Shadow Strikes!, The

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

So per usual, I rewatched the original again before watching bob's edit. I also avoided reading any reviews of his edit as well as his cutlist and intention (all I knew was black and white and 4:3 AR).

I remember really enjoying The Shadow as a kid. I thought it was a cool movie. But this was the first time I'd seen it in at least 15 years. So as I rewatched it, my mind was already working thinking of what I would cut or change to improve the movie.

Enter: The Shadow Strikes. Very cool DVD menu! And the edit itself...bionicbob, to quote Chris from Family Guy: "get outta my head!" I love that you removed the intro scene with the flying posessed dagger in Tibet and all that jazz. Worked perfectly to just use the flashback stuff. And having the movie start with The Shadow dealing with some bad guys is definitely a stronger start to the movie.

Also have to say you did an awesome job removing all the horrible humor in this movie. "Nice tie, Brooks Brothers, is that midtown?" God, I wanted to puke when I heard that crap. So glad that was removed!

The 4:3 and B&W definitely worked for this movie since it takes place in the 30s or 40s IIRC? It could have easily remained widescreen and color, but those changes that bob made worked fine for me.

This is the first bionicbob fanedit that I've ever seen. (Unfortunately the source material/subject matter of most of his edits have been movies or shows that I have either never seen or am not a fan of). But I thoroughly enjoyed this edit.

The editing was invisible to me. Audio and Video quality was up to par, although there was some graininess and dots and lines at various points on the video ;)

I hope that some of your future projects also cover material that I'm a fan of as I'd love to see more of your work! Well done bionicbob!

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!

The Shadow was one of those films I'd watched when i was younger and sort liked it, but I didn't love it, it was very safe or 'vanilla', or maybe I just had low expectations of films (like the 1990 captain america movie.)

Bob's edit takes us back to the core of the film and what it should have been originally, a fun, faithful homage to the classic 1930's strip. I really can't praise his decision enough to change the visual back to black and white. It's a subtle difference and one that works so well. The film is full of subtle differences, which is what makes a good fanedit, I didn't at any given point notice a suddent abrutpt cut, obviously my brain put the peices together later saying "oh you missed the knife scene, or this or that."

Only think I might've changed was the shadows little confident speech in the water tower, and just have Tim Curry figure out where he is from the clue in the water. It made the shadow undermine his opponents intelligence and it cost him. That's just a minor nitpick.

Maybe Bionicbob will salvage somemthing good out of The Spirit next... eh who am I kidding!

Two words: Awe Some. BOB this was a triumph. You really made some excellent editing choices. In our discussions of the edit, I didn't agree with a lot of you choices, but now I see you were right on the mark with most of them. There are still a few I don't agree with, (See my nitpicks) but overall you really set a great tone for this movie.

One of your best cuts was the removal of Cranston's joke after the sailor jumps. That scene is now so much more sinister. Second best: "Oh that knife."

I don't think this edit will quell the harsh critics of the original movie, but for us that liked the original, this is so much better. The Shadow is placed in just the right context without the over-exposition of his past as in the original film. At times it felt like I really was watching something made in the 30s or 40s.

Here are my nitpicks:

- The beginning credits you made were really well crafted, but I don't think they fit the overall tone you were trying to set. I would have preferred some old timey looking credits, kinda like something you would see at the beginning of a serial or film from that era.

- I think the test shot of The Shadow on the bridge with the CGI cape should have been used. It wouldn't have been that noticeable as inferior quality, given that it would be in B&W and as you said, a lot of the image quality was somewhat inferior. I'm still just distracted by the damn missing cape.

- The scratch and line effects during scene transitions were well placed. My only gripe is that you had them fade at certain points. I think I would have preferred to see them stay until the scenes shifted to another angle.

- The few cuts that I miss are: Shrevvy driving like a maniac then kicking the couple out of his cab; Khan in sanctum talking about where Cranston got his suit and tie; "I sense someone is coming" and "you're not supposed to be here" The last one was cut for a reason, but I can't remember what it was. My complaints about the Shrevvy cuts stem from the fact that he was comic relief in the radio shows and I wanted to see that role retained as much as possible in the movie. I understand why you did it though.

All other cuts were right on the money and they really did change the mood and tone to a considerable degree, much more than I thought they would.

I watched all of the special features before the movie and they were great. First off the table of contents was ingenious and It was great to hear the radio clips. Your "About This Edit" section was a great little mini-documentary of The Shadow, chock full of great little tidbits of info. Thanks for using "Original Sin" in the gallery feature. I would hate for it to have completely disappeared from this edit. I completely understand why it was taken out of the end credits. It would not fit the new tone of this edit. All of the artwork created for this edit was incredible and really captured the feel of the movie.

I watched this on my computer, so I won't comment too much about the audio video quality or editing. I didn't catch anything that looked or sounded bad.

I really appreciate the special thanks at the beginning. Although, to be honest, I don't know that I deserve it. As Wayne & Garth would say, "we're not worthy."

This should be the Edit of the Month then straight onto Edit of the Year. Its got my vote. Thank you so much for this.

Bill

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.