Any Shadow fans?

[bigbud]

Hi ya Illo! I sculpted him in wax and cast him in resin (plastic).......Buddy

[bigbud]

Kaluta Shadow on my wall.........(not a good photo,,,,,under glass and my own shadow in pic)   Buddy

[Illoman]

Kaluta Shadow on my wall.........(not a good photo,,,,,under glass and my own shadow in pic)   Buddy

Bud, now *that* is something to kill for!!! That's drop dead gorgeous!!! I own a Dr Strange sketch by P Craig Russell that I almost had to kill for! LOL!!!

[bigbud]

Illo........Anything "Shadow" is very cool! I agree with you on the Baldwin movie.....Not good!........  I had such hopes it would be true to the pulps......Nuts!    Buddy

[Scatter]

Not very familiar with The Shadow myself.........what was lacking in the Alec Baldwin movie??

[Anton Phibes]

Oh yeah--I forgot---I got this too......

[Illoman]

Oh yeah--I forgot---I got this too......

Anton, you're *killing* me!!! LOL!!!!

[bigbud]

Illo, Looks like you are the only one without a Shadow original sketch......what's with that?

Scatter....It has to be difficult to convey the mystery and suspense of a Shadow story. I guess that's because the mind can see more in reading a Shadow novel than can be projected on the screen. In the beginning of the movie the Shadow silently drives  up to an oriental on a bridge in the fog......I think he was about to jump.....as they drive along the Shadow calls his passenger by name.......the passenger is stunned, even horrified, and asks "How did you know who I am?".......The driver (Shadow) laughs his mirthless almost demonic laugh and says "The Shadow knows!"  I audibly groaned in the theatre. In comparison to his actions in the pulps that scene was utterly ridiculous. Even moronic. The Shadow didn't read men's minds in the literal sense, but through deductive reasoning with mental powers like a modern day (modern for the 30's and 40's) Sherlock Holmes he deciphered evil-doers schemes, and thwarted them! The movie was straight downhill from there for me.......and many other Shadow fans..........Buddy

[Anton Phibes]

The Alec Baldwin thing to me followed the radio program more than any comics or pulp novels. The whole invisibility and mind control angle was definitely radio inspired.  With a little borrowing from Chaykin's Shamballa and evil Lamont stuff. I thought it was ok. The only part that reminded me of the Kaluta comics was the sequence on the bridge with "Duke" and his boys. That was classic.

[RICKH]

Here's some of my original Kaluta Shadow art.  I've posted this before under the REH thread, but for those who haven't seen it...


As for the Baldwin movie, what a disappointment!  I thought at the time, "They've blown it!  I'!ve waited this long for Hollywood to make a big budget Shadow movie, and they screw it up!!!!!!  Will I ever see a faithful adaptation of the Shadow in my lifetime?"  Now it seems that Sam Raimi is involved in bringing a new Shadow movie to the screen and from what I've read about it  there may be hope.   

[Illoman]

I still maintain that there hasn't been a decent film adaptation of *any* pulp character: the two Conan films were absolute crap, the Shadow we've discussed, George Pal got royally screwed by his movie company while he was making the Doc Savage film, etc.... I don't really know if Tarzan started as novels or in the pulps. I'll have to consult an expert...

[Anton Phibes]

I still maintain that there hasn't been a decent film adaptation of *any* pulp character: the two Conan films were absolute crap, the Shadow we've discussed, George Pal got royally screwed by his movie company while he was making the Doc Savage film, etc.... I don't really know if Tarzan started as novels or in the pulps. I'll have to consult an expert...

Sam Raimi's name has been attached to a potentially R rated Shadow project for years. Apparently he's a fan and wants the visceral, grimey, inner city, pulp version of the character with his network of agents to be featured in a film that has nothing to do with mind control, and everything to do with colt .44's a blazing. One can hope one day it happens.....

[Wich2]

>I don't really know if Tarzan started as novels or in the pulps<

[RICKH]

Mike, I agree with your assessment of the pulp character movies.  I did enjoy Greystoke though.  Doc Savage, gosh it makes the Baldwin Shadow look like Citizen Kane.  It always seems that the writers or directors ignore the elements that made the original material so successful.  It appears that there is the idea that the characters cannot be successful unless they are made to resemble whatever is currently popular in superhero movies i.e., The Shadow/Burton's Batman and Doc Savage/Televison's Batman.
As for the Conan movies, I enjoyed the original Beastmaster  and The Sword and the Sorcerer much more.  They seemed to capture the spirit of pulp sword and sorcery much better than the Conan movies.

[Illoman]

Mike, I agree with your assessment of the pulp character movies.  I did enjoy Greystoke though.  Doc Savage, gosh it makes the Baldwin Shadow look like Citizen Kane.  It always seems that the writers or directors ignore the elements that made the original material so successful.  It appears that there is the idea that the characters cannot be successful unless they are made to resemble whatever is currently popular in superhero movies i.e., The Shadow/Burton's Batman and Doc Savage/Televison's Batman.
As for the Conan movies, I enjoyed the original Beastmaster  and The Sword and the Sorcerer much more.  They seemed to capture the spirit of pulp sword and sorcery much better than the Conan movies.

The main problem I had with the Conan films is they ignored the source material. They were decent sword and sorcery epics, but they were *not* the Conan of the novels. The closest anyone has gotten to the flavor of Robert E Howard's prose was Boris Karloff's Thriller adaptation of Pigeons from Hell. That episode is widely regarded as the best from that series.