The Shadow (1994)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writers (WGA):

Walter B. Gibson (character The Shadow from stories)
David Koepp (written by)

Release Date:

1 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

The Shadow Knows!

Plot:

In 30's New York City, the Shadow battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan, who is building an atomic bomb.

Plot Keywords:

City | Bomb | The Shadow | New York City | 1930s

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Lamont Cranston / The Shadow
John Lone	...	Shiwan Khan
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Margo Lane
Peter Boyle	...	Moe Shrevnitz
Ian McKellen	...	Dr. Reinhardt Lane
Tim Curry	...	Farley Claymore
Jonathan Winters	...	Wainwright Barth
Sab Shimono	...	Dr. Tam
Andre Gregory	...	Burbank
Brady Tsurutani	...	Tulku
James Hong	...	Li Peng
Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad	...	Wu
Joseph Maher	...	Isaac Newboldt
John Kapelos	...	Duke Rollins
Max Wright	...	Berger

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence.

Runtime:

108 min | Canada:93 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-14 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Germany:12 (video rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Bregman/Baer Productions

Trivia:

The Shadow (originally played by James La Curto, and then famously by Frank Readick) made his debut on radio in 1931, as the third-person narrator of mystery stories on Street & Smith's Detective Story Hour. When fans of the show wrote in asking for adventures starring The Shadow himself, Street & Smith hired Walter Gibson, a magician and former ghost writer for Harry Houdini, to write a monthly series of pulp mystery novels. The Shadow Magazine ran until 1949, and was the most successful pulp series ever. Beginning in 1937, The Shadow starred in his own radio show, originally featuring Orson Welles as Lamont Cranston and Agnes Moorehead as Margo Lane. Other actors later played The Shadow on the radio show, which ran until 1955.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Khan causes a sailor to climb over the security fence and jump from the Empire State Building committing suicide. The movie is set in the 1930s. The fence was not added until 1947.

Quotes:

Dr. Roy Tam: I guess you would call it an implosive-explosive sub-molecular device.
Lamont Cranston: Or an Atomic Bomb.
Dr. Roy Tam: Hey, that's catchy.

Movie Connections:

References The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Soundtrack:

REMEMBER

The definitive Superhero movie!

Many people would not agree with the maximum rating being awarded to this film. I should agree with them, the one reason I don't is that you can clearly see this film attempted to be great in all areas. I feel sorry for them, they carried the story well and related back to a lot from the original stories. They would have succeeded if it weren't for the fact that they made a couple of casting errors. The lead hero and villain were good, Tim Curry always boosts a film and the female wasn't that bad really. The rest should have been reconsidered, however. Sir Ian McKellen is capable of so much more than he delivered, which is surprising. Even so, he should not have been chosen for that role. The one problem this film really has is that it chose to use a character created in times when there weren't any heroes really. It is nearly impossible to understand these times and therefore the impact of the character was lost on the audience this time around. It is a real shame, because the shot of The Shadow at the top of the stairs in the hotel is one of the best you will find of any hero in film. If you are aware of the original Shadow articles, this film will probably already be in your collection. It does a great job and should not have flopped to the extent it did. I would strongly encourage anyone considering watching this film to rent it. If you like the superhero genre, which is on the rise, you will love this film. Cliché, yes, but true.