The Shadow (1994)

[Tg11]

Leonardo DiCaprio as the new Shadow, here is hoping they cast him because he would be believable as Cranston

 

[The Face]

For those of you who do not know The Shadow is a character first created in the 1930s that is debateably considered the first superhero ever. He was a masked crime fighter with a pair of revolvers and psychic abilities who existed in pulp novels and radio shows (read by none other then Orson Welles) with the occasional appearance in old serials and more recently in revival comics from Dynamite and the lot.
A Shadow movie exists. It came out in 1994 and was directed by Russel Mulcahy (the director of Highlander). Alec Baldwin played the titular role, John Lone played the antagonist Shiwan Khan with Ian Mckellen and Tim Curry in supporting roles.
I love the movie; it combines elements of the novels and the radio shows to create a movie that celebrates the shadow as a whole, it's well scored, well acted, well shot (there are quite a few shots in the movie that make you go 'Oh yeah. This is the Highlander director'), decent action, humour, a well written romantic lead, the period setting gives it a classy edge, the antagonistic relationship between Shiwan Khan and The Shadow is great and feels a little bit like Highlander or Scanners in that it deals with a group of beings who have to exist in secret alongside humanity despite having the power to destroy them. The movie also nails how menacing the shadow is without making him to much of an anti-hero. This film is one of my all-time favourite superhero movies.
All that being said why does no one like this movie?
The film underperformed at the box office and to this day the general consensus is neutral to negative, the movie ranks 6.0 on IMDB and only has a 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film does have a cult following but they seem few and far between and I rarely run into them. I can understand why people don't like 'The Phantom' (even though I do) but the general attitude to this movie confuses me.
Do you like the film? If you do why? If you don't then why not? I'm really curious.

 

[Batmannerism]

yeah, that film should have been great. Solid actors, decent special effects (for the time) and action.

The real problem was editing - the movie was put together in such a way that it made very little sense, it jumped from scene to scene and place to place.

There were some good ideas in there, but executed poorly IMO.

Cheers.

 

[flickchick85]

The Shadow was my favorite movie as a kid. I watched it ALL THE TIME. I recognize now as an adult that it's not particularly good, but I'll always have a soft spot for it anyway.

 

[Fincher]

I haven't seen it in a long time, but when I did I found it pretty borderline. Like The Rocketeer, it did well in terms of atmosphere and having a beautiful female lead, but the story was kind of by-the-numbers.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Thread

I love the movie.

 

[The Face]

Thread

I love the movie.

 

[ThePhantasm]

 

[ThePhantasm]

 

[Spider-Aziz]

The Shadow knows.

 

[ThePhantasm]

not sure why the image sizes got messed up... all the gifs are supposed to be the same size

 

[Mightmitenot]

I loved it when it came out, still do. One of Baldwin's better films, and 'the world's slowest telepathy' and 'in the corner of my eye invisibility' were superb cinematic effects.

The only objection I had was the science of the bad guy's plan. You don't need to irradiate a beryllium sphere. Beryllium in and of itself is a class 1 carcinogen. And late 30s medicine was over matched against it. A dirty bomb of Beryllium dust would kill a lot of New Yorkers.

 

[Mightmitenot]

I've never read the Shadow comics or listened to the old radio show, but the movie was the first incarnation of the character to have super powers, right? I wonder if a new film (or TV series a la Mad Men, which might be the best way to go with this) will feature a Shadow who is just a normal guy.

Free episodes on you tube.Orson Welles as The Shadow and Agnes Morehead as Margo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzNDvRwroU

 

[Mightmitenot]

As bad as I thought Zane was as The Phantom, I'll say this for him. Treat Williams was a BAZILLLLLLLLLION times worse as the villain. That might have been the campiest performance of all time.

"UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNBEEEEEELLLLLIIIIIIEEEEEEVVVVAAAABBBLLLLLE!!!!

Catherine Zeta Jones role as the aviatrix was pure badass.

 

[Travesty]

The only objection I had was the science of the bad guy's plan. You don't need to irradiate a beryllium sphere. Beryllium in and of itself is a class 1 carcinogen. And late 30s medicine was over matched against it. A dirty bomb of Beryllium dust would kill a lot of New Yorkers.

 

[3dman27]

nice work

 

[ThePhantasm]

thanks

 

[The Face]

Yeah! Great to find more Shadow fans! I think it's a severely underrated film and one of my favourite superhero films.

 

[The Face]

What about Tim Curry, and that living knife thing..

I kind of liked the interplay between Baldwin and Lone. And rarely do you see a charismatic asian villain.

I like their rivalry, it reminds me of the kinda Doctor vs. other Timelords or Scanners, these beings who have the power to make mankind grovel at their feet and they are split between two factions; those who want to rule and those who want t ouse their power for good.
Another movie that does this is 'Highlander' which was also directed by Russell Mulcahy who directed this film.

 

[The Face]

I love this scene, The Shadow has reached the height of his powers and there's a moment when you see a clear look of sadness in his eyes as he realises that this is the only way to take out Shiwan Khan.
Brilliant stuff.

 

[The Face]

They could do something like Masks (Dynamite comic book).

I'd sell my family into slavery for that movie.
t:
Dynamite Comics has to rights to tons of Golden Age and Pulp heroes, why don't they strike a deal with some studio? Universal doesn't have any Cinematic Universes right now (except for their monsters but that seems kind slow out of the gate right now) they could forge an alliance and create a kind of period superhero cinematic universe.
It would be awesome!

 

[The Face]

Yeah, I definitely like Baldwin's Shadow better than Beatty's Dick Tracy. To me, the movie's only major flaw is just that they go a little overboard with the supernatural and fantastical stuff in it. I love the atmosphere that they created but I wanted it to feel a little more old-time gangster and a little less ancient Chinese epic. Still a fun movie though. Shame it didn't do well because I would have definitely watched the sequel(s).

I think all the supernatural, fantastic and ancient chinese epic stuff is what has helped the movie age well. These elements make the movie stand out amoungst all the modern superhero films. Not saying it's better then all these modern movies (OK maybe a few) but it makes it a bit more distinct.

 

[def28]

The Shadow was my favorite movie as a kid. I watched it ALL THE TIME. I recognize now as an adult that it's not particularly good, but I'll always have a soft spot for it anyway.

Yeah, I watched this movie all the time growing up as well.

Not very many options sadly when it comes to good pulp comic flicks. The 90s gave them some love though.

 

[The Shape]

I love The Shadow, and I've actually been reading a lot of Shadow comic book collections lately from various runs. Despite some deviances, the movie got so much right and really nailed the tone. When reading them, I can only picture Baldwin's voice as The Shadow.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I love The Shadow, and I've actually been reading a lot of Shadow comic book collections lately from various runs. Despite some deviances, the movie got so much right and really nailed the tone. When reading them, I can only picture Baldwin's voice as The Shadow.

same here

i really wish it had performed well enough to get a sequel