Disturbing yet enthralling

Absolutely the worst movie.

A lot of fun.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

While the man plot line of Shadow Run is Michael Caine's assignment from James Fox to steal a security van, the side-plot is much more interesting. Matthew Pochin, a young boy in a Catholic school, comes across a dead body in the beginning of the movie. Michael Caine approaches the boy and tells him to keep his mouth shut, but even though he was wearing a ski mask, there's no mistaking his accent. When Matthew sees him in town later, he recognizes him instantly.Even though the second lead in the film is a child, this is far from a family-friendly film. Michael Caine is pretty ruthless and the bodies start piling up pretty quickly. This wasn't my favorite of his performances, though, because he's written out as a pretty one-dimensional, cold killer. There's no underlying emotions that he shows the audience, as he does in Shiner, so if you're looking for a great Michael Caine performance, this isn't the movie to watch. Matthew Pochin is very likable, though, especially because he gets picked on at school so he's all alone except for the audience's support. All in all, it's a very tense movie, with the threat of violence as evident as the violence itself. If you like creepy movies, or crime films set in Catholic schools like Absolution or The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, you might like this better than I did.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Like another reviewer i found this film at a charity shop and paid a few pence. Now Michael Caine, for me has always had star quality though i admit his choice of work has been suspect rather to often, but then to the working class hard work is a reward in its self and a virtue.Here Caine plays a hardened criminal who knows all the ropes and will casually commit murder as a simply necessity but is undone by his unwillingness to exterminate a young put a pone public school boy bullied at his highbrow posh Oxford like school.While i admit this film has a very average TV look to its visuals and a cast of TV faces, Caine a part, the basic crime plot has strength though the pace is lethargic and the characters a little card board the plight of the young lad at the posh school who finds a role life model in the frame of Caine's career criminal has its interesting points. In the end, this a TV movie that entertains more than not on the personality of its star Michael Caine, who can do gangster very well.Remember "Get Carter" from 1971, the director of that Brit classic is the only movie industry personality i have every actually met. By the way he was a very nice man indeed, a gentleman in fact.As for "Shadow Run" no classic but far better than most of its revues would have you believe.

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.

CONTAINS SPOILERS - NOT THAT YOU ARE MISSING MUCH MIND! There are good bad movies and there are bad bad movies. Then there are British made totally unintelligible straight to video vehicles such as this codswallop.The plot - for want of a much better word and assuming you can find it that is - basically concerns Michael Caine's dodgy violent armed robber working for an equally dodgy but well connected gentleman (played with slimy smoothness by Edward Fox) in order to lift a van load of banknote paper which we later see, appears to be transported around in the most insecure high security van I have ever seen!! The instrument by which the plot circulates around is something to do with hitting the van when it is in a radio black spot that has been amplified by some steel scaffolding on the nearby cathedral – any science student will tell you this plot device is a load of cobblers for a starter.Along the way as the film plod very slowly onwards we meet some paper thin cardboard cut out henchman including Leslie Grantham who plays the angry cockney wide boy from the east end of London who provides the muscle for the robbery – in other words exactly the same role he plays in pretty much everything he has ever appeared in so no typecasting there then…..The script is woeful, the plot almost non existent and the supposedly inter-weaved storyline about the large choirboy, his rather unpleasant mates and the girl he fancies is completely pointless and irrelevant, making up a large part of the film that should have been jettisoned at the first script read through as it would never have been missed.The clichés are free flowing pretty much throughout. Be it the hilarious meeting of Michael Caine and his employer around a picnic table in the middle of what looks suspiciously like a disused cement works in deepest darkest Surrey or Grantham's stereotype cockney villain.Along the way we also encounter an escort girl who adds nothing to the story whatsoever except she is nice to look at, some quite nice scenery and actually some decent camera work.However the heist itself which supposedly is meant to be at the centre of the story takes ages to eventually turn up, is handled badly, has huge plot holes you could drive a bus through and quite frankly the tarted up cheap and cheerful ex British Gas van is not fooling anyone! Also for such a high security cargo, you would expect at least to find a) an armed Police escort and b) a much sturdier van than the second hand rust bucket that this film's budget seemingly only just managed to stretch to.I can only assume the quite stellar cast were in desperate need of the cash, they certainly would not have done this film to win any awards except maybe a golden raspberry.And for their efforts, this rubbish that was already old and dated when it was made, lurked on a shelf unreleased for years and then went straight to a £1 DVD release in the 'Cheap Tat' section of my local supermarket!!