Shadow Strikes!, The

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

So per usual, I rewatched the original again before watching bob's edit. I also avoided reading any reviews of his edit as well as his cutlist and intention (all I knew was black and white and 4:3 AR).

I remember really enjoying The Shadow as a kid. I thought it was a cool movie. But this was the first time I'd seen it in at least 15 years. So as I rewatched it, my mind was already working thinking of what I would cut or change to improve the movie.

Enter: The Shadow Strikes. Very cool DVD menu! And the edit itself...bionicbob, to quote Chris from Family Guy: "get outta my head!" I love that you removed the intro scene with the flying posessed dagger in Tibet and all that jazz. Worked perfectly to just use the flashback stuff. And having the movie start with The Shadow dealing with some bad guys is definitely a stronger start to the movie.

Also have to say you did an awesome job removing all the horrible humor in this movie. "Nice tie, Brooks Brothers, is that midtown?" God, I wanted to puke when I heard that crap. So glad that was removed!

The 4:3 and B&W definitely worked for this movie since it takes place in the 30s or 40s IIRC? It could have easily remained widescreen and color, but those changes that bob made worked fine for me.

This is the first bionicbob fanedit that I've ever seen. (Unfortunately the source material/subject matter of most of his edits have been movies or shows that I have either never seen or am not a fan of). But I thoroughly enjoyed this edit.

The editing was invisible to me. Audio and Video quality was up to par, although there was some graininess and dots and lines at various points on the video ;)

I hope that some of your future projects also cover material that I'm a fan of as I'd love to see more of your work! Well done bionicbob!

bionicbob is not only a very active member of the fanediting community but a very prolific releaser of high quality edits of films that I often find near and dear.

It has been many a year since I last watched the original film, but I remember enjoying it on VHS more than once; and while it features a very well constructed plot that I often found vaguely reminiscent of the serial type adventure of the Indiana Jones entries from the 80s, it is elevated with some great production value and quite a good direction. But flawed by a shall we say, somewhat distracted performances from the leads actors and it suffers from a few excesses that thankfully Bob has remedied with this release:


A/V quality, I have to say I really enjoyed the Black and White treatment - it fits the time period, look and film of the movie perfectly. And with it, one of the 90s excesses I mentioned has been resolved in one fell swoop: the somewhat over the top coloring of the film is thankfully gone for good, and the experience is all the better for it.

The inclusion of classic radio clips as a framing device is a dead on way to introduce a character like the Shadow and the editing is completely seamless, and given that the original source is a years old DVD encode I applaud what has been accomplished on this edit.

However I did notice some slight stretching of the frame to the sides throughout the edit, and perhaps this is an issue of the original encode and not much can be done about it. - All in all a solid 9/10.


Visual Editing - Not a single noticeable cut, the whole edit flows completely unhindered and its quite enjoyable. As mentioned,I enjoyed the The B&W treatment quite a bit, and some added effects were added on top - scratches and marks here and there that I understand are meant to give a period piece look and feel, but felt just a tad too much at times (such as when Cranston is being driven by his loyal Cabbie associate/friend), nothing too hindering but I wish they'd be toned down juuust a little bit. 9/10

Audio Edition - In a word : perfect. As mentioned, some Radio clips were seamlessly added on top of a brand new credits sequence that fits perfectly with the edit; a very few scenes from the main feature were suppressed and I couldn't find a single noticeable change. 10/10

Narrative - The narrative from the original is pretty much intact, and it's a good thing; the quite flat tension release humor is completely gone and the most over the top scenes involving Lamont Cranston's dubious past were smartly trimmed down to show the audience what is necessary to follow the plot. 10/10

Enjoyment - A real pleasure, I enjoyed the experienced thoroughly for the reasons already exposed. 10/10

In shot, another not to be missed quality release from bionicbob, congrats :)

I saw this one in the theater and loved it right away. The movie is a solid throwback with some minor pacing flaws and a few weak jokes. BionicBob realizes this and simply makes minor cuts to make a good movie even better. I did not notice any editing flaws and the pacing has been improved and feels great. It's just a tighter and better movie now.

My only complaint is a personal one and I'm even conflicted on it: the use of black and white. BionicBob was trying to make this seem like a movie right out of the 50's so black and white works fine, but the problem is that the movie also looks great in color. The scientist being colorblind also does not work so well in black and white.

That being said, the edit is great and I highly recommend it.

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.

Bill

Warning: I watched this edit in 640p. Please take that into account when reading this review.

The Shadow Strikes! is a prime example of how little really needs to be changed in order to turn an OK movie into a really good one. The switch to black and white should always have happened. Many bad lines are removed. That godawful prologue is right where it's supposed to be: gone. No more red fingernails; no more goofy as hell knife fight; no more bad wig, and Lord has the movie improved from that massive flaw alone.

A/V Quality: 9
-Visual Editing: 9
Taking FCE's limitations into account, this was fantastic. Not taking them into account? It's still fantastic. The bright colors of the theatrical release are gone here in lieu of a more classical low contrast black and white. So many people use black and white wrong: the shadows are too dark, the visuals are too sharp, etc. BionicBob nailed it. Scenes that were cut, trimmed, and added were seamless. If I had seen this the first time, I wouldn't have known the difference.
The opening crawl did seem like your basic slideshow but considering the terrible, terrible, original opening it was still a vast improvement and I did like seeing the gallery of Shadow artwork through the ages.
Possibly the only thing I would have done without was the film scratch effects during the scene transitions. For the most part these were fine, but every now and then they would noticeably fade from the screen. Removing them altogether probably would have been for the best, but now I'm just being nitpicky. They didn't ruin the movie for me at all.

Audio Editing: 10

The cut one-liners are a more than welcome removal that adds a sinister 40's serial tone that the theatrical cut had always tragically lacked. No more "Oh, that knife," either. That alone was a wonderful thing. The removal of the Shadow's one-liners during his fights also added a nice bit of intensity that the original didn't provide.

Narrative: 10

I didn't like the decision to cut the cringeworthy prologue just because it was bad and needed to disappear. I also found that the removal added something that the movie desperately needed: a sense of mystery. Suddenly the Shadow became an enigma. He still has a past in Tibet, but now that past is illustrated in hints, lines, and visions that make the viewer think. The Shadow's history is no longer spoonfed right off the bat, and as a result the sense of wonder survives to the end.
The change in color scale also served a purpose. What was once hokey and stupid in bright cartoon colors is now charming and funny in a more mature black and white. The entire atmosphere has replaced goofy camp with a certain golden-age charm that reflects a simpler time.

Enjoyment: 10

I'll admit, I wasn't too fond of The Shadow when I watched it for the first time since I was four. I snagged it out of a bargain bin and still felt jilted. Sure it picked up and improved along the way, but it still wasn't good enough for me, and the DVD just got packed away in a box.
If I'd picked up The Shadow Strikes! however, I would have had it in my DVD player far more often. BionicBob, you have turned a crappy B-movie into the love letter to old serials that the Shadow had always deserved. Thank you.