The Shadow

Plot synopsis:
In Tibet, following the First World War, an American named Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin), has become a warlord and opium kingpin under the alias of Ying-Ko (Mandarin Chinese for "Dark Eagle"). One night, he is abducted by servants of The Tulku (Barry Dennen), a holy man who exhibits otherworldly powers and knows Cranston's identity. He offers Cranston a chance to redeem himself and become a force for good. Cranston refuses but is silenced by the Phurba, a mystical sentient flying dagger. Ultimately Cranston remains under the tutelage of the Tulku for seven years. In addition to undergoing rigorous physical training, he learns mind control abilities such as hypnotism, mind reading and bend people's perception so that he cannot be seen - except (of course) for his shadow.After completing his training, Cranston returns to New York City and builds himself as a laid back, millionaire playboy. He secretly operates as The Shadow, a vigilante who terrorizes the city's criminals. He recruits some of the people he saves to act as his agents, providing him with information and specialist knowledge. He also regularly has dinner with his uncle, Police Captain Wainwright Barth (Jonathan Winters), who provides him with useful information about police cases, not knowing that his lazy nephew is The Shadow.But Cranston's secret identity is endangered upon meeting Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), a socialite who also have strong telepathic abilities, although she doesn't control them. For some reason, Lamont is unable to shield his mind from her.Meanwhile, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), arrives in New-York concealed in Genghis Khan's sarcophagus. Upon his arrival, he uses hypnosis to make a security guard shoot himself in the temple and make a taxi driver crash into a fuel truck, which explodes.
Khan meets up with Cranston in his secret lair and reveals that he was a disciple of the Tulku as well. Khan is the last descendant of Genghis Khan, and he plans to fulfill his family's goal of world domination. He offers Cranston an alliance, but Cranston refuses.
Cranston acquires a rare coin from Khan and learns that it is made of a metal called "bronzium" (an impure form of uranium) that theoretically can generate an atomic explosion. He then learns that Margo's father Reinhardt Lane (Ian McKellen), a scientist who works on building an atomic device for the Department of War, is acting very strangely and speaking Chinese all of a sudden. Cranston realizes that Khan may target Reinhardt and his invention to build an atomic bomb and makes his way to the federal building while changing into The Shadow. He fails to stop Khan's henchmen from taking possession of the device and Reinhardt in the process.Shiwan Khan then hypnotizes Margo and commands her to kill the Shadow. She goes to Cranston's home and shoots him, not realizing she was shooting at a mirror. Cranston breaks Khan's hold on her but she remembers exactly why she came over. She realizes that since she was ordered to kill the Shadow and she instinctively went to Cranston's home, that he is The Shadow. Cranston confronts him about the murder attempt and confirms he will not be an ally in Khan's plans. Khan reveals he's in possession of the Phurba and used it to kill the Tulku. Khan escapes and Cranston goes after him but looses him near an empty lot.The next day, The Shadow confronts Reinhardt's assistant Farley Claymore (Tim Curry) who reveals his allegiance to Khan and attempt to drown The Shadow. Cranston contacts Margo through telepathy and she saves him. She then tells him about a luxurious hotel called the Monolith who used to stand in the empty lot where Khan disappeared. The hotel went bankrupt before it ever opened and was teared down, although no one knows where or by whom. Cranston realizes the hotel is still there but Khan has hypnotized the whole city into believing it was gone. As soon as he realizes that, he's able to see the hotel.That night, knowing Reinhardt has completed the bomb under Khan's hypnotic control, The Shadow enters the hotel for a final showdown with Khan. He fights his way through the building, and hypnotically influences Claymore to jump to his death from a balcony. He finds Khan, but is subdued by the Phurba. The Shadow realizes that only a peaceful mind can truly control the Phurba. He successfully seizes command of the dagger and launches it into Khan's torso, creating a lapse in Khan's hypnotic control that frees Reinhardt and restores the hotel's visibility. The Shadow pursues Khan into the bowels of the building, while Margo and her father are having problems of their own disarming the bomb. The Shadow defeats Khan by hurling a shard of mirror into Khan's skull.A confused Khan wakes up in a padded cell in a mental hospital, discovering that his powers are gone. One of the doctors an agent of The Shadow tells Khan that they saved his life by removing a part of his brain that is rather useless unless you believe in psychic abilities. Khan is left powerless in his cell. Cranston and Margo begin a romantic relationship, and join forces to fight crime.

Tags: gothic, murder, neo noir, paranormal, cult, good versus evil, brainwashing

Review:
Alec Baldwin, however, does not naturally have that kind of look (to be honest, Lee Van Cleef may be the only movie actor in history with the correct look to have been able to portray The Shadow without resorting to make-up or special effects).
Maybe it just takes a certain frame of mind or background to enjoy this movie, but I absolutely love it and frequently go back to it when I want to see how a dark, edgy, and FUN movie is done right.Alec Baldwin is excellent as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow.
The movie begins with Cranston as a hedonistic warlord in China and then jumps to his reformed Shadow persona is 1930's New York, and it is Baldwin's performance, which teeters between serious and funny, nice and cruel, that bridges the gap.
They re-created the feel of a 1930's movie set, not the 1930's itself!The movie is a bit campy at times but thankfully maintains the dark edge of the Shadow character, who has no qualms about killing or maiming his opponents (hey, this guy was a bloodthirsty killer in his previous life, you think he's going to forget how to use that power when he changes sides?).
The supporting cast is excellent as well (Jonathon Winters, Ian McKellan, Tim Curry) with perhaps the exception of Penelope Ann Miller, whose character and performance were rather annoying, but I can live with it.Overall I give this movie a BIG thumbs up and recommend it to anyone that enjoys fun movies.
What The Shadow was, and remains, in my eyes, is one of the best super-hero adaptations ever (the best until X-Men came out, in my opinion).I'm not terribly familiar with the old radio drama Shadow, so I can't speak as to the details, but the feeling, the essence of the movie fits with what I've experienced.
Watching the movie, one gets the sense of an incredible amount of backstory for each character (little things, like the family life of some of the Shadow's agents, barely glimpsed, or even just the complex web of those agents across the city), or that around the corner there lies a world to explore.This movie can be difficult to classify, which may lead to its unpopularity.
If you can get a bead on the style, its a very enjoyable movie, far ahead of most other super-hero films (Superman, Batman, the Phantom, etc.)I recommend watching it, but only with an open mind..
I loved it, though; I could watch this film again and again.Alec Baldwin (BEETLEJUICE, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER) plays Lamont Cranston, a former drug lord who is captured by a Tibetan monk and retrained to fight evil as his penance for doing it.
Cranston's power is a kind of hypnotic telepathy; he has the power to "cloud men's minds", which he uses to make himself invisible to evildoers except for his shadow (because light itself can never be fooled).Cranston lives an exciting double life in what is apparently a glamorized version of the 30's, playing the town as a billionaire playboy and building up a secret network of helpers from those he saves as The Shadow (each identified with a silver fire opal ring given them upon their rescue), until he meets his match in two ways:  Cranston loses his heart to enchanting-but-scatterbrained Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), and The Shadow must fight his evil counterpart, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), last descendant of Genghis Khan, who has a hypnotic telepathy of his own and is seeking to bring life as we know it to an end using elements that have never been combined before (Dr. Roy Tam to Cranston:  "I guess you'd call it an implosive-explosive-submolecular destruction device."  Cranston:  "Or an 'atomic bomb'."  Tam:  "Hey, that's catchy.").Forget trying to follow the plot; like BATMAN, the plot isn't the point.
And the acting--Baldwin, Miller, Lone, Peter Boyle as Cranston's driver, Tim Curry as an evil scientist in league with Lone, Ian McKellen as Margo's father, another scientist whose discoveries are exploited by Khan--is also first-rate.
The gimmicks and gadgets are neat, Tim Curry as the half-villain is entertaining to watch as always (though he overdoes it a bit at times), the script is well-paced, the action is staged superbly, the music is gripping.But most of all: Kudos to the production design/special effects/makeup team!
It was awesome to watch, and at the same time a bit chilling and frightening.Drawback: Beside the intentional jokes ("I'm not interested in your balls..."), some takes just seemed to be unintentionally funny- perhaps they went a little too far in trying to create a gloomy atmosphere...Along with _The Rocketeer_, this one's also one of the unfortunately widely underrated films.
Some critics (the esteemed Roger Ebert included) understood both the direction and aim of this film, while others, and many movie goers completely missed the point.This film is meant to be a visualization of a 1930's pulp novel - that is, its point is to provide that stereotypical "campy" atmosphere of the old Shadow radio plays, novels, and even films of that era.
We have a mad scientist, a fiendishly evil conquerer(there's some retro terminology) a super-hero who is not a perfect being, but a flawed man, and of course, an atomic bomb.People forget that it is the Shadow, and other early pulp-fiction characters that set these "stereotypes" in the first place - therefore how can one call this show a "rip-off" when it set the standards of this genre so long ago?
Keep in mind this is an adaptation of radio shows and pulp fiction and from what I understand of the character this film does a good job of capturing its content.I highly recommend it..
Even though it was released in '94; The Shadow still holds up with the CGI special effects of today, combined with on point slapstick comedy (not to much, otherwise that would drain the excitement), a dark thriller is born from mysterious beginnings.I love the nostalgic 90's feel I got from watching the movie.
4)  I don't think the Shadow is supposed to *radiate warmth*, he's a bad-guy gone good (sort-of), and Lamont is an independently-wealthy bachelor who is who is bored with the social-circles but is doing what is expected of him.I don't usually go to the theater to see the same movie numerous times, but I liked this one so much that I made an exception--I guess I have a soft spot for melancholy heros & heros who struggle with their dark side..
The movie its self is great, but whats even more importent is to remember that they actully have gotten some of that good ol' feeling from the radio show and so on that was on the radio in the early first part of the 1900..Baldwin does one of the best caracters / roles that he ever have done, whit an glamures look and a wonderfull teste for the dramatic.
Great film!Alec Baldwin is great as the Shadow!Jone Lone was awesome!Penelope Ann Miller,Peter Boyle,Ian McKellen,and Tim Curry were all excellent!Great music by Jerry Goldsmith!I recommend that you see the Shadow!.
As I watched this movie in the theater, I thought, "Now this is how 'The Shadow' lived in my mind as a child!" Alec Baldwin was great, as was the rest of the cast, and in it's day, the visual effects were pretty awesome!
The acting is superb on all counts, with a young Alec Baldwin easily stealing the show as both Lamont Cranston and The Shadow from amazing actors like Sir Ian McKellan and Tim Curry.
Apart from a small handful of changes, the characters are virtually untouched, and this is what lends the film it's feeling of authenticity, while still remaining fantastical in nature.The special effects are subtle, but very effective in their use of turning The Shadow invisible by clouding people's minds.
The soundtrack is as near flawless for a film from the mid-nineties as I have ever seen, and both the set designers and the department in charge of props and vehicles certainly deserve a mention for their outstanding jobs in bringing a truly believable version of the Radio Pulp world of The Shadow to the big screen.For me, though, it is not the individual components of the film that make it so good; rather, it is the combination of the acting, the soundtrack, the set design and the special effects, that, coupled with a compelling storyline and characters that still stand the tests of time after nearly 100 years of being in the public's eye, makes a fun, thrilling film that is a classic piece of superhero cinema..
With his twin guns, black cape, psychic powers, black slouch hat and red bandana over his mouth hiding everything but his hooked nose the Shadow is considered the grandfather of the modern superhero and appeared in pulp novels, a radio show (read by none other than Orson Welles!!!), movie serials, comic books and finally this long overdue motion picture.
Like many pulp-inspired films from this era (Indiana Jones, Zorro, Flash Gordon, The Rocketeer) 'The Shadow' does a phenomenal job of capturing the pulpy fun flavour of the old serials and radio dramas right down to the Asian megalomaniac villain who doesn't feel like a caricature at all but a real intimidating presence.
Top points go to Baldwin's portrayal of the Shadow and Penelope Anne Miller as Margo Lane, the Shadow's love interest who is actually one of the best superhero girlfriends not only being important to the plot but actually being useful.
The production design of this film is phenomenal, capturing a distinctly pulpy flavour but also capturing the classy side of the 1920s, the music is brilliant, the action is top quality, the camera work is fantastic (it's Russell Mulcahy, what do you expect?) the plot has numerous twists and turns and the end product is a fun yet dark movie and one of the best superhero films of all time.
I've never read the comic so I can't compare but this has to be one of my favourite films.It's not done over the top, the effects and character interactions are great and it's a lot better than the Batman series.If you haven't seen it, go see it now!.
The fact that Lamont Cranston, later the Shadow, has both potential evil and great good in him is turned by the mystical Master Tulu into an opportunity to convert him from being the most ruthless of warlords to a man who will use his newly-mastered power "to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him" into a power used to combat men who would misemploy such forces.
Other notables in the very large cast include Macolm McDowell in the brief part of Professor Lane, Tim Curry as his Uriah Heep-like assistant, Jonathan Winters as the stodgy Uncle, Peter Boyle and Sab Shimono, as the Shadow's confederates, Brady Tsurutani as Tulku and James Hong as a victim of the formerly evil Cranston seen in the prologue.
Alec Baldwin makes a great Lamont Cranston (AKA The Shadow) Peter Boyle was excellent as his sidekick.
I've always thought Mulcahy to be an underrated director and his flourishes on the shadow reinforce my opinion.The chemistry between miller and Baldwin is palpable, which sells their burgeoning psychic romance.A strong supporting cast of peter Boyle, Jonathan winters, Tim curry, Ian MC Kellen and Andre Gregory is inspired.
But it's lone's scene chomping, comic interplay with Baldwin that makes the film the above the two-dimensionality of it's pulp-page-perspective.Aas disappointed that they didn't go the sequel route with the shadow..
It was fun, exciting, and enjoyable...good Saturday afternoon fare.If you were looking for more, this wasn't your movie, but for a good time-you can't go wrong with the Shadow....rent it.
Overall, "The Shadow" is a good action/superhero film.
This film contains some impressive special affects, and great acting by a host of actor's from the likes of John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller and Ian McKellan.
The Shadow is a mildly entertaining film, but too many flaws bring its quality down.The Shadow uses ideas from both the radio show and the comic book to make the movie as interesting as possible, but it doesn't really help.
There were a couple of things that were added that weren't really necessary, such as whenever Lamont Cranston puts the costume on, his face changes just so he can look like the comic book version of the Shadow, and when he takes it off, his face goes back to normal.
Alec Baldwin (happy birthday, Alec!) was the perfect choice for the title character, while John Lone was one nasty Shiwan Khan and Penelope Ann Miller made one sexy Margot Lane.A few years ago, I actually heard a radio broadcast of "The Shadow" (I don't know whether it was actually an original broadcast from the '30s or a modern recording done like a '30s broadcast).
After all, it did have a lot of things going for it.ALEC BALDWIN makes an acceptable Lamont Cranston, but perhaps not sinister enough behind the witty remarks; the impressive opulence of the Gotham art deco sets bolster the mood and atmosphere of the work; TIM CURRY and IAN McKELLEN make interesting foils with sinister, yet comic flair and JOHN LONE is a convincing Shiwan Kahn as the Shadow's rival; Jerry Goldsmith's music creates an appropriately brooding atmosphere of peril and danger ahead; and there was a certain built-in audience for those with fond memories of the highly successful radio serial and certainly there were a number of comic book enthusiasts who would welcome seeing THE SHADOW on the big screen.But despite these plus factors, THE SHADOW failed to connect with audiences the way other treatments of comic book heroes did.
Then too, the Margo Lane of PENELOPE ANN MILLER is played in over-the-top vamp fashion, even for a fantasy of this sort.Whatever the shortcoming are, fans of the radio show, movie serial, or comic book exploits of this crusader should find enough to like about THE SHADOW to make it a worthwhile viewing experience.
The Universal film is the one to watch;  it is, in our opinion, the definitive "Shadow" movie.
kept throwing good money after bad by making  aseries of progressively worse "Batman" films, yet Universal's "Shadow", a really good and enjoyable movie, flopped at the box office and probably won't have any more made.
Ibelieve he can strike terror into the hearts of criminals better than Batman could.You get to see the best potential of what "clouding men's minds" can do whenthe Shadow's arch-enemy Genghis Khan uses this ability is able to make ahuge skyscraper invisible.If you like super heroes than 'The Shadow' is a must see film!.
The Shadow is a good example on how to do a comic book movie right.
Penelope Ann Miller is one of the few current actresses who look good made up for the time period this film is set in.
I'm still trying to figure out why a good superhero/crime-fighter film like THE SHADOW gets no sequels while BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN AND ROBIN were made..
I find myself most inspired to write reviews when I see wasted potential in a movie...the Shadow falls in that category though it doesn't fit quite as snuggly.Set in 1930's New York, Lamont Cranston(Alec Baldwin)is a rich playboy who moonlights as a mysterious superhero known as the Shadow.
It stars Alec Baldwin in the title role and support comes from John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen & Tim Curry.
The plot basically sees Lamont Cranston (Baldwin) gain an alter ego (The Shadow) in mystical Tibet and with his new powers sets about fighting crime back in the states.
He comes up against Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan, who hypnotizes Margo Lane's scientist father into making a bomb that will destroy the world.Besides the stars - Baldwin, Miller and Lone - the film boasts a very good supporting cast including Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen, Tim Curry and Jonathan Winters.
i thought his was a great movie all around.Alec Baldwin was a great choice to play the The Shadow/Lamont Cranston.Penelope Ann Miller is also good as his sometimes sidekick Margo Lane.and Peter Boyle is hilarious as Moe Shrevnitz,the Shadow's personal taxi driver.
the movie moves along at a good pace and i never found it boring.i'm not sure,but i think it sticks pretty close to its source material.Russel Mulcahy(Resident Evil:Extinction)directed the movie.for me,this movie is just all around fun from start to finish.but i also liked the look of the film.i think they put a lot of effort into recreating the 1930's look and atmosphere,and for the life of me,i can't figure out why it wasn't very well received.anyway,for me The Shadow is a strong 8/10.
Here is a list of reasons why you should watch this movie :Alec Baldwin plays the role of the shadow to perfection.
Now add to that some oriental mystic stories, advanced scientific weapons and you get a pretty good film.The shadow's character is exciting.
Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen and Tim Curry...
Baldwin is only so-so, but any movie with Peter Boyle _and_ Tim Curry is already ahead on points in my book.The Shadow takes itself seriously (unlike the campy 70's Doc Savage), but there are still humorous moments in context.
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.
If you're looking for an entertaining superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, 'The Shadow' might just be it.
Lone apart, his Iead actors serve him well, Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller, playing their wonderful clothes well enough whilst Jerry Goldsmith's heavyweight score gives the movie some added grandeur.Slightly overlong and with too many gaps between stunts, nevertheless, the film is always good to look at even if the drama on screen occasionally slips shadow-like into the background..
Ridiculous superhero movie, looks like a 30s comic book.