The Shadow (1994)
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 29
Bringing a classic pulp character to the big screen, The Shadow features impressive visual effects, but the story ultimately fails to strike a memorable chord.
Average Rating: 4.1/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 7
Bringing a classic pulp character to the big screen, The Shadow features impressive visual effects, but the story ultimately fails to strike a memorable chord.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 31,724
Movie Info
A crime fighter created in the 1930s and popularized in movies, pulp novels, and a radio show starring a young Orson Welles, The Shadow came back to life in 1994 in this slick, well-cast production. Alec Baldwin stars as Lamont Cranston, a murderous opium dealer reformed by a Tibetan mystic, who teaches him how to use his keen mental powers to manipulate others. As penance for his past misdeeds, Cranston masquerades as a degenerate New York City playboy by day and secretly plays the heroic
Jul 1, 1994 Wide
Nov 1, 1998
Universal Pictures
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Cast
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Alec Baldwin
Lamont Cranston/The Sha... -
John Lone
Shiwan Khan -
Penelope Ann Miller
Margo Lane -
Peter Boyle
Moe Shrevnitz -
Ian McKellen
Dr. Reinhardt Lane -
Tim Curry
Farley Claymore -
Jonathan Winters
Wainwright Barth -
Sab Shimono
Dr. Roy Tam -
Andre Gregory
Burbank -
Linda Atkinson
Madam -
Darryl Chan
Mongol -
Alix Elias
Woman in Taxi -
Al Goto
Mongol -
Larry Hankin
Taxi Driver -
Steve Hytner
Marine Guard -
Larry Joshua
Maxie -
Nathan Jung
Tibetan Kidnapper -
John Kapelos
Duke Rollins -
Al Leong
Tibetan Driver -
Aaron Lustig
Doctor -
Joseph Maher
Isaac Newboldt -
Wesley Mann
Bellboy -
Lily Mariye
Mrs Tam -
Kate McGregor-Stewart
Mrs Shrevnitz -
Gerald Okamura
Tibetan Passenger -
Ethan Phillips
Nelson -
Fred Sanders
Cop -
Tera Tabrizi
Concubine -
Toshishiro Obata
Mongol -
-
Brady Tsurutani
Tulku -
James Alan
Paper Boy -
Phillip Borsos
Duke Rollins -
James Hong
Li Peng -
James Lew
Mongol -
Frank Welker
Phurba -
Max Wright
Berger -
Patrick Fisher
Sailor -
Stuart Quan
Mongol -
Keith A. Wester
Radio Announcer -
Abraham Benrubi
Marine Guard -
Bruce Locke
Cranston Guard -
-
Nils Allen Stewart
Mongol -
Joe D'Angerio
English Johnny -
Michael Hadge
Inmate
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The Shadow Trailer & Photos
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (29) | DVD (7)
The movie has all the coherence of a bad acid flashback.
It has enough of the innocent exoticism and splendor of silent thrillers to suggest a continuity with the past missing from most other movies; all that's required is a capacity to sit back and dream.
Despite similarities as a vigilante creature of the night, however, the Shadow -- a character that enjoyed its greatest success in radio after being created in pulp novels -- lacks the visceral appeal of Batman and won't strike the same chord.
Baldwin's low-key performance lacks charisma, Lone alternates between lip-smacking villainy and camp humour, and Miller is chiefly a clothes-horse for a series of slinky '30s frocks.
It offers a diverting, nostalgic retreat to the innocent days when crime fighting was a pleasant, rich man's hobby.
This thing is all packaging and no content, or, dare I say it, all shadow and no substance.
Very underrated and incredibly entertaining...
It's an entertainment that deserved to have become the first of a series.
A pleasant, eye-pleasing movie.
What's on the screen is so tired by now that you've seen it before even if this is your introduction to the Shadow.
Polished to a high surface gloss, but nothing lurks beneath; nothing at all.
A triumph of special effects over story (and the effects are now totally dated).
Not a bad comic movie. I still think Baldwin would have made a great Batman.
chaotic and dull
It looks nice, but it rarely works.
It's a little wacky, but it packs a pretty entertaining punch.
This may have been the last cinematic stab at capturing the essence of a faded literary phenomenon
The Shadow is good; it's just not worthy of the talent assembled.
Stinks.
A noble failure that could not capture its pulpish essence.
A misfire meant to be a franchise. The film is based on an old radio show, and the concept is interesting enough, but this movie just drags.
Audience Reviews for The Shadow
Super Reviewer
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- Shiwan Khan: In three days, the entire world will hear my roar, and willingly fall subject to the lost empire of Shan Kahn. That is a lovely tie, by the way. May I ask where you acquire it?
- Lamont Cranston/The Shadow: Brooks Brothers.
- Shiwan Khan: Is that mid-town?
- Lamont Cranston/The Shadow: 45th and Madison. You....are a barbarian.
- Shiwan Khan: Thank you! We both are.
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- Lamont Cranston/The Shadow: Next time you get to be on top.
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Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- The Shadow (1994) (DE)
- The Shadow (1994) (UK)


Top Critic
As a character The Shadow bears many similarities to Batman. These both are handsome and rich bachelors who under their daily presence hold dark secrets and powers that not many would even dare to speak of. Biggest difference between Batman and The Shadow is their origin story. Alec Baldwin's Lamont Cranston is a gentleman with a tortured soul and a tortured psyche. He is a man who has done his share of evil and now he is sort of trying to redeem himself. Bruce Wayne was instead complete opposite, he himself was a victim and tried to revenge his parents death by cloaking himself as a Batman. What these both men share is their wounded psyche and that makes them quite interesting as a characers.
Russell Mulcahy is a perfect choice for this kind of material. He has proven to be talented when it comes to this kind of visually lavish films. He might not be the best director when it comes to actors or coherent plot, but at least he knows who to make good looking entertainment. This is a film so great looking that at times it seems that it could have been directed by great Brian De Palma and when you look at the credits you actually begin to wonder why it isn't. There are so many frequent collaborators of De Palma like cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, writer David Koepp and producer Martin Bregman here in the credits. Some of the camera angles and techniques are also strikingly similiar to those in De Palma's films, but that is only understandable because at least it was filmed by talented Burum, who has very unique style as cinematographer.
The Shadow is fun to watch but there times when the acting is just plain corny. For example names like Ian McKellen and John Lone are mostly wasted in a thankless and one dimensional roles. Film relies on the shoulders of Alec Baldwin and he does not disappoint. Penelope Ann Miller is ok as an story's love interest and The Shadow's unexpected sidekick.
Overall this film feels a bit too rushed and messy to be entirely satisfying as a pure entertainment. It does have it's strenghts too and i would definetly recommend it to anyone who like these kind of noirish comic book adaptations.