The Shadow Strikes!

[bionicbob]

Return to the Age of Pulp Heroes!
When the villainous Shiwan Khan threatens 1930s New York City with his Sphere of Doom,
the mysterious Dark Avenger known only was the SHADOW, with his trusted agents, rises to do battle!

THE SHADOW STRIKES

tagline: "THE SPHERE OF DOOM EDITION"

Basic details: I have a deep fondness for the original 1994 The Shadow. While flawed, I still think it is highly underrated. With this edit, I wanted to do two things...One, while maintaining the classic 1930s romantic comedy mystery (in particular the scenes involving Baldwin and Miller), I wanted to tone down the forced humor during the actual Shadow scenes. Restore more darkness and mystery to the character.
And two, I wanted to take advantage of the wonderful 1930s production values and the poor 4x3 dvd release, and convert the picture into Black and White.



original film names: THE SHADOW
new film name :THE SHADOW STRIKES!
film studio name :Universal Studios
edit crew name : Bionic Bob
persons involved: Me
Date Original Film Was Released :1994
Date Edit Was Released :APRIL 2013
Original Runtime :1 hour 48 minutes
New Runtime :1 hour 40 minutes
Cut/Add Time: cut about 10 minutes
added about 2 minutes


Fanedit details:
Intention: Create a public domain black and white B-movie adventure.

Editing Details:
Used iMac 10.5, Mac the Ripper, MPEG Streamclip, Final Cut Express, GarageBand, and iDVD

Cuts removed/added/extended (add list of what was changed):
--created all new opening credits using images of the Shadow through the ages
--opening origin gone
--"heavy lifting" line cut
--bridge gunfire scene trimmed
--cement block/Shadow shooting trimmed
--Tam's comedic responses during cab ride removed
--Tam waving goodbye cut
--fireplace dream/origin
--"Why have I not heard of him" cut
--Khan in sanctum talking about where Cranston got his suit and tie
--Tam's "hey that is catchy" regarding Atomic Bomb comment
--the lab guards bickering about what to eat
--Shadow wisecracks during lab battle
--"I sense someone is coming" cut
--"oh that knife" cut
--inserted Phurba/Tulku flashback during restaurant scene
--Cranston joke when sailor jumps off building
--cut "You called" Margo finding Cranston and smiling after sphere
--trimmed psychic dream
--cut "betcha wish you were nicer to me"
--cut bomb rolling down stairs and over Margo and father
--insert flashback during the final battle
--replaced "Original Sin" with more Goldsmith

BONUS FEATURES:
--Trailer
--About This Edit
--Gallery of some of my favorite Shadow artworks






DVD ART:

DVD artwork and all Shadow Cards and Posters created by that mystery man known only as ROGUE-THEX.


DISCLAIMER: I don't usually do this, but I will be up front and say I am not entirely happy with the video quality of this edit. But based on the poor source material and the limits of FCE, it is what it is.... I hope viewers will be able to look past this and still have an entertaining time with this B-Movie Adventure.

 

[JetSetWilly]

HURRAH! Can't wait to give this one a whirl. The trailer has enticed me, so this will be a definite watch for me. Congratulations.

 

[Fanedit]

Woo Hoo!!

 

[bionicbob]

 

[Gatos]

Badass!

This will force me to rewatch the original before watching your edit. It's been a long ass time since I've seen the movie, but I do remember really liking it as a kid.

 

[Neglify]

Review:

This is was a blast! I haven't watch The Shadow since it first came out on VHS in the mid-90s. (Ordered DVD from Amazon earlier today.) The black & white look worked really well for me. It fit the tone of the movie and made the corniness of it feel natural. I can easily recommend this fanedit to anyone who enjoys the pulp fiction era of the 30s.

Two thumbs up from me!

 

[bionicbob]

 

[bionicbob]

Review:

This is was a blast! I haven't watch The Shadow since it first came out on VHS in the mid-90s. (Ordered DVD from Amazon earlier today.) The black & white look worked really well for me. It fit the tone of the movie and made the corniness of it feel natural. I can easily recommend this fanedit to anyone who enjoys the pulp fiction era of the 30s.

Two thumbs up from me!

Thank you very much for the review Neg!

 

[Ripplin]

This will force me to rewatch the original before watching your edit.

Same here! I've only seen it once, and that was a few years ago.

 

[Fanedit]

My Review in IFDB:

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.

 

[bionicbob]

Thanks for the very generous and detailed review Fanedit.

It does my heart good to know that a hardcore Shadow fan such as yourself enjoyed this cut.

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.

This was a tough call. I completely see you point and actually agree with it. The menu design (with graphics created by Rogue --THANKS BUDDY!!!) was my back up plan for the opening credits. The short/long story is one of my absolute favorite comic book movies opening titles ever is from 1980s FLASH GORDON and I have always wanted to do a comic style title sequence but never found an appropriate edit til the Shadow came along. Maybe because most of my exposure to the Shadow came from comic books and not the novels, it seemed like a perfect choice to me. But I do agree, it conflicts slightly with the 1930s style of the rest of the edit. But I did say up front in the previous thread that this is more an HOMAGE to old time movies than an actual attempt at replication.

- 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.

I actually tried a test shot of this. I found the best quality version I could of the music video and plugged it into the main edit, but even in Black and White, the FX cape looked terrible. I agree, it is annoying.

- 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.

That was me trying to be creative... LOL!

- 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"

I think Shrevvy is still a good comic relief even is his now reduced capacity. I always have a problem when movie makers feel they have to insert a joke when a badguy has a violent death. While the joke is cute and works, as I stated before, I wanted to keep the Shadow sequences as dark and serious as possible. The line "you are not suppose to be here" was cut because of the rule I set of never seeing Baldwin in that horrible wig. But it is the one line I truly hated cutting.

I really appreciate the special thanks at the beginning.

No, it is I who appreciates all the wonderful suggestions and input you provided during the creative process. This edit is truly better for it.
;-)

 

[grabaham]

Put "Original Sin" back, and I won't have a quarrel with this edit.

 

[bionicbob]

Put "Original Sin" back, and I won't have a quarrel with this edit.

Sorry. The song does appear on the dvd but it is not in the movie.

 

[Neglify]

Added those beautiful one-sheets to the IFDb cover section.

 

[bionicbob]

Added those beautiful one-sheets to the IFDb cover section.

Thanks Neg.

I still have to post the final four posters created by Rogue. They should be up by tomorrow. Then the Shadow campaign finally comes to a close. ;-)

 

[havok1977]

Congrats on releasing! I'll be taking it for a spin soon

 

[bionicbob]

A round of applause for the Master of Posters -- ROGUE-THEX!!!!
THANK YOU BUDDY!!!!

 

[Fanedit]

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[Rogue-theX]

Glad to help! I had lots of fun putting stuff together for this one!

 

[Fanedit]

Truly though, as I said in my review, the art captured this edit perfectly. Well done.