Product Details

• Actors: Daniel Baldwin, Courtney Gains, Rance Howard, Angus MacFadyen, Michael Spears
• Directors: Dean Alioto
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: ANCHOR BAY
• DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0026IQTO0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,551 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Genre: Westerns
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 4-AUG-2009
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Starts Flat and Never Gets Going, August 26, 2009

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shadowheart (DVD)

(What's this?)

Shadowheart promises to be a thrilling western about a man who returns for vengeance on his father's murder, only to "discover a Native American world where justice has no nameand vengeance rides in the shadows." From this, Shadowheart sounds very promising. As other reivewers correctly note, however, the film falls far, far from its description. The story is slow going (taking about 30 wandering minutes to really take shape), and the meeting of this Native American tribe (of two Native Americans) is, at best, a wandering side plot to a wandering main plot.

THE BEST: If there is anything that brings Shadowheart to life, it is the wonderful acting by Angus MacFayden (Saw V, Californication) who portrays an absolutely WONDERFUL villian in the murderous mayor Will Tunney. MacFayden undoes at least a little bit of the damage done by the overall stiff acting and awkward dialogue ("Dead or alive? I prefer...dead!") It is not exaggeration to say that if MacFayden hadn't been cast in the role he was, I'd have given the film two less stars.

THE WORST: What really killed this film is the very wandering plot (guy sees his father die, fights in the civil war, comes back to hometown, gets married, attempts to lock up fathers killder...). In addition, the dialogue and plot line has a bit too many cliches for me.

My reccomendation? With its meandering plot, dearth of suspense, and cheesy dialogue, you should pass.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best of westerns, September 20, 2009

By 

Esperanza Reynolds "Hope Reynolds" (Miami Lakes, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowheart (DVD)

(What's this?)

Shadowheart is the story about a boy growing up in the west who witnesses his father murdered by a callous man played by Angus Macfadyen who is hell bent in becoming a land baron by robbing people of their land at whatever the cost.

James Conners played by Justin Ament goes off to grow up and joins the ranks in the Civil War, witnessing horrific acts and learning to survive. He returns to avenge his father and marry the girl he left behind, Mary Cooper played by Marnie Alton.

They marry but do not live for long in happiness for she is killed and thanks to Native American Indians, James Conners in the end avenges his father, finding peace and living up to the image of Shadowheart, a transformed individual thanks to his experiences while living with his Navajo friends.

The movie is predictable, the characters are not well developed, and while the filming scenes are enjoyable, we found this movie lacking the style of great westerns.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money and your time, August 25, 2009

By 

Kathlyn Storey "Kathlyn A Storey" (Rancho Murieta, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowheart (DVD)

(What's this?)

My husband I watched this movie last night. I don't "book review" movies because that information can be found in other reviews and the product description. We love westerns, have watched them for over 50 years, and have a great respect for the older, and more recent, great ones in the genre, such as Shane, High Noon, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Unforgiven, Open Range, among others. Shadowheart cannot be mentioned in the same sentence with great westerns. My husband gave it 1 ½ stars; I had to give it one star because 0 stars cannot be posted. Here is why:

The first 10 minutes of the movie lays out the plot, which does catch your attention. Unfortunately, after the initial promise, from then on everything goes straight downhill, whether it is the story (predictable), dialogue (leaves a lot to be desired), acting (fair to poor), or directing (out to lunch). I personally didn't think it was possible to muddle the themes of revenge and redemption; however, this movie does a fairly good job of it.

The movie is relentlessly depressing. It starts out badly, and from there, it just gets worse. In that respect only, it strongly reminded me of an excellent 1967 movie called Welcome to Hard Times. Otherwise, there is nothing about Shadowheart, the title being explained in a completely confusing way, that is funny, entertaining, uplifting, or fathomable, for that matter. To compound everything, there are blatant attempts to interject revisionist history or political correctness, either with the settlers or the Indians, which have the result of placing the characters in situations doing actions that are entirely unbelievable.

There is no cinematography to speak of, so even if you wanted to just look at the scenery, that isn't an option. The movie isn't worth renting, much less purchasing. I was truly sorry to have spent two hours watching it. It will not be placed in our DVD library, and I cannot think of anyone I dislike enough to give it to.