This film is brilliant. It captures the 70's atmosphere perfectly right from the start. I will first sum up the simple yet fitting plot. Richard Roundtree is a private dick investigating a racketeer while working for him to recover his missing child. On the way he attracts the ladies and also the attention of some baddies! Throughout the film, the acting is average to good, with the occasional clunky parts. However this never detracts from the film. The locations, sets and most importantly the music make the film what it is. The score by Isaac Hayes (Chef in South Park) won him an Oscar and deservedly so. The opening title theme sets a standard which is ...  Read the complete review

Shaft was released in 1971 by director Gordon Parks and is hard-hitting detective movie that was one of many from the 70's and 80's. Richard Roundtree is the lead role as he plays African-American hero or icon John Shaft. He doesn't take orders from anyone and is a sex machine with all the ladies. The movie plot is fairly standard for detective films. John Shaft inadvertently causes the death of a gangster who shows up at his office. After this incident he is coerced by a pair of white police inspectors to help them gather information about a gang war that is rumoured to be taking place in Harlem. Meanwhile, however, a drug-dealing black godfather ...  Read the complete review

"Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?" We all know the answer to that question even though many haven't seen the film. This re-release (by the BFI no less) is a shameless cash-in given the new version of the movie starring Samuel L. Jackson whose arrival is now imminent. 'Shaft' is not that good; a lot of Blaxploitation films were made quickly and cheaply to cash in on the vogue for black movies, and 'Shaft's reputation has been seriously bolstered by the Isaac Hayes score (Curtis Mayfield did similar things with 'Superfly'). The plot is so much cliche, and the film's sexual ...  Read the complete review

The original Shaft is much better than the remake, partly because Richard Roundtree makes the movie his own. The plot has nothing new, which is surprising considering it was written by Stirling Silliphant who wrote In The Heat Of The Night and won an Oscar for it. Anyhow, this was the film that launched the Blaxpoitation wave, and Roundtree was seen as the first Black Hero role model, which shows that the film carries a lot of importance. Shaft was also memorable for Isaac Hayes (Now Chef in South Park) memorable score and Oscar winning theme. Two inferior sequels were spawned, and aren’t worth watching.  Read the complete review

SHAFT 2000 - This aint like the classic shaft films from the 70's, yes there is the special effects and the stunts but you simply cannot recreate black explotation films in this day and age. I went to the cinema having seen all the shafts on video and loved them, they are all classic movies. With samual L jackson the leading actor in this film I didnt think it could fail, how wrong I was.... The acting is poor, the plot it paper thin and the predictable nature of the film leaves the viewing audience numb. I love the 70's films but when they have been made in that time period, you cant create that vibe that is around the original shafts. The ...  Read the complete review