User reviews

1st watched 2/25/2002 - 4 out of 10(Dir-George P. Cosmatos): Predictable action thriller where any frequent movie goer could guess what was coming next. Charlie Sheen is the good old boy to the President who just happens to be not liked by the rest of the presidential staff. Of course, he gets involved in a situation where he's framed over and over again and he has one friend in the White House, played by Sutherland, who naturally doesn't stay that way for very long. His other friend is a reporter played by Linda Hamilton(who has very little to do or say in this meaningless role), and of course his biggest and bestest friend is the President himself(Sam Waterston) who stays his pal till the end despite everyone else being killed around him. Brainless yet action-packed meaningless trife despite loads and loads of acting talent(all pretty much wasted.)

One wonders how did this screen play got to be made into a thriller movie. The writers had no clue into the many holes they were creating in a story so predictable as this. At the same time, one has to question the studio as to why this movie was approved. The director George Cosmatos must have a more clout among the Hollywood bigwigs than we can think.

I never saw this film when it had a commercial run. It was recently shown on cable, and not having anything better to watch, decided to take a chance. Wow, it's that bad.

The film could have used a more likable hero than Bobby Bishop, blandly played by Charlie Sheen, who whispers his lines incomprehensibly. The pairing of Linda Hamilton with Sheen doesn't add anything to the movie. Donald Sutherland must have a lot to explain to his friends in how he accepted to appear in this picture.

My Take: Routine political thriller with mediocre action scenes and predictable twists.

A rarely seen political thriller, which made a very poor box-office response, I managed to catch THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY on TV just now, and while I was glad that I satisfied my curiosity to see this rare film, I didn't exactly feel this film was all special. Considering the box-office response to it, SHADOW CONSPIRACY is not all quite as bad as critics and the public reacted to it, but still ain't very good to begin with and everything, from script to direction, is pretty predictable. Charlie Sheen plays the presidential assistant who finds himself caught up with assassins and chases (a lot of them) when he discovers a deadly conspiracy which lurks amongst the White House staff. After a professor is murdered, Sheen aids the help of ex-flame reporter Amanda Givens (Linda Hamilton) to uncover the traitor and unlock the conspiracy of the title.

But this script, written by Adi Hasak & Ric Gibbs, are pedestrian as they come, not much differing from other White House conspiracy thrillers as in ABSOLUTE POWER and MURDER AT 1600. Some considerable talents (Donald Sutherland, Ben Gazzara and Stephen Lang) try their best on a routine script, but rarely saves it from predictability of the script. Not to mention a ludicrous scene which involves a toy helicopter, which seems far too silly and out-of-place in this "serious" political thriller. THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY has its moments I'm sure, some of which are much to under-appreciated (director George Pan Cosmatos serves up some decent chase scenes), but none of which lifts this routine thriller of which there's not much payoff or surprises.

Rating: ** out of 5.

Bobby Bishop's role in the White House was never made clear, but when they needed him, they sent a helicopter, and he arrived in a conference room full of suits still wearing his sweaty Princeton sweatshirt. Once he cleaned up and put on his own suit, Bishop went before the press to clear up a public relations problem--after reminding a certain congressman what could happen if said congressman didn't help.

A secret meeting with Prof. Pochenko promised to reveal something not quite kosher in the White House. But a man with a gun wanted the information to stay secret. So Bishop spent the rest of the movie on the run and trying to uncover secrets with the help of Washington Herald reporter Amanda Givens. Meanwhile, someone was capable of monitoring pretty much every phone call that took place in the movie.

I like Charlie Sheen better as a womanizing jerk, but he was just fine here. Both Sheen characters know how to scheme and lie and otherwise be quite charming to get what they want. Donald Sutherland did a credible job as the White House Chief of Staff who didn't have faith in the President's ability. And Sam Waterston didn't exactly inspire confidence as the President. Linda Hamilton was good as Amanda.

This wasn't a great action thriller, but it was good nevertheless. Too violent for my taste (and there was a stern warning on the TV station I watched, even after the movie was cleaned up for TV), but I enjoyed the chases and the occasional comedy.

MST3K fodder. It's so bad it's actually worth seeing just for that reason. There are some hilarious things in it, such as the mysterious device the bad guy is seen working on for the whole movie, that turns out to be this tiny helicopter that flutters around carrying and firing a machine gun without so much as a wobble, but is brought down by a bag of balloons (the kind they release at political conventions). Many other wonderful touches of that sort. Stars Charlie Sheen. There's one scene where he spends five minutes recording a conversation, only to drop the microcassette in the Potomac River by accident. If they'd cast Emilio Estevez in the part that never would've happened.

Bobby Bishop (Sheen) is a close personal advisor to the president but gets out of his depth when shots are fired at him & he learns of a sinister shadow conspiracy within the highest government that is supposed to watch & protect the president.

It's up to Charlie Sheen as Bishop to uncover what is going on & why? Sheen was still a bankable enough star here & i liked 90's Sheen in movies such as the equally awesome & underrated "Terminal Velocity" & the Eastwood Cop Thriller "The Rookie" Sheen was decent back in the day. Here Sheen plays panicked well & he's constantly on the run & the film felt similar to Will Smith's Conspiracy Thriller "Enemy of the State" but that came out later than "Shadow" here. Amongst the cast is Terminator star Linda Hamilton as the local hard-nosed reporter that teams up with Sheen & the veteran movie legend Donald Sutherland as a hugh-up government boss & is supposed to be helping Sheen get to safety!!! Also ww get an unstoppable Assassin role for the scarily intense Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe, VFW) as he pursues Sheen across a rainy Washington DC. I love the 90's look & feel of this comforting Thriller & a decent music score only helps it. There's plenty of action packed scenes that keeps the movie moving constantly & is never boring.

Shadow Conspiracy is a 90's Thriller gem that is probably completely forgotten about today & probably barely made a dent at the box office on it's release way back in 1997 but i like it alot & think it's one entertaining ride. More exciting than it's given credit for.

Also this was director George P. Cosmatos last movie, he made the Cult Classic Stallone Thriller COBRA.

This movie is filled with so many idiotic moments, that you wonder how it ever got made. For example, they get into the sewers from the Capitol and while they're in the sewers you can see signs pointing to various government buildings, and then they come up in the middle of the street! I highly doubt that government buildings would provide public access through the city sewer system. Anyways, I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 just because of its comic value. I laughed the whole way through at the idiocy of everyone involved in this movie.

A lively little B-Movie political thriller that utilizes high-tech surveillance but is hampered by a low-budget. An energetic exercise with not much intrigue but a whole lot of gun-play.

A psycho-killer and a band of conspirators, that are rarely really referenced or fleshed out, attempt to pull of a presidential assassination, so they turn D.C. into a mini war zone chasing one potential foe. The reason for this is not very clear and the convenient contrivances abound.

But it all doesn't matter in this nifty looking movie that has a good deal of style and it is relentless in its montage of cat and mouse shenanigans. Never boring, and that makes up for its limitations and easy essaying.

They make everything too easy in this film. It sort of reminded me of Indiana Jones where he hides on the outside of a submarine during an ocean crossing. Everybody knows everything that's going on, it's just real easy to get anyplace you want in the White House. I don't even know why I watched half of it. Because I like Charlie Sheen and Donald Sutherland. I expect the usual ability to dodge bullets from every angle, and be able to run faster than a motorcycle (usually it's faster than a car in a garage or a allyway). It was silly, mostly, and I didn't even know then had a ten-story elevator in the White House. Anyway, anything conspiratorial is always interesting.

What's all the fuzz ? This is just a really good movie. This movie is the real evidence what a good movie should be for all who like political thrillers. Watch and relax. Don't bother the negativity's. For me a movie is good when it keeps me awake. I can assure you that , in this case it isn't any problem. There is no annoying minute in it. The camera movements are superb. The music score very functional. The acting of the protagonists can't be better. I don't understand why so much comments are negative. Perhaps those people don't like to give positive comments ? Anyway. I only want to give my comment and that's what counts for me. Every review is subjective.

This was not a bad movie, It was not a great movie. But if you like spy/action movies it is worth seeing. It is an entertaining moving. I have to have a minimum of 10 lines to critic this. But I do not think the first critic is correct. So ten lines is an awful lot. My sister says that I don't write enough in letters. How am I supposed to write enough enough in a review. I don't have my glasses on and I cannot see the screen very well, but I thought it would be a good idea to write a review about this movie. It was net that bad of a movie. I'm glad we watched it. Well only one more line to go. Hopefully, this review will be enough for you.

Familiar plot. Familiar reaction. Just maybe, the casting pushes this action/drama through to the end. Bobby Bishop(Charlie Sheen)is a major player in Washington D.C. for he is a special assistant to the President(Sam Waterston). Bobby is given a tip that there is a covert action being put into place to overthrow the government. To find out more details he is to meet Professor Yuri Pochenko(Theodore Bikel)only to watch him be gunned down by a sniper. Bobby's mentor, Jacob Conrad(Donald Sutherland), thinks he is just over reacting. Bishop's former girlfriend Amanda Givens(Linda Hamilton)is known as a sharp investigative reporter and is more than willing to help ferret out this much rumored activity. Bishop finds himself running for his life in a chain of chaos and confusion. A Special Agent(Stephen Lang)is hell-bent on killing him before he can blow the whistle on the attack on the existing government.

Ben Gazzara plays Vice President Saxon and Gore Vidal has the role of Congressman Page. Nicholas Turturro is an expert technician in surveillance. The plot does reach a fever pitch and the action is heavy and exciting. The most believable of the cast is Lang, who seems to have unlimited lives. Sutherland's talents are wasted. Sheen may be taxing his abilities. This movie is better than you may think.

When political aide Bobby Bishop is warned by an old friend of a high level Government conspiracy before witnessing his murder he finds his life turned upside down and pursued by a trained killer. Unsure of who to trust Bishop teams up with journalist Amanda Givens in a race to uncover the conspiracy and clear his name, but who can he trust as the stakes are raised.

This is ultimately a chase movie, the political conspiracy is nothing more than an assassination plot that is wheeled out at the end. Most of the film is Bishop escaping from the killer and trying to uncover the truth. The conspiracy is pretty thin and you can guess who is involved from the first 20 minutes. The way that Bishop manages to uncover this great conspiracy is far too easy and it makes it all feel too lazy. And the assassination attempt is worth seeing just to laugh at how ridiculous it is - I won't spoilt it for you but trust me, it's totally absurd. That leaves the chase element which is quite dull and gets repetitive.

Sheen is not great here - often he can do well in poor films, such as Terminal Velocity, by giving a fun performance. Here he is serious and hunted and must "do" serious throughout. In fact the cast is actually really good on paper - lots of famous faces, Linda Hamilton, Sutherland, Turturro, Paul Gleason, Sam Waterston and Gore Vidal. Gore Vidal for God's sake! How all these people manage to not see that this was going to be a turkey is beyond me. Hamilton is unbelievable and seems content with the fact that it's not just a TVM. Sutherland does his usual stuff and is quite good. But should a poor film like this deserve a cast this deep?

Overall a poor film that relies on lazy plotting to move it's action along. The conspiracy is easily uncovered and the killer is easily avoided. When even Charlie Sheen describes this as "a piece of s***" then you know it's not going to be good. Avoid this - an alternative is Enemy of the State which has similar themes but is much, much better.

Would you be surprised if I told you this movie deals with a conspiracy? How about if I told you the ringleader was a shadow puppet. You don't believe me, do you? This movie could have used a sense of humor. I can understand Charlie Sheen doing this at the time. It was a low period for him, but everyone else? Donald Sutherland? Linda Hamilton? Don't even get me started on Stephen Lang. He was so much fun as the Party Crasher in 'The Hard Way' and now this? They're all so wasted here.

As for the story ... well it's hokum. Are we supposed to take it seriously? I remember this appearing in theaters!! Sure it didn't last long there, but the point remains. The budget for this film was forty-five million dollars!? No way. Oh Sam Waterson. How great you are in Law & Order. Why are you here demoting yourself to the role of the President of the United States who gets to be shot at by a remote control biplane constructed by the gonzo assassin. I'd write more, but this being directed by the same guy who's credits include Rambo: First Blood Part II and Cobra says more than I ever can.

Funny thing. Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland, Sam Waterston, and Stephen Lang have all had incredible performances. Who can forget Sheen as the callow naif in Wall Street, or Sutherland as the the cynical Korean War surgeon in MASH? Waterston and Lang have both also had successful TV and film careers (Law and Order, Killing Fields, De Niro's Tribeca, etc). So what in the world would any of these fine actors be doing in a stink bomb like this?

Shadow Conspiracy's plot of a Washington coup d'etat is not really that bad, unoriginal maybe but not that bad. Sure it's been done (Seven Days in May - a fine film!), but with a little tweaking, it could still have been entertaining.

Shadow Conspiracy's main problem is in the execution. Early in the film Sheen, political strategist extreme, ridiculously and implausibly resolves a potential public relations gaffe by blackmailing a Congressman. Later, gunplay with Lang's mute hitman tearing up half of what is supposed to be Georgetown is explained on the news as "gang wars". Has anyone remotely associated with this film ever lived a day in Washington? Sheen is about 20 years too young, way way too young, to be so senior in a White House Administration. Sheen's response to avert a political crisis is so ladened with false machismo, he looks as though he attended the David Hasselhoff school of acting. And when was the last time gang wars spread to Georgetown? We're talking about a section of Washington where citizens voted against having a Metro stop so that they could maintain their exclusivity.

I agree with another reviewer that this film would have been unbearable without the fast forward button. I taped it off HBO a year ago and then took 3 separate viewings to plod through it.

In summary: Don't buy this film. Don't even rent this film. If you see it at Blockbuster, run away as fast as you can.

This film is bad. It's filled with glaring plot holes, characters who are ruled by stupidity, bad acting and above all, a poor script which has been done before in many, many films, only better. I feel sorry for Donald Sutherland, I just hope he had to do this film rather than wanted to! Miss it.

I don't know what is so bad about this movie.The cast performing well and being Charlie Sheen,Donald Sutherland,Linda Hamilton,Stephen Lang,Nicholas Turturro,Ben Gazzara,and the film having tons of action and a great score by Bruce Broughton and being directed by George P. Cosmatos how in the wide,wide world can you go wrong?Lang was really the ultimate villain!I really loved his role and performed neatly and perfectly!If there is a movie with at least one of these great actors its a must see or at least it is with Me!If you are looking for a good action packed conspiracy movie with the above mention cast then check this one out as I recommend it very much!

Special Assistant to the President Bobby Bishop (Charlie Sheen) is a dedicated member of The President's staff (Sam Waterston) during a time where the public and several members of the inner circle such as Chief of Staff Jacob Conrad (Donald Sutherland) are wary of the proposed defense cuts which Bobby attempts to spin to the public. As Bobby is approached by Professor Yuri Pochenko (Theodore Bikel) who has claims of a shadow government operating within the highest echelons of political power, an assassin (Stephen Lang) kills Pochenko and soon sets his sights on Bobby sending him on the run with help from journalist Amanda Givens (Linda Hamilton) to unravel what's going on and who's behind it.

Shadow Conspiracy is a 1997 political thriller that marked the final film of George P. Cosmatos and one of the last films to be distributed by Disney based company Cinergi Pictures prior to going defunct in 1998. The movie was dumped into the minimum number of theaters to qualify for a "wide release" opening in 16th place behind several holdovers and the opening of the special edition of Star Wars. Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative with many panning the thin characterizations, plot holes, and logical gaffes. With its lead in Charlie Sheen and a silly plot that's held together with duct tape and hope, one could be forgiven for thinking this was a lost script for Hot Shots 3 that someone accidently played straight.

There's very little substance to our characters who never evolve beyond archetypes (some don't even have names like The President or The Agent) and all the actors are more like cogs in a barely functioning machine than proper characters. While political action thrillers have a storied history in film such as The 39 Steps or Three Days of the Condor, Shadow Conspiracy doesn't have the style, character, or thrills of those films especially since it plays at a surprisingly slack pace. While the key appeal of this type of film is in watching the hero put the pieces together, Bobby doesn't so much "put them together" as much as he does stumble around and convenient kick them in the right spot making him one of the most comedically inept protagonists I can recall of recent memory. But it's not like Bobby's the only inept and stupid character on display as we have Stephen Lang's The Agent who has the subtlety of Schwarzenegger's The Terminator and somehow is not seen or described by anyone including the police despite firing guns in broad daylight or hanging off the tops of jeeps. This culminates in an absolute howler of a climax that makes you question: "someone paid $600,000 for this screenplay and made it!?"

Shadow Conspiracy is one of the dumbest movies ever made and is baffling how a mainstream studio film with decent sized names can hold together worse than some direct-to-video action films.