Shaft: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John, Gwenn Mitchell, Lawrence Pressman, Victor Arnold, Sherri Brewer, Rex Robbins, Camille Yarbrough, Margaret Warncke, Joseph Leon, Gordon Parks, David Golden, Ernest Tidyman, Joel Freeman, Roger Lewis, Stirling Silliphant, John D.F. Black: Amazon.ca: Video

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Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree) directed this 1971 detective story about John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), an African American private eye who has a rocky relationship with cops, an even rockier one with Harlem gangsters, and a healthy sex life. The script finds Shaft tracking down the kidnapped daughter of a black mobster, but the pleasure of the film is the sum of its attitude, Roundtree's uncompromising performance, and the thrilling, Oscar-winning score by Isaac Hayes. Parks seems fond of certain detective genre clichés (e.g., the hero walking into his low-rent office and finding a hood waiting to talk with him), but he and Roundtree make those moments their own. Shaft had a couple of sequels and a follow-up television series, but none had the impact this movie did. --Tom Keogh

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25 Reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars This movie is Afrolicious!,,, Jun 23 2007

By

Jenny J.J.I. "A New Yorker" (That Lives in Carolinas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Shaft (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)

I always see this movie as a great Harlem detective story. Shafts pulsate with street-level lingo and a deep sense of conviction you can help but admire. In the great tradition of detective movies Shaft is clearly a hard-bitten loner who spars with friends and foe alike, then gets just what he wants from everyone.

Even though "Shaft" was an MGM release it was clearly intended for the black audience Hollywood had always ignored. The attitude of Shaft is what set it apart - it made no effort to court the white audience at all. John Shaft kept his mouth shut for nobody, and wasn't interested in carrying a civics lesson or being an ambassador from an alien race. He was openly promiscuous, keeping at least a couple of steady women on his string, and taking in the occasional admiring prostitute. He talked dirty, told white cops where to get off, pushed around the toughest of the black mobsters, and made mincemeat of adversaries both black and white. A year before "The Godfather," the Mafia of Shaft consisted of fairly accurate Italian goombah types; Shaft had no trouble letting loose with the ethnic slurs either. In other words, "Shaft" was a fresh dose of reality, in 70s parlance, 'telling it like it is.' This script showed no influence of studio influence, whatsoever.

Shaft has a good New York look. The overall atmosphere is great, a mixture of dingy, claustrophobic hotel rooms and neglected city streets. A lot of the action appears to take place around Times Square, which was quite a different place in 1970 - much rougher, much more rundown. Shaft must hold the record for the number of movie marquees on view in one film; I'd guess it was filmed in late Summer-Early fall with what's playing in downtown Manhattan. Roundtree fills out the role believably while the surrounding cast work well together, even if the stereotype line is occasionally breached. Several nice moments in the script carry the film over its dull passages, all leading up to a great ending.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The original, April 20 2004

By

James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Shaft (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)

Gordon Parks created a sensation in Shaft with an ultracool performance by Richard Roundtree who went onto to do several films in this series. However none holds up as well as does the first film, which plays just as well today as it did in the 70's. Shaft was the quintessential rogue cop, taking orders from no one and tracking down the crooks no matter where they hid in the city. But what really makes this movie work is the feel Parks has for New York, capturing the quality of the inner city like few others have been able to do. One is carried along on the hip soundtrack by Isaac Hayes, taking in the mean streets of Harlem as Shaft fights both the corrupt police force and the underworld. Always one to do it his own way.

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4.0 out of 5 stars The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft...up to here., Sep 11 2003

By

F. Tresnan (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Shaft (Widescreen/Full Screen) (DVD)

That title is the films original tagline...and they got the shaft allright!

Shaft is a great 70's urban classic. The film is beautifully photographed and staged. The atmospheric camera work captures the streets of New York, always keeping the look of the film harsh and cold. The color scheme is typical 70's muted with acidic contrasts, but at the same time uses a number of blue tinges, especially in the outdoors, to suggest the cold environment the people are facing.

The DVD is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio as well as an open matte (fullscreen) transfer that adds some picture information at the top and the bottom of the screen. The transfers look pretty darned good for a 1971 flick. Audio is presented in the film's original monaural track and is fairly weak, though acceptable.

The DVD features includes a bonus documentary "Filming Shaft on Location", three trailers and cast biographies.

You gotta love Shaft & Richard Rountree. A great flick and a great DVD.

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4.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST OF THE BLAXPLOITATION FILMS
PERHAPS THE BEST BLAXPLOITATION FILM OF THEM ALL. JOHN SHAFT [RICHARD ROUNDTREE] IS HIRED TO INVESTIGATE THE KIDNAPPING OF A GANG LORD'S DAUGHTER. Read more

Published on Sep 7 2003 by MICHAEL TAYLOR