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The Shadow

The Shadow

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

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: They Think He's A Genius In France
Review: Alec, you said it and the money has been offer. Leave this country now and take your rotten movies with you. You never know, they may appreciate you in France.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: where's the widescreen????
Review: A prayer to the powers that be; PLEASE, get these movies out in letterboxed version. As Linus said in charlie Brown's Christmas (when he was looking at the poor little Christmas tree that Charlie Brown got) "This isn't such a bad little movie". This movie deserves better then this. It's fun, moody and a real homage to the radio drama of the past. The movie gets a 3 and a half. The studio gets a one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Shadow:Unseen and underated
Review: It's a shame more people won't see this really good adaptation of the great pulp magazine hero, The Shadow. Perhaps it's low character recognition among younger viewers or the lack of sci-fi special effects, a la Star Wars, that fails to attract viewers, but it's definitely worth a look.

Mostly an adventure story with a healthy dash of mysticism, the DVD successfully captures the atmosphere of New York in the 30's and the feel of the Maxwell Grant stories. Peter Boyle and Jonathan Winters are great in their respective characters and Alec Baldwin makes a surprisingly good Lamont Cranston/The Shadow.

In fact, Lamont Cranston's alter ego of The Shadow is almost secondary. When he is seen at all, it's more of a glimpse (he is The Shadow after all) rather than a Daredevil-like in your face appearance throughout the movie. This story-telling technique makes the character much more exciting and is reminiscent of the 1950's Superman and Zorro stories. The plot first establishes the urgent need for the hero and when he finally does appear it's with a vengeance.

The plot could have been a little tighter in places. Margo Lane, the love interest and confidant of The Shadow, was a bit underdeveloped and could have been deeper but this is a minor complaint and the story still works. The oriental gentleman (I apologize for not being able to remember his name)whom The Shadow rescues in the beginning becomes an agent for The Shadow's network and although he's seen again later in the story, remains an underdeveloped element. I personally liked his character and was disappointed when he didn't figure more prominently in the plot.

But all in all these are minor weaknesses and if you liked the Phantom and the Rocketeer, you will definitely enjoy The Shadow. I only wish the movie had been more popular so there could have been a sequel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Shadow still lives
Review: The Shadow is the perfect super power ability and I honestly mean that. The Shadow can cloud the human mind making him able to find villains and make the police not hate him. Oh yes there is also the fact that he can turn into a shadow! That's right he has the ability to sneak up on you when you least expect it, he has the ability to cling to the wall like a black shadow and torment his enemies, and also is a good marksman. But one draw back is that he can be wounded even when he is the Shadow. This movie is great fun, now when I first heard of the Shadow, which wasn't that long ago, I thought he was guy on the street signs that say neighborhood watch on them. He wasn't but he dose look like him? Anyway after the world war one allied solider stayed in a jungle and became a murder, blood sucking, no heart, no soul, bad guy (Alec Baldwin). In his land everyone who heard his name feared it, but one night he was kidnapped from his bed and brought to the middle of nowhere. The men who took him say they are taking him to a temple, and when they get there he sees nothing. They tell him the human mind can be clouded very easily, and before his eye's a giant and spectacular temple appears out of nowhere! Inside the man meats another man with strange powers, he can read his prisoners thoughts and vanish as well. He tells his prisoner that he has the ability to do the same and says he will teach him how too. Years latter the man goes back to New York to hunt evil villains down and mess with their minds and make them turn insane. He is the Shadow! I hope you enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fun thriller to watch in the shadows.
Review: i finely got my copy of the shadow & well i have to say where is the extras? i wish it would've been widescreen i mean how hard could it be. the dts sound is great but it could a little more juice in the mix . besides that it's a good decent transfer of the film not bad , the cast does a wonderful job if you're into comic books, old drama radio broadcasts of the 40's & 30's, 50's then this for you. i love this film the sets & special effects are excellent.

Highly recommended For 13 & over .

this film rating is because, it being extemely violent in couple of scenes this not for little children.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Deserves More Recognition
Review: If you haven't seem this movie, I urge you to check it out. It has some flaws, I admit. Alec Baldwin is a movie star, not an actor -- other reviewers have said the script doesn't give him much to work with, but I believe it's just the opposite. There are lines he just doesn't know how to deliver, but for the most part, he does okay. The subplot about the Shadow's tortured past is unnecessary and detracts from the story. The idea of the Shadow as a villian turned hero is a piece of revisionism that comes, I believe, from some comics published in the 1970's. Most of the movie stays faithful to the Shadow of the 1930's, however, and when it does, it hits square on. The scene on the bridge is a classic. I consider this one of the best superhero adaptations available on DVD. The only one I'd rate higher is Batman The Animated Series -- *not* the Tim Burton Batman films. (When a friend of mine watched this film and saw the Shadow's Sanctum, he said, "That's what the Batcave *should* have looked like!")

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I found this movie entertaining, much more so than The Phantom. While this movie may appear to be beneath the capabilities of a star like Alec Baldwin I think this movie was a "modern" attempt to make a movie similar to the ones people used to make. There is camp, some effects shots aren't the best, etc. but I think this was by design. If you're into that style of movie, which I'm not very often, you might enjoy this one. I found the story entertaining and the movie too as a break from the usual and a little bit of a throwback.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shadow in the service of Light
Review: I would have watched this film just for the great art deco sets. As it turned out, the story is also pretty faithful to the original vision on the radio and in the pulps.

This is the story of the transformation of Lamont Cranston. The film first picks up his history while he is living the decadent and violent life of a warlord, running guns and drugs, somewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas in the '20's. My only real complaint with the script is that it should have focused more on the hell and disillusionment that Cranston went through on the battle fields of WWI that led to this state. Yet, inspite of the black depths to which he has fallen, Cranston attracts the attention of the secret Brotherhood of Tibet (or is it Shambhalla?) A Master reforges and retrains Cranston to become a weapon against corruption and evil. He is perfect for this role, having sunk to those depths himself. He is taught to recognise and discipline the darkness inside himself and use it as a weapon. He is truly Shadow transformed into the service of Light. The masters then send him back, like a phurba dagger, into the heart of evil in the modern world- New York City.

Cranston uses his powers to both cloud the minds of men- and to see through the illusions spun by others. He builds a secret network of operatives (those whose lives that he has saved) to aid him in his crusade. As the Shadow, he plays expertly on the superstition, fear, and guilt of the criminal element. Yet, when the situation demands it, he recognises the simple effectiveness of a matched pair of good old .45's.

I thought Peter Boyle was especially good as the secret operative/cab driver. He acts with the enthusiasm a kid living out a childhood fantasy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Faithful to the spirit of The Shadow...
Review: As a lifelong fan of The Shadow's radio broadcasts (even though I was too young to hear them when they first aired), I was extremely interested in seeing the big-screen treatment of the unseen crime-fighter. Despite a couple of brief lulls in the action, the film is more than faithful to the spirit of the radio series. In fact, it maintains the same air of suspense that made the radio's Shadow one of the greatest and best-loved programs of the Golden Age. Alec Baldwin is perfect as Lamont Cranston/ The Shadow, and does his best to keep the two personas separate. Likewise, Penelope Ann Miller is a delicious Margo Lane, and a fitting counterpart to Baldwin's Cranston. And John Lone's sinister Shiwan Khan is as formidable and grisly a foe as Cranston ever encountered over the airwaves.

Sadly, The Shadow's inability to gain a big-screen following should have come as no surprise. After two decades on the radio, the show was cancelled with little fanfare. A few attempts to immortalize the stories on the big screen in the late 40s and early 50s fell flat. And, while most of the popular Golden Age shows made the leap to the small screen, The Shadow was never able to work his mind control through TV. Many viewers will find this superhero difficult to embrace. Somehow, a man who uses no special gadgetry, who has not been altered genetically and who cannot fly seems distant to the average movie-goer.

To fans of the genre, and likely to fans of film noir, this Shadow will prove more than entertaining. It contains all of the suspense and drama that used to be the hallmark of good storytelling and great detective mysteries. And for a couple of short hours, you might just find yourself transported back to a Golden Age, spellbound by a faceless, mysterious voice and once again believing in justice.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: GOOD BUT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER
Review: Let me say that I am a huge fan of the Shadow and have been for years. On the heels of the first couple of Batman Movies, the Shadow (which Bob Kane used in part as an influence in creating Batman) should have been a much bigger and better movie.

I'm not an Alec Baldwin fan, but I thought he did a decent job as the Shadow. I also thought the filmmakers did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of the 1930's.

Unfortunately the plot, as often happens in genre movies, is way over the top. The Shadow battles a modern day descendent of Genghis Khan who has the same powers as the Shadow. And of course, the producers could not resist tampering with the origin of the character...as if he hadn't survived some 70 years for nothing.

Why do producers of comic-book type movies ALWAYS think they are smarter than the creators of the characters.

At any rate, there's enough good about this movie to warrant 3 stars. The DVD is disappointing, though. Here's hoping a special edition is on the horizon.


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