Any chance of a WS version of "The Shadow"? (1 Viewer)

[Andy Sheets]

I recently read somewhere that The Shadow is back in film development, so maybe if that actually gets made they'll finally give the Baldwin film a proper release.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Count me in on wanting this baby in WS, I have the full bitrate version on DTS, I couldn't resist getting it for the DTS and boy, some killer bass & surrounds there.

 

[David Podjasek]

The other ones out of those batches that always bugged me... TimeCop and Sudden Death (Van Damme movies). Both should be 2.35:1 I believe.

Never did take the bait on any of them, but if they were widescreen I'd get them.

 

[Frank@N]

It's been awhile, but I remember Time Cop being OK.

Please Universal, how about some barebones reissues (The Shadow, The Paper, Time Cop, Sudden Death)?

 

[Joel C]

They finally re-released Babe, so there's still hope. If nothing else, they'll eventually be out on hi-def DVD.

 

[Chip_HT]

i wonder if putting it out around the time batman begins came out could have helped, since they are similiar heroes in a way

 

[Henry Gale]

For some reason I've got 2 LDs of The Shadow, one is DTS.
Both are W I D E S C R E E N. (How's that Steve?)

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Oh, and Batman Begins unmercifully rips off The Shadow's basic story line. I'm surprised no one sued.

Dan

 

[Joel C]

I wouldn't say they are that close at all, aside from the whole "trained in the east" bit, which is hardly original.

 

[todd s]

Well, I ended up getting a used WS laserdisc of the Shadow. Luckily, it cost less than $9 buck...and $5 of that was for shipping. As much as I would like a dvd version. I just can't purchase a pan & scan.

 

[Philo MacDuff]

I wonder why its pan & scan if it was shot full negative. Wouldn't it be open matte if they weren't going to go widescreen on the DVD? Maybe for incomplete effects shots?

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Simple enough... it was hardmatted to 1.85:1 and all visual effects were created with that ratio in mind. S/FX are usually created at the OAR rather than FULL frame to save on creation time and the S/FX budget.

LOTR was shot Super 35 for the principal footage, but the S/FX were framed at ~2.35:1, so even the "full frame" version had many shots that were cropped or panned and scanned.

Dan

 

[Antony James]

As far as the Shadow/Batman thing goes, Bob Kane himself has admitted to the Shadow being a big influence on the creation of Batman. (He also credits Zorro, too.)

So if you truly don't think that the Shadow and Batman have anything in common, you might wanna take it up with him.

 

[Seppo]

The Region 2 WS release looked quite nice on a 92" screen. Some grain, softness but no EE. The film's story is a bit lackluster & predictable, but it still remains at the "3 stars out of 5" level for me. The best thing about the whole movie is the magnificent score! I really love it.

 

[Philo MacDuff]

Same here! It's one of my favorites by Jerry Goldmsith and I frequently listen to it.

I liked the choice of Alec Baldwin and some of the imagery but the uneven tone and story didn't win me over. There's a wealth of material to be explored with the Shadow's agents and the whole issue of the Shadow's real identity.

I was a huge fan of the short lived comic book that came out in the 80's starting with the Howard Chaykin books and continuing with the Helfer/Sienkiewicz/Baker run, (the covers shown on the other page) I have all those issues.

When I first heard about the Baldwin film I was hoping it was going to go in the direction of those modern comics instead of the traditional approach they took. It would have been a mind blowing twisted movie with a dark contemporary edge the Shadow needs. It was some time after the cancellation of that series when I heard Conde Nast wasn't happy with the unorthodox portrayal of the character and forced DC to end it. I wonder what they have in mind for the new film.

---
Thanks Dan for clearing that up about the aspect ratio.

 

[todd s]

I agree with the above posters. The score was great. I was able to find the "out of print" soundtrack for around $20.

And as much as I like Alec Baldwin in the role. He hasn't aged that well in the 12 years since the movie came out. You need to go with a younger actor...especially if they plan on sequels.

 

[Jerome Grate]

That sucks, because it's certainly a really fun and great sounding film. I have the fullscreen DTS and just love it.

 

[Max Leung]

A guilty pleasure for me...fun movie!

Steve's little outburst is also very entertaining.

 

[Philo MacDuff]

A new movie in the works from Columbia and Sam Raimi!

Hollywood Reporter story here.

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

So, maybe if the movie goes forward (Uslan's projects are almost always stuck in dev. hell), we'll get a special edition from Universal to cash in? It'd be nice anyway... The Shadow's my favorite "comic book" movie after Superman