Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

matthewjoseph-54651 It feels strange that currently we are amidst a massive Superhero binge. Hollywood has managed to saturate the superhero genre but there was a time once when a Superhero film was a lifetime event. The Shadow belongs to that era- based on the pulp character from the 30s this is a polarizing film. I loved it for the most part especially the low key feel and tone. The casting is good and Alec Baldwin is more than adequate. Say what you will about the guy and his temper, he was a dashing man(and still is) and plays both The shadow and his alias Lamont Cranston quite well. Reviewers thought otherwise and even the box office was tepid but this film has developed a cult following ever since.

Predrag I'm very surprised that this movie didn't get very popular. There are many reasons why this movie is so wonderful. I've always loved good-looking Alec Baldwin, especially in his role as Jack Ryan in "The Hunt for Red October". In this movie his acting and expressions are very good along with the acting done by beautiful Penelope Ann Miller, great John Lone, funny Jonathon Winters as Lamont's uncle, and everyone else. Except for maybe Tim Curry, I've never really liked him. Though some people may not like it for it being pretty corny, I thought that's what it made it so fun to watch! The action is cool, especially the end where Alec Baldwin hunts down John Lone with all the mirrors and glass in the room. The witty humor in it gave this movie also a right touch. I love the part where Margo Lane keeps interrupting Lamont Cranston because she can read his mind and knows what he's going to say. The music is just fantastic, giving the movie a creepy feeling to it. The cinematography and the Gothic scenes also help.A film of this type is only as good as its villain, and thanks must be given to John Lone for turning in a journeyman job as Shiwan Khan. American audiences have seldom had a chance to see him in this sort of role, and he carries it off well, delivering the sort of lines one would expect of an evildoer stepping from the pages of a 1930's era pulp magazine. At times vicious, at other times charming and urbane, Lone meets the Shadow as an equal in ability and is fun to watch. If there is a problem with the film it's that there's perhaps too much of Lamont Cranstron and not enough of "The Shadow". Several elements from Walter Gibson's original "Shadow" stories are employed, and the moments when Baldwin appears as The Shadow are suitably exciting, but they are few and far between. Even at the climactic battle most of Baldwin's trademark Shadow accouterments are eliminated, and we're faced with Lamont Cranston trying to hold onto the situation. David Koepp, who has written enough excellent adventure-oriented screenplays, should've known better. The screenplay which David Goyer and Christopher Nolan turned in for 2005's "Batman Begins" is a much better example of how "The Shadow" should've been handled.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Duncan Gosseyn Then again, I'll admit I don't care much for Batman at all. It's too bad The Shadow has basically been forgotten in modern times since I thought it was pretty fun. It had its problems, definitely. Many of the characters weren't developed enough, especially Shiwan Khan and Tim Curry's character. Also, as someone who has had no previous encounter with the franchise, I honestly was a bit confused about the powers of The Shadow. Some of the effects look pretty dated. The climax was a bit disappointing, since Shiwan Khan doesn't really fight back against The Shadow. Still, the movie had charm. Alec Baldwin is pretty good as the titular character. The other actors do well with what they're given, with the exception of Penelope Ann Miller. I'll admit I didn't really like Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane. I can't really explain it but I just thought she delivered her lines in an uncanny way, like she was really close to delivering them right but didn't quite do it right. Anyway, the climax was flawed but it was still suspenseful. Oh, and I really liked the song performed by Taylor Dayne that plays during the end credits.

Phil Hubbs In true 30's period style and setting this comicbook/pulp adaptation visually looks awesome and captures the atmosphere of the era perfectly. If you think along the lines of 'Dick Tracy' and 'The Rocketeer' then you will get an idea of the vibe going on here. Even though the budget for 'The Phantom' was actually bigger than this film, director Mulcahy's film certainly looks the slicker and more realistic.The character of The Shadow isn't anything really special to be honest, its just a guy in a cloak with a fedora type hat on and he carries two guns. He always did seem like a poor man's Batman in all honesty, not too distant from the Phantom or Darkman actually. The main difference with this guy is the fact he does actually have some special super powers. He can cloud men's minds (what about women?) with a kind of spiritual hypnosis that blinds people to his presence...accept for his shadow oddly enough, hence his name. Oh and he's pretty snazzy with the two guns also. This character fits his dark little world perfectly in both his crime fighting form and his alias as a rich good looking 'Bruce Wayne' type. His lair has a neat little secret entrance just like Wayne Manor to the Batcave and he lurks around in the shadows quite nicely.The plot is an odd one, Baldwin starts off as a bad guy in Tibet after succumbing to his darker side not long after WWI (dunno why). He is then kidnapped by some wise holy man who for some reason will train Baldwin to be a good guy, unsure why really, but in the end he goes back to New York and begins his Batman-esque lifestyle. Then some other magical fellow turns up to challenge Baldwin or try and get him to join with him so he can gain world domination. This bad guy happens to be a distant relation of Genghis Khan, for some reason we have another crime fighter who must face off against a Khan. 'Hellboy' had to face off against the actual Genghis Khan, weird how Khan seems to pop up in these fantasy films.As you can guess from this story idea there is a lot of mystical hocus pocus going on throughout and the plot is slightly convoluted to be frank. Really the film excels with its visuals, a lovely looking old fashioned 30's New York complete with dated cars, store fronts and atmospheric swirling mist, the invisibility effects, shadow effects, hands on makeup and a surprisingly cool looking outfit for the Shadow (did someone pinch ideas for 'Dark City' here?). The sets are really well designed throughout too and look stunning I must say, beautifully presented and created, the sets are obvious but that adds to the charm and realism plus it works much better than CGI. Not too sure about the far East look for Baldwin's character though, wig was a bit crappy. There is of course some CGI present throughout which tends to swing from being reasonable (looking back now), to a bit hokey in places, bit plastic looking. Of course back in the day the effects were relatively special to a degree.The movie is great fun and looks slick with a good casting choice in Baldwin for the main heroic/bad guy lead. He looks perfect for the part of 'Cranston' the playboy and actually could well have been a good 'Bruce Wayne' too I'm sure, a bit gruff maybe. This is really how 'The Green Hornet' should of been approached instead of the geeky spoof-like farce it was. Shame 'The Shadow' failed at the box office as this is another decent period superhero flick adaptation which is uniquely fresh plot wise but visuals wise was maybe more familiar. You just gotta look past the solid but clichéd appearance. Gotta love that classic film poster though huh, just like 'The Rocketeer' they really capture the essence of the old style crime caper and dare devil hero aspect. Lovely combination of colours and art work, very striking.6/10