Shadow Strikes!, The

The Shadow Strikes takes what was, unfortunately, a mediocre treatment of one of the greatest fictional characters of the early 20th century, and makes it a very engaging watch. This may be the ideal way to watch this movie!

This edit has succeeded in improving The 1994 Shadow movie by tightening up the narrative, removing most of the awful dialogue and increasing pacing into something that is a much more enjoyable film. The original cut was never going to be what The Shadow deserves. This edit polishes the film into something that even Walter B. Gibson, The Shadow's creator, would be proud of.

By transferring the film to black and white and removing a lot of the nonsensical one-liners and unneccesary attempts at humor, this edit offers a pulp-noir experience, closer to the original magazine stories. Everytime I have seen the original cut I wince in many places, and wonder what the screenwriter was thinking. In many places the film feels like the screenwriter didn't know what to write, so he put in weird dialogue and gave the audience a series of strange scenes that don't make for an engaging experience. What I think this film does is trim out nearly all of the bad bits and gives us what the film should have been. Could this edit have been in color? Sure, but that's not what the editor was going for. By making this edit feel like a movie serial, the editor has demonstrated that he understands The Shadow and understands how a pulp-noir world is supposed to work.

A very well done and thoughtful effort.

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.

The Shadow Strikes!
Bionic Bob edit

A slew of retro movies came out in the 90s, doubtless inspired by the Indiana Jones series. Where the Jones’ movies were rooted in action oriented cliffhangers, the 90s era films, Dick Tracy, The Phantom, Rocketeer, and The Shadow, among others, harked back to 30s pulps and comics. I saw the later films theatrically and was disappointed by each. Eventually, I bought Tracy and Shadow on laserdisc for a buck each.

The Shadow could have, and ought to have been, an excellent ride. Alec Baldwin had more screen charisma in his role than Beatty, Zane, Campbell, or much later, Jude Law. He and Penelope Miller also sparked undeniable chemistry, perhaps not romantic, but they definitely worked as a couple. Then there was the set design and costumes, all top notch.

Unfortunately, the movie was undermined by poor writing and sloppy direction. The Shadow seemed aimed at eight year olds, circa 1950s. The narrative was gauzed in fuzzy, misplaced nostalgia. No one bought in, not adults, not teens, not children. By the 90s, we were all much too sophisticated.

Bionic Bob has done a remarkable job, raising the enjoyment several levels. The black and white sheen is perfect, not only with the Manhattan set design, but with characters, especially in gowns and tuxedos. What cuts Bob made, I could not tell, yet the narrative flows quicker and seems less silly than I remember.

The sound mix was a dynamic, often aggressive, two channel LPCM. Too loud during action sequences (drew comments from others in the room), too quiet with dialogue. I ended up using headphones. I hate suggesting this, especially as a music geek, but I think normalized audio might have worked here.

The black and white seemed inconsistent. Pristine sharp in some scenes, soft focus in others, and scratchy and dirty in others. I didn’t mind, but every time a scratch appeared I noticed.

Aside from those quibbles, BB’s The Shadow Strikes! is a classy improvement, easily recommended.