Customer Reviews

Shaft [VHS]

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

"Who is the man who would risk his neck for his brotha' man? SHAFT!!"
Blaxploitation? That's like calling "Bullit" 'Cracker-jacking' [I rate Bullit a 2/5 stars] or 'The Godfather' "Wopploitation' [am Italian myself-so clearly my criticism is the asinine labeling of SHAFT as an "exploitation film" simply because a strong lead character is a black man-but he is FIRST a strong MAN]
I LOVE this film; saw it prior to teen years and was a wonderful "adrenaline pump" WITH A STORY. Violence? sure; gratuitous? no; the mean streets of Harlem are a turf war NOT driven by racial hatred but by MONEY [via heroin trade].
A unique [and I have never read it mentioned] is that this film is an "equal opportunity offender"; the mob-white crooks, want to sell heroin in New York turf and have to overpower the long-time "crime boss" of the area- "Bumpy", a black career criminal whose CV reads from the petty[numbers] to the Class A felony[murder], who besides being a "crook" has a downright nasty disposition-betraying local black activists [civil rights ala Malcom X "any means necessary youths] into fighting his "drug war" for him!! Caught in the "middle", Shaft negotiates a deal for all parties involved-"Bumpy" will pay $10,000 a man [a very 'on target' critique of the indemnity policy paid in Vietnam to American soldiers killed, 80% of whom were black] for "Ben's" activist "soldiers" to battle the mob. The "lie" revolved around Bumpy's daughter [Marcy] being nabbed by the mob-this was how Shaft [the black private (...)who is sex machine to all the chicks] was brought into the imbroglia in first place.
This film won the Oscar for its pounding, fantastic soundtrack, but I think deserved several; the screenplay was great- besides the handful of "well-known" quotes, there are TONS of other memorable lines [the confrontation between Bumpy and Ben about the respective merits of civil rights and 'numbers, drugs and [prostituses] is very profound even in brevity], the demographic of "strong black women" in an elderly black woman intervening between Shaft and Ben and preventing a fight; and many others.
The only "weaknesses" [and obviously, I LOVE this movie!!] are Shaft's relationship with the cops; what the hell forged their bond, and the actor who played the cop Shaft interacted with sucked; there was NO character development of the mobsters "moving in"; and the women in the film were given a very demeaning role-"No one understands him but his woman"? Shaft gets it on with a white 'one-night stand' gal, implicitly a frequent activity of his; does his "woman", totally under-developed character played by a capable actress, accept this infidelity or is she "clueless"?
The ending does not really cast Shaft in a "heroic" light; his courage is 100%, but he basically "takes the money and runs", making fun of his "cop pal" as Marcy is returned to the horrid Bumpy, several of Ben's men are killed, and war has broken out in earnest between Bumpy and the mob which Shaft tells the cop pal "it's your problem" and exits via the downbeat of the guitar chords and percussion breaking out to end the film.
In all, a favorite of mine, great, great action, many "undertones" in the messages incidental in the film, and Shaft IS one BAD Mutha' .....!!!!

Of course, if you're reading this, you probably already know that "Shaft" is an above-average blaxploitation flick with Richard Roundree as a private detective hired to track down a Harlem gang boss' missing daughter. With dialogue like "You got problems, Shaft?" "Yeah, two of 'em. I was born black and I was born poor." you really can't lose.

So on with the DVD. The film itself is nicely letterboxed (I think for the first time), and while it's not made from the greatest print (there are a couple scratches), it's a perfectly acceptable presentation.

Extras include trailers for all three Shaft flicks . This is great--I wish Warner had done the same with their "Dirty Harry" DVD. (They did with the VHS version.) There's also a 1971-produced short "Making of" film and the option to view the movie in French (a surreal experience, to be sure.)

The cast and crew bios, however, are pretty meager, offering only a relatively complete portrait of Richard Roundtree. Where's Moses Gunn? Or Gordon Parks? The "Awards" option is pretty worthless as well, showing that the movie won the Oscar for "Best Original Song."

Oh, yes, and there's no commentary track with Director Parks as is described on the Amazon site. Forgivably, it's not mentioned on the DVD box, so this is probably just something that didn't pan out at the last minute.

It's still lots of fun, but not what it could have been.

Here I am talking about Shaft again.I just did the music review a few days ago.So I said to myself I might as well do the film to.Back in the day when James Bond was kicking butt in movies like Goldfinger and Thunderball he was the main man.But he was also a white man.Now there's NOTHING wrong with that.But the time was due for us black folks to get some representation.And that's when private detective John Shaft hit the streets of Harlem.With his leather coat and the music of Isaac Hayes playing in the background.Another main man was on the scene.Shaft was just as handsome as Bond,just as smart as Bond and just as cool as Bond.And he didn't take s#!t from anyone.And that made Shaft one bad motherf-SHUT YOUR MOUTH-.The film Shaft was directed by muti-talented Gordon Parks.And it's star was a good-looking new comer by the name of Richard Roundtree.I read somewhere that Isaac Hayes wanted the starting role of Shaft but he didn't get it.But Mr.Hayes went on to win a academy award for the soundtrack.And Mr. Roundtree went on to have a successful movie career."All well that ends well" as they say.Now Shaft was about a Harlem mob boss by the name of Bumpy (played by Moses Gunn) daughter being kidnapped and Shaft is hire to rescue her.Along the way we become acqainted with some good guys,some bad guys and there's also a little romance (Shaft's girlfriend Ellie was played by Gwenn Mitchell,and she was one fine babe and my favorite Shaft girl).And if you're a action fan there's plenty of it throughout this film.Shaft begins with a man flying out of a window.And ends with Shaft flying into one.So all you lovers of black cinema of the 70s please check out Shaft you will not be disappointed.Shaft over the years as become a true icon.

This film was just before my time, but when I first saw it in the late 80's or ealry 90's, I wanted more and could not get enough! I could not believe that such ill (hot, cool) films like this were being made in the ealry 70's.

I don't want to get into the story, but this is a must have film in any collection if you like action films. The Sam Jackson Shaft was better than I thought, but it CANNOT stand up to the origianl or it's sequel(notice how sequel is singular...). They should never try to remake a classic film. I hear that they want to remake "Uptown Saturday Night" and "The Warriors!" I hope someone stops them before they get started! Come up with your OWN ideas for your time, don't bite.

This film is classic, but the only problem I have is that it was not as remastered as it could have been. No royal treatment. It does have a featurette though, somthing I had never seen before. The other problem wit this film like "Superfly," is that both films have legendary soundtracks/scores that did corssover with white audiences - so why no surround sound or at least stereo remaster? That is the least they should do. I want "Shaft" and "Superfly" special editions with at least stereo! Classic soundtracks should get the royal treatment.

Shaft probably was one of the first non subserviant-non comical Black characters in a film without an all Black cast. Sidney Poitier comes to mind in the original "In the heat of the night" and Woody Strode,Harry Belafonte, and Jim Brown also come to mind. But Shaft made Black men feel proud to be a man and proud to be Black. Richard Roundtree was Black Americas John Wayne. Too many of us Black men are tough in our own neighborhoods and around our own people but when we get on Mister Charleys job we cant stop grinnin and tap dancin and playin the fiddle. Not Shaft though-this brotha was a real man.

Shaft(1971)is an incredible film and was unjustly regarded by critics as being just a style-over-substance film with heavy doses of violence. Watching this movie, I see a work that is easily the equal of "The French Connection", a film with the same writer. John Shaft(Richard Roundtree) has a social conscience(he yells at a gangster for manipulating the black community through drugs and gambling, he gives a poor kid some money to eat) and is also an intelligent man with the ability to deal with police and those around him. He is not scared of whites or the Mafia and does not back down when a mobster makes a racial comment towards him. On the other hand, he is not racist towards whites. This movie cannot just be categorized as an action movie, because it doesn't have that much action. Also, the action is fast and not drawn out, and the action scenes are not impossible and unrealistic. Shaft(1971) is also blessed with a good story. The plot involves the private eye rescuing the daughter of a gangster from mobsters, who want to take Harlem back from the black crimelords. John Shaft(Richard Roundtree) is not simply a tool of the black crimelords, and Richard Roundtree is a good actor who gives a great performance. The music by Isaac Hayes is excellent and so is the look of the movie and 1970's Harlem. The dialogue is bad occassionally, but is never horrible. Remember, no matter what the critics say, this is more than just an action film, and is instead a top-notch urban crime movie.

"Who's the black private dick, the sex machine that gets ALL the chicks? SHAFT! Can ya dig it?" Richard Roundtree scores big in this 1970's classic. It's one of the first black detective movies ever. Filled with great one-liners this film is "right on brotha," in the lyrics of the award winning song, sung by Isaac Hayes. "Where you goin' Shaft?" asks another detective. "To get LAID, where the hell YOU goin'?" the cocky Shaft replies. A great film.

Though it holds up surprisingly well over thirty years later, "Shaft" isn't so much worth watching for its quality as for its historical importance. African-Americans were just barely starting to get the respect they deserved, and mild-mannered, "respectable" blacks like Sidney Poitier had begun appearing in films like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and, with a little harder edge, in "In the Heat of the Night." Then, in 1971, "Shaft" bursts on the scene. Its protagonist is a street-smart black detective who doesn't take any crap, and frankly doesn't care what any white boys think of him. The film is shot as though being black was normal, a viewpoint many found hard to grasp back then. Considering what it was flinging at audiences, it's surprising "Shaft" didn't cause more of an outroar.

Instead, "Shaft" was a hit with audiences of all colors. The "Theme from Shaft," highlighting Isaac Hayes' funky soundtrack, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Richard Roundtree's clever, wisecracking loner detective recalled the likes of Philip Marlowe and Sam Slade and soon joined them in the annals of cinema. After all, Shaft was one bad motha(shut your mouth): tough, charismatic, and a big hit with the ladies. The director was Gordon Parks, fresh off his success with "The Learning Tree," where he had become the first African-American to direct a major studio feature. Parks fluctuated between in-your-face action and gritty street scenes, with the pacing of an old mystery film. He wasn't afraid to show conflict between blacks and whites, but he did so with a sensibility that ensured little offensiveness.

"Shaft" is a well-made movie. The most impressive scene may be the shoot 'em up finish. Refreshingly, and true to the film's attitude, there's no "clean-up" or "sorting it all out" after the climax - Shaft takes out the bad guys, does his job, and the movie's over, baby. Audiences took to Shaft enough to bring him back, though, for two sequels and a TV series, as well as a remake at the start of the 21st century. Most importantly, "Shaft" created its own genre: "blaxpoitation," hard-hitting thrillers with a ghetto setting and a mean black hero. The blaxpoitation phenomenon had died down by the end of the 70s, but all these years later, "Shaft" is still right on.

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.