23 reviews
Shadow film
This really wouldn't look out of place as a student film. Leaden script, poor acting and a plot that never really gets going are just a few of the things that can be said. Caine is OK, but you get the feeling that the rest of the cast just don't care. In fact with better production values and a little more believable action this film could have been at least half-way decent. In the mid- to late-sixties there may have been a call for this type of film but not now. Then, it would have been slightly dangerous and risque, perhaps even exciting (then again perhaps not). Now it collects dust as it sits on the shelves of the local video outlet (really - it does!). The film is just a shadow of what could have been.
Ominous thriller
- HotToastyRag
- Nov 30, 2017
- Permalink
Shadow Crawl
- MartynGryphon
- Dec 7, 2004
- Permalink
Dreadful caper film
Dull and frequently inept caper film is never suspenseful and often seems to make little sense. Caine is a veteran criminal who kills numerous people, seemingly for no other reason than to show what a dangerous bastard he is and to make the audience fear for the life of a chubby kid that the movie keeps cutting to. Film stars out with said chubby little boy stumbling across a van with blood dripping out of the back. Caine pops up. warns the boy menacingly that he didn't see a thing, gives him a twenty pound note and sends him on his way. The boy promptly goes to school and tells everyone he comes into contact with what he saw, but since he's prone to exaggeration and tall tales nobody believes him. Of course, since there's no indication that Caine cleaned up the crime scene and since the film takes place not in a big city but in a more remote part of England, you would think something would turn up to corroborate the boy's story. Things just get worse from there. Initially the scenes in Shadow Run seem so disconnected I thought the director was filming out of order ala Pulp Fiction. Nope. Michael Caine's character is at the heart of what's wrong with the movie: he's a vet thief that who seems to kill someone in cold blood every twenty minutes or so. At one point he admonishes a confederate in the next job for trying to figure out a way to pull off the robbery without killing any innocent people. What kind of thief wants to kill if it isn't necessary? If Caine were some twenty year old hothead you might be able to buy it, but a man in his late sixties? It hardly seems likely that Caine's character would live as long as he has or that anyone would want to work with or hire such a psycho. His character isn't believable and neither is this boring and dreadful film.
Worst Michael Caine movie ever
Being a devoted Michael Caine fan I was horrified after watching "Shadow Run" that I indeed had spent money on the DVD. Usually even if Michael Caine stars in a bad movie he himself is still a pleasure to watch. Somehow this doesn´t seem to be the case here. I don´t know who to blame first.
- Koberstein
- Mar 8, 2002
- Permalink
Worst British film ever???
This film is dreadful. It could have been so good....Caine, Tim Healy, James Fox, Lesie Grantham, but it sucks to high heaven.
Did Caine have a big bill to pay the year he made this? It looks like an episode of Wycliffe or as if it was made exclusively for Channel 5, but even these are too much like compliments foe what is a truly dreadful film.
The credits look like they were done on an Amiga 500.
In terms of the scenery, they seem to be going for the 'Inspector Morse' look, but it fails miserably. The child actors are hilariously bad....do private schools still exist like this?
Total and utter dross...I know Caine likes to keep busy but maybe it is time he started taking some pride in his output.
Did Caine have a big bill to pay the year he made this? It looks like an episode of Wycliffe or as if it was made exclusively for Channel 5, but even these are too much like compliments foe what is a truly dreadful film.
The credits look like they were done on an Amiga 500.
In terms of the scenery, they seem to be going for the 'Inspector Morse' look, but it fails miserably. The child actors are hilariously bad....do private schools still exist like this?
Total and utter dross...I know Caine likes to keep busy but maybe it is time he started taking some pride in his output.
Dreadful and a complete embarrassment to the cast - even Leslie Grantham
- paul_myland
- Feb 6, 2007
- Permalink
Not Good Enough
- delfranklin1969
- Jan 29, 2011
- Permalink
Good acting, decent thriller, little disappointing
It took quite a while before I could figure out all of the pieces of this scheme and the people involved which I enjoy. I don't like to know everything within the first ten minutes. Caine plays a crook and somehow manages to get a local schoolboy involved in his scheme. Or the schoolboy decides to help Caine with his crime. Caine is a great actor. He is very believable as always. Good dialogue and other actors were very good (Caine's callgirl, School Headmaster and Professor). There aren't any hum-drum moments in this film. The excitement/suspense slowly keeps building up scene after scene. The gigantic church on the outskirts of town becomes the focal point of the heist becoming a success and at the last minute they have to shake it down so their plan won't fail. There's a lot of suspense and tense moments. Caine winds up being too ruthless for my tastes and the ending kind of fell short for me. But it's worth a look.
I had to pinch myself that watching this film was not a bad dream
Quality English crime drama
The English do it so well. No thousand-bullet shoot outs (that almost all miss the target), no silly car chase, no pseudo- moralistic theme that the bad guys suffer and righteousness will prevail. Just a plausible story, superb acting, and great directing and production.
A corrupt security official (Fox) knows when the truck will leave and who else knows the codes. He also knows Haskell (Caine), an evil and unscrupulous career crook. They scheme to hijack the truck that has tons of special bank-note paper.
Enter an unlovely schoolboy (in his one and only movie credit). He hinders but strangely also helps the heist. There are other awful schoolboys who are part of the twists and turns of the story.
A radio black-out is organised, they divert the truck to a lonely road. There are a few casualties along the way, and eventually just one bullet, and one car explosion. Fitting!
There are good performances from support cast including Tim Healy and Rupert Frazer. OK, so it's not perfect, there is a strange, unexplained scene where the boy controls a cage on a construction site and Haskell conveniently goes inside it. A minor detail.
A corrupt security official (Fox) knows when the truck will leave and who else knows the codes. He also knows Haskell (Caine), an evil and unscrupulous career crook. They scheme to hijack the truck that has tons of special bank-note paper.
Enter an unlovely schoolboy (in his one and only movie credit). He hinders but strangely also helps the heist. There are other awful schoolboys who are part of the twists and turns of the story.
A radio black-out is organised, they divert the truck to a lonely road. There are a few casualties along the way, and eventually just one bullet, and one car explosion. Fitting!
There are good performances from support cast including Tim Healy and Rupert Frazer. OK, so it's not perfect, there is a strange, unexplained scene where the boy controls a cage on a construction site and Haskell conveniently goes inside it. A minor detail.
"You and me have an arrangement, son"
Let's face it, Shadow Run isn't action packed. It's a kind of slow burner that kind of flickers slightly for a while. That said, if you're in the right mood it's okay. Caine is gangster who finds out, via James Fox, that he can get his hands on the paper the Royal Mint use to make bank notes, and starts getting a crew together for a heist. However, he's also having to deal with an unpopular public school boy who witnesses his last heist. The story jumps between Caine getting the heist together, and this boy's bullying at the school. That's, err, basically it. You've got Tim Healy here too, and Leslie Grantham (thankfully nowhere near a webcam!). Things run along smoothly, but there's not real action in it. It's not a bad movie, just a bit bland. Hence the short review.
One of the worst I've ever seen
We know why Michael Caine would take a roll in a piece of trash like this... This master actor has at least one huge folly. He is panic stricken whenever he is out of work, thinking that he'll never work again...so, he takes anything that comes along when he's finished with his last film. Sometimes it is shear garbage that comes along. It was fun watching the crew's reflections in Sir Michael's sunglasses. Didn't look like there were too many of them either. You sure this wasn't a student film. It sure looked like it. And I don't think they got a passing grade either! Bizarre production financing company too (maybe that's a clue to the cluelessness of it all). Some Industrial company. My guess is they supplied all the construction sites for free.
Shadow Run's indelible legacy are all of its sublimely plentiful peccadilloes!
According to Adam Ant 'Ridicule is nothing to be scared of...'so I'm unapologetically bigging up the fallaciously forgotten, unfairly misbegotten Michael Caine 90s heist flick 'Shadow Run' (1998). While this competently made crime potboiler has a serviceable plot, and attractive scenery, 'Shadow Run' is manifestly all about Sir Michael Caine's renowned prowess for creating indelibly fascinating rogues, and alongside the inimitable 'Caine', there's an equally 'able' cast!!!!??? Namely, James Fox, Kenneth Colley, Christopher Casenove, Tim Healey, and some especially enjoyable work from TV hero Leslie Grantham who has a palpable screen chemistry with the iconic Caine.
Happily, 'Shadow Run' proved to be far more eccentric in its execution than I could ever have hoped for, and while an aloof James Fox never fully engages with the pulpy material, a stern, darkly energized Michael Caine is magisterially menacing as the sadistic strangler Haskell, and 'Shadow Run' arguably contains the finest 'Thematically apropos pointing with a mustard-tipped sausage' acting that I have ever seen! Meaty stuff indeed!!!! While many seem overly hung up on the modest budget and formulaic text, I relished the wonderfully unexpected whimsicality therein, with Geoffrey Reeve's 'Shadow Run' frequently playing out like a glossier, feature-length episode of 'Dempsey and Makepeace', incongruently intertwined with a bizarrely retrograde Billy Bunter-esque subplot!!!!?? Another major plus being the scintillatingly perky presence of Rae Baker, who makes for some salaciously snackable screen candy! While this agreeably bucolic, visibly low budget B-thriller is appropriately pacey, Shadow Run's indelible legacy are all of its sublimely plentiful peccadilloes!
Happily, 'Shadow Run' proved to be far more eccentric in its execution than I could ever have hoped for, and while an aloof James Fox never fully engages with the pulpy material, a stern, darkly energized Michael Caine is magisterially menacing as the sadistic strangler Haskell, and 'Shadow Run' arguably contains the finest 'Thematically apropos pointing with a mustard-tipped sausage' acting that I have ever seen! Meaty stuff indeed!!!! While many seem overly hung up on the modest budget and formulaic text, I relished the wonderfully unexpected whimsicality therein, with Geoffrey Reeve's 'Shadow Run' frequently playing out like a glossier, feature-length episode of 'Dempsey and Makepeace', incongruently intertwined with a bizarrely retrograde Billy Bunter-esque subplot!!!!?? Another major plus being the scintillatingly perky presence of Rae Baker, who makes for some salaciously snackable screen candy! While this agreeably bucolic, visibly low budget B-thriller is appropriately pacey, Shadow Run's indelible legacy are all of its sublimely plentiful peccadilloes!
- Weirdling_Wolf
- Jun 21, 2022
- Permalink
Shadow Run's redeeming features
I think the film has great atmosphere, with its contrasting seediness of the gangsters and the magnificence of the cathedral and its music. Joffrey's character, too, is interestingly developed, and gives credibility as to why he should be drawn to character like that of Haskell. I do not see Haskell's failure to kill Joffrey as inconsistent. Rather, it suggests that Haskell has some redeeming qualities and, like the rest of us, is not all bad. One can understand why he would hesitate to kill a child, not least because he senses the boy's admiration for him. Kenneth Colley provides an excellent supporting role . His willingness to die without further treatment in order to help his ex-wife financially suggests a certain nobility of character. I certainly do not agree with the reviewer's dismissal of the film as second rate. It has a style and quality of its own which makes it enjoyable to watch and provokes thought.
Decent Crime Yarn
- georgewilliamnoble
- Apr 8, 2016
- Permalink
in defence of this film...
i picked this up in a charity shop, one of them freebie CD's that you occasionally find - this one was part of the 'Michael Caine Collection' given away with some British newspaper once. Anyway i have spent all week watching the 1988 adaptation of 'Jack The Ripper' starring MC, so thought i would follow it up with this...
in defence of this movie, the plot is a bit daft, i agree, but it is a great experience to see Leslie Grantham and Caine acting for large periods of time in the same scenes. I also thought that the addition of that guy who plays the General in the Star Wars movies IV-VI was good too, as he is a largely underused actor, in my opinion.
so whilst i possibly agree the film is weak, the chance to see a few quality British actors together on camera is worth it. I also find it quite surprising that a big time actor like Caine would get caught up in such a trivial movie filmed in the UK. There was a reason for the Ripper TV movie, as it was a semi-investigative journalist type film to 'commemorate' (not sure if that is the best phrase to use) the 100 years since Jack The Ripper.
Read earlier here that someone wanted to know whether public schools like that exist. Well i studied music at a pre-1992 UK university and believe me - staff like that depicted in this film DO exist.
in defence of this movie, the plot is a bit daft, i agree, but it is a great experience to see Leslie Grantham and Caine acting for large periods of time in the same scenes. I also thought that the addition of that guy who plays the General in the Star Wars movies IV-VI was good too, as he is a largely underused actor, in my opinion.
so whilst i possibly agree the film is weak, the chance to see a few quality British actors together on camera is worth it. I also find it quite surprising that a big time actor like Caine would get caught up in such a trivial movie filmed in the UK. There was a reason for the Ripper TV movie, as it was a semi-investigative journalist type film to 'commemorate' (not sure if that is the best phrase to use) the 100 years since Jack The Ripper.
Read earlier here that someone wanted to know whether public schools like that exist. Well i studied music at a pre-1992 UK university and believe me - staff like that depicted in this film DO exist.
- chilla-black
- Mar 26, 2009
- Permalink
Not As Bad As Reviewers Here Seem to Think
Wow, I guess other reviewers here were expecting "Harry Brown" or some other superlative Caine movie, which this was not! However, this film held my attention all the way through and I'm happy I didn't listen to the wankers' whining. The only weak point for me was the end montage which looked a bit dated. I enjoyed this flick more than I expected to!
The boy who cried murder....and from one of the most cold-blooded murderers as well.
- planktonrules
- Dec 13, 2020
- Permalink
Dear oh dear.....
- jmupton2003
- Aug 21, 2006
- Permalink
Robbed of £1
Like a previous poster, I availed of this film in Woolworths in Blackpool while on a trip and pretty flush for cash. I still feel aggrieved. Truly, the worst film I have ever witnessed. The plot is ridiculous, in particular the killing of the prostitute. Why?
It really is an embarrassment to film making. Unbelievably dire. What was Caine thinking? Indeed what was Leslie Grantham thinking. This was his worst decision prior to the web cam episode. The kid is only likable because he is fat and ugly, and you cant help but feel that he's the type to be bullied. The choir aspect is pointless, and I struggle to recall a worse film ever! Well maybe American Dreamz.
It really is an embarrassment to film making. Unbelievably dire. What was Caine thinking? Indeed what was Leslie Grantham thinking. This was his worst decision prior to the web cam episode. The kid is only likable because he is fat and ugly, and you cant help but feel that he's the type to be bullied. The choir aspect is pointless, and I struggle to recall a worse film ever! Well maybe American Dreamz.
- paul-bishop-1
- Oct 11, 2006
- Permalink
Why???
This film is a poor example of how bad British Film-making can be. This was given to me free with my DVD player and it is the biggest waste of money I have never spent in my life. It looks like it was made in the 1980's and imagine my disbelief when I found out it was it was only filmed in 1998. I do despair that people willingly parted with their money to fund this dire waste of film stock. It is an embarrassment to all those people involved in the making, funding, acting and the viewing public.
The only good thing about this film is that the DVD does make a fantastic coaster.
Please, if I only do one right thing in my life, it should be to warn you. Do not watch this film.
The only good thing about this film is that the DVD does make a fantastic coaster.
Please, if I only do one right thing in my life, it should be to warn you. Do not watch this film.
A woefully inept attempt at intrigue and suspense
Well, it's not surprising that this opus has hardly been seen by anyone. Leadenly directed, wretchedly scripted and with a visual appeal comparable to an episode of a tenth rate BBC-TV crime series, the movie is a complete misfire. Caine, however, is as watchable as ever, but genrally, Shadow Run is an embarrassment.