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—— Alyce Kills May 24

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—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
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90% The East May 31

Shaft (1971)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 11,599

My Rating

Movie Info

Richard Roundtree cuts a startlingly new and powerful heroic figure as John Shaft, "the cat who won't cop out, when there's danger all about" in Gordon Parks' seminal action film, Shaft. John Shaft is a black private eye with a small office near Times Square. On his way there one day, he gets pumped for information by Lt. Victor Androzzi (Charles Cioffi), a friend of his on the police force, about something big going down in Harlem involving black crime kingpin Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn). Shaft

R,

Classics, Action & Adventure

Jun 6, 2000

MGM Home Entertainment

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Cast

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All Critics (34) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (5) | DVD (18)

Excellent cast, headed by newcomer Richard Roundtree, may shock some audiences with heavy dose of candid dialog and situation.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Forty years of gumshoe noir collided with black power in this 1971 action classic, the most popular of the blaxploitation pictures.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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A hip, cool, entertaining thriller.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Parks isn't especially good at action direction, but the heart of a private-eye movie is in the mood scenes, anyway, and he supplies a scene in a bar and another one with the Harlem rackets boss that are very nice.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comments (3)
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Nearly every frame of Shaft is intent on doing one thing: establishing its hero as a powerful, independent, innately good yet still devilish man in control of his own destiny.

October 15, 2012 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm
LarsenOnFilm

An efficient cop thriller, with a charismatic performance from Roundtree as "the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about...Shaft!" Can you dig it?

April 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

A blaxploitation pic that's never quite as cool as its theme song.

April 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

With an ultra hip musical score by Isaac Hayes, "Shaft" is a muscular black action movie where Richard Roundtree is "hotter than Bond and cooler than Bullitt"

April 26, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

It's the music that's great here, but the iconic hero is a kick to watch.

January 10, 2008
Video-Reviewmaster.com

This was the second feature of the longtime still photographer Parks, in which he brought together talent for capturing an image and personal knowledge of life on the streets to create a hard-hitting action thriller.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

What's not to like? Shaft rocked!

April 14, 2003
Juicy Cerebellum

Audience Reviews for Shaft

This was my first foray into the world of blaxploitation and boy was it an interesting experience. I can see why it was well received in it's day by both black and white viewers. Not only does it fulfill every preconceived notion that potential white viewers may have had about African-Americans, but it also is a movie very focused on blackness. Hell, in one scene Shaft's coffee isn't even black enough for him. It is infuriatingly stereotypical and empowering all at the same time.
While this film does feature some rather interesting direction and a fairly engaging story, you cannot help but be mostly entertained by it's charming anachronisms. I mean where else are you going to find classic lines such as: "You got problems, baby?" "Hehe. Yeah, I got a couple of 'em. I was born black... and I was born poor."
February 22, 2012
axadntpron
Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

Private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime boss to find his kidnapped daughter and gets caught up in a war between Harlem gangsters and the mafia. Shaft is the original "Blaxploitation" film, but as is always the case with progenitors of an entire genre it is actually rather tamer than you'd expect. It's certainly an exploitation film, but the violence never crosses the line into excess and Shaft is shown to be a tolerant and fair-minded man (no signs of the appalling sexism and homophobia that went on the taint this type of film). It's no surprise that Richard Roundtree was an icon to young black men in these post civil rights movement years; he is tough, stylish and never without the attention of women or money but more importantly, he is totally self-assured, fearless and not only doesn't take any shit from "the man", he is accepted and respected by all concerned. Taken out of context, it's a fairly standard 70s detective story, the real reason it stood out from the crowd being the fact that all of the heroes are black and Isaac Hayes' classic soundtrack. The humour is a little weak and lowbrow and there are a couple of hilariously pointless love scenes but as a whole it's a stylish and efficient thriller that is no world changer, but never disappoints either.
May 17, 2007
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

    1. Sgt. Tom Hannon: Where the hell are you going?
    2. Shaft: To get laid. Where the hell are you going?
    – Submitted by Johnny W (2 months ago)

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Latest News on Shaft

March 13, 2006:
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Renowned soul musician and actor Isaac Hayes, who memorably voiced the role of Chef on "South...

March 8, 2006:
Gordon Parks, Influential Director And Photojournalist, Dead At 93
Gordon Parks, one of the 20th Century's greatest photojournalists and an influential filmmaker, died...

Foreign Titles

  • Shaft, les nuits rouges de Harlem (FR)
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