Richard roundtree scores as the tough private eye whose hunt for a missing woman puts him in the middle of a syndicate feud. Special features: behind-the-scenes documentary soul in cinema: filming shaft on location feature-length audio commentary by director gordon parks and much more. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/03/2005 Starring: Richard Roundtree Charles Cioffi Run time: 98 minutes Rating: R Director: Gordon Parks
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Black Bogie! Too Bad About the DVD!:
Now this movie is one baad muther-shut-your mouth! I thought this was an excellent movie that tried to portray the life of a private detective in the Harlem of the early 70's in a gritty and hence more realistic manner. As a result, this movie is certainly dated and unmistakenably of that time and place as witnessed by the lingo and slang used liberally throughout and yet I found it still very enjoyable to watch even today. This cat Shaft reminded me a lot of Humphrey Bogart's character in the "Maltese... more info
SHAFT:
They say this cat Shaft is a BAD MOTHER........I can dig it, and you will to....
Cool Music:
Shaft DVD As far as I know Shaft broke new ground as a movie starring a black man in 1971. Shaft was the perfect example of a rogue cop, taking orders from no one and tracking down the crooks no matter where they hid in the city. Recommended for fans of Richard Roundtree and quality jazz. Gunner February, 2008
Be There or Be Square:
...Nothing is more funky then this Groovy film, which has been said to be the beginning of the blaxploitation genre. John Shaft is the man, and no one knows but his woman, as he tries to find the truth behind things, and mind you as whitey always tries to bring him down. Now, if I were you, I'd stay the soul-loving person you are, and stay away from the Jive Turkey re-make in 2000. Which although holds a wonderful characterization of the last man on Earth who you can still call "COOL"; Samuel L. Jackson,... more info
