Shadow Strikes!, The

Updated
 
9.4 (15)
4530 0 1 0 4

User reviews

15 reviews
 
93%
 
7%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.9(15)
Audio Editing
 
9.8(15)
Visual Editing
 
9.6(15)
Narrative
 
9.5(15)
Enjoyment
 
9.4(15)
Back to Listing
15 results - showing 1 - 5
1 2 3
Ordering
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Im a huge fan of this movie and to be able to watch it like a old school 1930s serial , was just absolutely amazing.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
N
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
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.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
L
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
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.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
bionicbob is not only a very active member of the fanediting community but a very prolific releaser of high quality edits of films that I often find near and dear.

It has been many a year since I last watched the original film, but I remember enjoying it on VHS more than once; and while it features a very well constructed plot that I often found vaguely reminiscent of the serial type adventure of the Indiana Jones entries from the 80s, it is elevated with some great production value and quite a good direction. But flawed by a shall we say, somewhat distracted performances from the leads actors and it suffers from a few excesses that thankfully Bob has remedied with this release:


A/V quality, I have to say I really enjoyed the Black and White treatment - it fits the time period, look and film of the movie perfectly. And with it, one of the 90s excesses I mentioned has been resolved in one fell swoop: the somewhat over the top coloring of the film is thankfully gone for good, and the experience is all the better for it.

The inclusion of classic radio clips as a framing device is a dead on way to introduce a character like the Shadow and the editing is completely seamless, and given that the original source is a years old DVD encode I applaud what has been accomplished on this edit.

However I did notice some slight stretching of the frame to the sides throughout the edit, and perhaps this is an issue of the original encode and not much can be done about it. - All in all a solid 9/10.


Visual Editing - Not a single noticeable cut, the whole edit flows completely unhindered and its quite enjoyable. As mentioned,I enjoyed the The B&W treatment quite a bit, and some added effects were added on top - scratches and marks here and there that I understand are meant to give a period piece look and feel, but felt just a tad too much at times (such as when Cranston is being driven by his loyal Cabbie associate/friend), nothing too hindering but I wish they'd be toned down juuust a little bit. 9/10

Audio Edition - In a word : perfect. As mentioned, some Radio clips were seamlessly added on top of a brand new credits sequence that fits perfectly with the edit; a very few scenes from the main feature were suppressed and I couldn't find a single noticeable change. 10/10

Narrative - The narrative from the original is pretty much intact, and it's a good thing; the quite flat tension release humor is completely gone and the most over the top scenes involving Lamont Cranston's dubious past were smartly trimmed down to show the audience what is necessary to follow the plot. 10/10

Enjoyment - A real pleasure, I enjoyed the experienced thoroughly for the reasons already exposed. 10/10

In shot, another not to be missed quality release from bionicbob, congrats :)

User Review

Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Bionic Bob has prevented a fanedit from ever being created.

Because The Shadow is one I had been considering to edit some day, and in a way that'd be very similar to this: B&W, cutting out bad humor, removing the opening. It wouldn't have been the exact same thing, but close enough.

However, The Shadow Strikes leaves me so happy that I no longer feel the need to do it myself. THIS is The Shadow for me now.

The original is, I think, a very mediocre movie, but with much to like in it: gorgeous production design and costumes, a cast of supporting players to die for, an amazing Jerry Goldsmith score, and of course the fact that it's about The Shadow. The original Batman! But it was weighed down by a weak script, stock Hollywood shoehorned humor, and uninvolved and uninvolving lead performances. I know Bob disagrees, but I find Baldwin wooden and dull in this role, and the attempted Nick and Nora dynamics fal flat because he and Penelope Ann Miller never achieve a millionth of the sparks Powell and Loy created. As such, I might have reduced that a bit for the edit. But the rest? Huge improvement overall. Removing the opening not only spares us the sight of Baldwin in a silly wig, but enhances the character by making him more mysterious, we don't exactly know how this Ying Ko was and why he is so legendary, which certainly beats presenting him as a skinny Jabba the Hutt cosplaying as Fu Manchu. And don't get me started about the one-liners. “Next time you get to be on top”? WHAT?

Being that this movies is the 1990s (expensive) equivalent to the 1930s and 40s (cheap) B-movies, it not only looks great in B&W but also gets an aesthetic that completely embraces its origins. I would have even gone more extreme in the contrast/brightness tweaking to make it more era-appropriate, but it's nice enough as it is. Extra features are a nice addition, particularly one of them gives us both a lot of great Shadow covers AND the removed Original Sin song! What's not to like?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'd love to live in a parallel universe in which Bionic Bob's edits play in drive-ins. They deliver exactly the kind of fun good B-movies are supposed to deliver. Thanks so much for making them!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
15 results - showing 1 - 5
1 2 3