Shadow Strikes!, The

The Shadow Knows.... this is a great edit! Removing the beginning origin scene and getting rid of the forced humor not only makes The Shadow more mysterious and intimidating, but it also saves us from Alec Baldwin's silly long wig! Learning about Lamont's dark past later on in the film instead of the beginning also improves the narrative, as we see him as a hero first and the extent of his criminal past comes as a surprise when Shiwan Khan reveals it to the audience.

While I miss the saturated colors of the original, the conversion to b&w gives it a fun pulp noir vibe, like it came right out of the era the Shadow originated from.

This is the definitive version of "The Shadow " for me. Highly recommended.

Im a huge fan of this movie and to be able to watch it like a old school 1930s serial , was just absolutely amazing.

A great take on this fun, underrated, gem of a movie. The new opening sets up the main character much better. Now we only find out later in the story, appropriately through a nightmare, how disturbing the Shadow's past is. The black and white works really well, though I love the richly saturated colors of the original. The "reel changes" are a clever way to set the tone of old, worn film without forcing us to watch the entire movie that way. In all a great success.
Despite the improvements, this movie remains flawed. Much better than the clunky story of Doc Savage (1975), it falls short of nostalgia for the 1930s of The Rocketeer (1991). But for fans of The Shadow, there's no alternative (until the if-wishing-made-it-so animated feature in the style of W.M. Kaluta using Orson Welles' voice from the salvaged radio plays!).
While not a perfect replacement for the original, I find myself watching this version more often than the color original.

I saw this one in the theater and loved it right away. The movie is a solid throwback with some minor pacing flaws and a few weak jokes. BionicBob realizes this and simply makes minor cuts to make a good movie even better. I did not notice any editing flaws and the pacing has been improved and feels great. It's just a tighter and better movie now.

My only complaint is a personal one and I'm even conflicted on it: the use of black and white. BionicBob was trying to make this seem like a movie right out of the 50's so black and white works fine, but the problem is that the movie also looks great in color. The scientist being colorblind also does not work so well in black and white.

That being said, the edit is great and I highly recommend it.

It took me a long time to finally see the theatrical version of The Shadow. For some reason it always looked like a poor knock-off of Burton’s Batman which had jumped on the bandwagon and arrived too late. In fact, it was only when I heard Bob was lending his skills to a fanedit, that I finally picked up the DVD to watch it.

My fears were partly confirmed by viewing the normal cut. Perhaps not necessarily in the “Burton Batman” comparison, but whilst I enjoyed certain aspects of the movie such as the excellent production design and Jerry Goldsmith’s majestic score, director Russell Mulcahy struggles to consistently engage the viewer with too many moments coming across as flat and rather uninspiring. Some of the blame must also lay with David Koep’s average script.

However, Bob’s said intention to inject some life into the film, to bring out the best elements was more than enticing enough to make me want to see The Shadow Strikes!

Firstly, the change to black and white does absolute wonders for the film. Whether it’s because the film noir style lends itself naturally to the old fashioned “serial” feel of The Shadow character, or just that it gives the film a little more gravitas, I’m not entirely sure.

There’s little doubt that the film benefits from an injection of urgency too. Some expert invisible cutting is evident here, creating a Shadow which feels more energetic and fun. Granted, the original cut was not particularly over long in its running time, but it had the feeling of a film dragging its heels – never a good thing. Thankfully, Bob has eradicated this problem, even managing to make Baldwin more convincing in the title role.

Granted, the film still has problems. It still can’t quite leap off the screen at you with the kind of vibrance or excitement which you so desperately want it to have. However, Bob’s version is a vast improvement and unquestionably is now my “go to” version. The Shadow Strikes, indeed! ;)