The Shadow (1994)

In 1930s New York City, the Shadow battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan, who is building an atomic bomb.

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writers:

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

Stars:

Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alec Baldwin	...	Lamont Cranston / The Shadow
John Lone	...	Shiwan Khan
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Margo Lane
Peter Boyle	...	Moe Shrevnitz
Ian McKellen	...	Reinhardt Lane
Tim Curry	...	Farley Claymore
Jonathan Winters	...	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

Storyline

Based on the 1930's pulp fiction and radio drama series, the film pits the hero against his arch enemy, Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city ransom using an atom bomb. Using his powers of invisibility and "The power to cloud men's minds", the Shadow comes blazing to the city's rescue with explosive results.

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Plot Keywords:

villain | tough guy | hero | city | bomb | 

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Taglines:

The Shadow Knows!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

La sombra

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$32,055,248

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,055,248

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Bregman/Baer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 93 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in which The Shadow rescues Dr. Roy Tam on the bridge is taken, though slightly altered, from the opening of The Living Shadow, the first Shadow novel, in which The Shadow saves a man from suicide on the Brooklyn Bridge. This scene, in turn, resembles a scene from a Balzac novel with Balzac's rogue Vautrin.

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Goofs

When Margo Lane arrives to rescue The Shadow from the water tank, a distant shot shows no water leaking out of the bullet holes Farley Claymore made. But when she's right by the door, water can clearly be seen leaking out.

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Quotes

Dr. Reinhardt Lane: Oh what the heck, it's always green.
[starts to cut the red wire]
Margo Lane: NO!
[bomb deactivates, holds a green wire]
Margo Lane: That is red! THIS is green!

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Blown Away/Little Big League/I Love Trouble/The Shadow/Baby's Day Out/Wyatt Earp (1994)

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Soundtracks

ORIGINAL SIN (THEME FROM 'THE SHADOW')
Written, Produced and Arranged by Jim Steinman
Performed by Taylor Dayne
Courtesy of Arista Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Universal Ruined The DVD Of This Film

Before mentioning the story, I have to warn potential buyers of this DVD:

Universal Studios committed the unbelievable "sin" of photographing this in the original 1.85:1 widescreen but only offering it on DVD in formatted-to-TV, so you miss a good percentage of the great visuals. Not only that, they zoom the picture to fill the screen so it isn't sharp, either. I hope this situation is rectified. It's a disgrace.

As for the story, it's simply a very hokey-but very entertaining fantasy/adventure, based on the popular radio hero of the 1930s.

This is just pure escapism, not to be judged seriously because it's a dumb story. It's cartoon-like, an outlandish story that mixes action, comedy and a superhero with time-travel and all sorts of strange happenings. For someone who likes to gawk at the sights and sounds of the '30s and '40s, this is a fun film. The surround sound in here is fun, too, especially when The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) speaks.