...
Review: This movie is just full of cheesey-ness. From the acting to the sets, but it is one of those movies that you just have to watch. Over here in England, it has just been on TV and I watched it and was overcome by the sence to buy it. Even if you don't buy it, at least rent it (if it available), because it is one of those films that you love to hate, but can't help watching...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Handsome film, Little Story
Review: This faithful but lacking story based on the Shadow radio show of the 1930's was a waste of a good opportunity. Alec Baldwin plays the Shadow well, but the remaining cast which includes Tim Curry, a miscast Johanen Winters and John Loyne fail to deliver any credible performances what so ever, Penelope Ann Miller is pretty good however as the woman who falls in love with the Shadow and helps him to solve the crime, but the lack of story ultimately ruins what ever chance the film had to be great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wonderful movie
Review: The characters are just like in your mind if you think people can have extraordinary powers

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: True to the spirit
Review: THE SHADOW follows the spirit of the old radio show, if not the letter. Mr. Baldwin is just a little too handsome even when transformed into the caped crimefighter, but the evil that lurks within is well depicted. I especially liked the opening sequences, the back story of Lamont Cranston's brief existence in the Orient. As the story progresses, the monolithic art deco motif enhances and magnifies the scope and menace of Shiwan Khan's plot to destroy the city. Excellent camera work and a great effort to bring THE SHADOW to the screen.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DVD is Pan&Scan... what a waste!
Review: If you are a fan of old radio drama's and art deco styling, then you will love this film. Great music and visuals, and a decent story. The problem lies in the DVD print. Here again was a chance to utilize the DVD format to its utmost, but it failed from the start. I have seen more and more titles being released on DVD only to be a poor Pan&Scan transfer. It must just be the studio's trying to cash in on the new technology without having to do some actual work on producing a good product. This seems to be the same video transfer as the VHS version. So if you want to see this title in its best picture quality and in Widescreen format, you have to go with the Laserdisk issue, which is quite good.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This SHADOW knows nothing!
Review: THE SHADOW is another sad example of Hollywood taking a brilliant pop hero from another medium and blowing it. Walter Gibson's immortal pulp fictional character was a devilish cross between Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. A cloaked avenger who, despite his battles waged for the side of good, remained a mysterious enigma even to its readers. The more popular radio show depicted a more conventional detective hero- he merely rendered himself invisible to the human eye by way of tricky hypnosis - but the creepy flavor of the novels remained to a degree. Had the movie struck faithfully to one of Gibson's superbly crafted stories brimming with atmosphere, suspense, and, when needed, heart-pounding action, THE SHADOW could have been a clear cut winner. But NOOOO! Director Russell MulCahay and screenwriter David Koepp had to fall into that same miserable trap that has befallen many of today's filmmakers- the desire to update (i.e. "improve") and to litter the the 30's era story with a seemingly 90's hip swagger that, unfortunatly, ended up looking nothing more like camp- a lethal poison for this genre. Another problem is Alec Baldwin is all wrong for the part. While the actor gives it a good try he is just too "all-american" handsome and in no way resembles the hawked-nose, piercing-eyed avenger who graced the covers of the SHADOW magazines. The filmmakers tried to correct that problem by having Baldwin somehow morph into the character's look by way of make-up and special effects but the concept makes no sence. In my perfect world they should have cast someone who resembles the SHADOW - actor Alan Rickman (DIE HARD)comes to mind. Despite my rantings, the SHADOW has its moments (Jerry Goldsmith's thunderous music for one), but it could have been so much more. For now, were all better served by unearthing the old pulp stories. They were the stuff that a boy's dreams were made out of.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good movie hampered by limited DVD conversion
Review: I really liked the movie, even when it got too thin in the script department. The production was slick and maintained my interest during the whole movie. It is relatively short, and would be good at a party. Just don't expect the script quality of a Tim Burton's Batman movie.

The downside is that the DVD conversion was not that good. For example, I noticed that the French version had better visual quality than the English version, like during the intro, when the title "The Shadow" appears. I think this DVD is a direct-from-VHS copy. Not the best of all methods!

The features are quite limited. It is not even widescreen. No extra footage...

Frankly, you are better of buying the VHS version of this movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: As an experiment in purchasing a DTS disc:
Review: I give the single star not merely as a commentary on the film (it's so-so, nice to look at but uncompelling, could have been a lot better), but on the value I thought I got out of purchasing a DTS disc. In sum, not much.

Picture quality is great. However, it's pan-and-scan. If you're going to release a 'special edition' of this movie, I would have expected it in its theatrical format. Very uncool.

There are no extra goodies on the disc. None. I understand this is a consequence of DTS encoding, that doesn't leave any space to put things of this nature. Whatever the case, it's also lame.

The menuing system on the disc is extremely poor. The worst part is you have only one chance to choose DTS (and it isn't even chosen by default!), and that's when you insert the disc. If you want to step back out to the main menu and restart the movie with a different audio option, you have to actually eject the disc and restart. Also very poor.

The sound, of course, is just great. However, I'd have to say the best thing about the disc was the little DTS demo that plays right before the movie, the same one you see in theaters.

There were a lot of good positional effects with the audio (when the Shadow laughs as he moves circles around a room, particularly), but overall I didn't hear any clear redeeming quality over Dolby Digital on my particular system. I'd trade the disc in for a DD-only disc that was widescreen in a heartbeat. And if it had room for goodies, so much the better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not a Baldwin fan but
Review: I am not a Alec Baldwin fan but he was good as the Shadow. It's a fun movie.


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