The Shadow: Collector’s Edition (1994)

Details: By Loron Hays; 26 February 2014; 26 February 2014

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The Shadow: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

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Exploding with the energy and styling of a 1930’s film noir flick, Russell Mulcahy’s The Shadow is an adaptation that should have been a lot bigger than it actually was upon its release in 1994. Critics killed it. Audiences ignored it. Maybe the marketing was off. Maybe it has its weaknesses. Maybe too many people didn’t see for themselves what The Shadow was all about. Whatever the reasons that added up to its failure, The Shadow was unjustly crucified by a large portion of the public.

There’s no denying that the flick and its thematic toying around with darkness consuming the hero is ahead of its time. The funny thing about time; however, is that it tends to forget. You see, the movie – especially in the past few years – is being discovered by a new round of teens and re-evaluated by adults as the dusty and misunderstood gem that it truly is. Shout Factory knows this and, rescuing it from Universal Pictures mishandling of it earlier, re-releases the blu-ray with a new transfer this week in a sparkling new Collector’s Edition that should not be missed by its fans.

Starring Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry, Ian McKellen, and Jonathan Winters, The Shadow is a relative who’s who of character actors. Sharp acting, along with David Koepp’s screenplay – about a millionaire playboy who chases criminals at night under the guise of The Shadow – is razor sharp and witty, with colorful nods to cinema’s yesteryear and a pointed look at its future with our current obsession over superhero movies. Unfortunately, the film barely broke even in its domestic release and was quickly dismissed as a summer flop.

Koepp sticks to the character’s tag line of “who knows what evil lurks in hearts of men” and explores the darker side of life through the character of Lamont Cranston. Baldwin plays it cool and delivers his lines with a knowing of bitterness and hatred while we works his double life as The Shadow to fight the criminals infiltrating the city of New York. Under Mulcahy’s direction, the film sparkles with energy while at the same time honoring the style and lighting of 1930’s cinema. Cinematographer Stephen H. Burum captures the style of pulp with delicious details throughout.

The Shadow joins the list of other pulp films dismissed but later revalued. The Phantom, The Rocketeer, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow were all dismissed and their supporters – cult or not – keep growing. Don’t miss out on your chance to know what The Shadow knows!

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MPAA Rating: PG-13 for fantasy action violence.
Runtime: 108 mins
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Writer: David Koepp
Cast: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller
Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Fantasy
Tagline: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Memorable Movie Quote: "I guess you would call it an implosive-explosive sub-molecular device."
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: July 1, 1994
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 25, 2014
Synopsis: In 30's New York City, the Shadow battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan, who is building an atomic bomb.

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The Shadow: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - February 25, 2014
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD)
Region Encoding: Region A/1

Shout! Factory has decided to rescue this film from the bowels of bad high definition transfers by sporting a rather healthy and vibrant looking picture for this release. The new MPEG-4 AVC transfer does a decent job of retaining the necessary look of the movie, while still providing the detail that one expects from HD. A healthy amount of grain is evident in every shot, so 'The Shadow' still maintains a very much film-like look to it. The English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track certainly provides a lot of added texture to the film.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Unfortunately, there is none.

Special Features:

Shout! Factory's Collector's Edition sports a nice 23 minute documentary that looks back twenty-years later on the making of the film which sports interviews from Baldwin, Mulcahy, Nemic III, Burum, Miller, and a few others which I had wished was a little more longer and touched upon Goldsmith's contribution to the film as well along with its' nice technical aspects. As-is, it's a very polished and informative documentary that is very good for what it is. The film's theatrical trailer is also included.