The Shadow

Rating:
Summary: I love this film "BUT"
Review: Well folks, I Have to say that inspite of the bad press this movie recieved I love it to bits! What isnt there to like, You get the good Guy , the bad guy, The babe,and the great sound effects.

The only thing that may stop you buying this, Is the fact that This is Pan & Scan only, Unless you are living in the UK.

So I urge you all to buy a bag of popcorn,And turn of your brains and enjoy a movie for what it is meant to Be, "pure entertainment".

[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: It's not too bad
Review: I saw the shadow and liked it well enough. I thought Alec Baldwin was the wrong choice for Lamont Cranston. The plots drags in some spots, it's made up for with great effects.

Rating:
Summary: Why no WideScreen???
Review: I have seen the movie several times on the big cable providers (ie. HBO, Showtime, etc). I just can't believe that there is a movie company out there that still refuses to sell all of their movies in widescreen!! Particularly when using the DVD media! I refuse to buy any movie filmed in greater than 4x3 (ie. widescreen) on DVD or VHS until it is available in widescreen! I really liked this movie, otherwise. Alec Baldwin was subdued enough to keep my interest. And the plot, while farfetched by today's standards, fits right in with the style of the original radio drama. I give it two stars only because of the standard format.

Rating:
Summary: Why not Widescreen?
Review: I simply cannot recommend this DVD because of the full screen, pan-and-scan format; too much is lost. The special FX & gothic look could really be great if only the DVD was offered in letterbox format. Wait for a widescreen version... then buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Close but no cigar
Review: Although arguably the best film adaptation of The Shadow character to date, this production is still a misguided attempt to translate the famed radio and pulp hero to the screen. Though visually stunning, the film suffers from a poor script full of holes and bizarre leaps in logic, and direction which shifts awkwardly between camp and a serious period adventure piece. There is no personal connection between the characters and the audience and consequently we don't care about any of them. The one character who should serve as our "eyes and ears" on screen, Margo Lane, is provided with mental telepathy, which sets her apart from the audience. Overall, as a fan of the radio and pulp incarnations of The Shadow, I was disappointed with the film.

Rating:
Summary: Loveable camp -- in PAN & SCAN
Review: I think this film is a wondeful bit of campy fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and almost the entire cast approach their roles with a great mix of over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek just right for that old radio pulp drama flavor. It's nicely mixed with liberal doses of comedy and has some good one-liners. Great fun, if not great art.

Just be warned, if you are a widescreen snob (like I am), this DVD is PAN & SCAN only. I wasn't careful and overlooked that fact when I bought it. There was much teeth-grinding when I discovered my error. It's an injustice to this film, which has a number of lavish and monolthic sets and scenes (the hotel, the Himalayan mountains, LaMont's mansion, and the 'there to there' scene atop the Empire State Building, to name a few), not to show it in widescreen.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Pulp is Classic Fun
Review: The Shadow is one of those under-rated gems that deserved much better than what it got during it's intital release. Alec Baldwin does a solid job in portraying the mysterious avenger of the night, while Penelope Ann Miller and Peter Boyle provide solid support and humor as his faithful agents. John Lone is a well rounded, urbane, yet savage villian. Overall, the mood is very true to the Shadow's pulp origins, while providing just enough humor to keep it from being over-blown. One of the best films in the "super-hero" genre. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: The Shadow is a terrible movie. There's no other way to put it. It's ineptly directed, horrible acted, features cheesy special effects, and has some truly lame action sequences. Definitely a must miss.

Rating:
Summary: Feast Your Eyes
Review: Oscars are apparently only given to art directors of successful movies, so this one lost out. Never mind. The production's gorgeous. The costume designer also has a field day, not only with Mongol warriors, and Lamont Cranston's dinner clothes but swathing Penelope Ann Miller in velvets and satins. This skillful comic actress has never looked so luscious. The movie doesn't succeed ultimately because too much of the action's meaningless and badly paced. It's best when it captures the thirties' breathless fascination with hypnotism and the far east...even when we get such howlers as "The Opium Fields of Tibet". I enjoyed it in spite of itself.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie that's even more enjoyable with DTS sound.
Review: The Shadow is a crimefighter that uses his ability to "cloud" minds to confuse and strike fear into criminals (his chrome .45s help him out with his crime fighting efforts as well). He also uses his ability to recruit the victims of the crimes, so they can help him with his crime-fighting efforts. I thought this movie was written well and had excellent sets and special effects. The casting in this movie was done well. Alec Baldwin was perfect as the Shadow and Penelope Ann Miller was perfect as the love interest who had her own powers of persuasion. I think the critics were a little tough on their reviews of this one, paying more attention to the art deco styling than the plot.

I decided to purchase the DTS sound version of the movie since I remeber the movie having great sound effects that were muted in the VHS version. To my surprise, the sound in the DTS version was actually BETTER than in the movie theater. You can hear the Shadow's laugh circle around the room, like you're actually there. The movie gets five stars. The DVD as a whole gets 4 stars because I felt that the movie would be even better if it was in the original widescreen format. At the time this DVD was made, the DTS encoding took up most of the avalable space so there were no extras on this. Unfortunately, Universal has not made any announcements to re-realease this now that DVDs can hold more information.