gavin6942 Cool black private eye John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.This film is considered a blaxploitation classic. That seems to be an insult, even if not intended as one. It is a classic in its own right, not just as part of a subgenre. This is a great detective story, a crime story, a mob story, and to some degree a racial story (though that does not factor in as much as some might think).What better than a private eye helping out a mob boss? This introduces dark money, plenty of shady characters, and allows our hero to go places even the police might fear to tread and use methods they would never be allowed to. Classic.

mgtbltp One neat little bonus of going on a Neo Noir hunt is finding those diamonds in the rough that come completely out of left field. Sometimes a film is hyped so fully as one thing that its never looked upon or considered as any thing else. This film especially so since its considered one of the first of its own genre.Shaft (1971) has been called the first blaxploitation flick, screw that and it's derogatory connotations (think Sergio Leone vs the majority of "Spaghetti" Westerns as a reference point), its actually not only a great PI film, directed by Gordon Parks (acclaimed photojournalist for Life magazine ) but also shot in a very noir-ish style by Urs Furrer. Between the eye of the director and the skill of the cinematographer the film looks beautiful. The shots of Manhattan, The Village, Harlem circa 1970 are gorgeous. It's sleazy Times Square/42nd Street at fin d'une époque, before Disneyfication eradicated it all.Establishing shot, an aerial view of 7th Avenue Manhattan looking North towards Broadway and Times Square. A cacophony of traffic blares skyward, we look down upon madly scintillating 42nd Street theater marquees, classic Hollywood product, Lancasters The Scaphuters, Redfords's Little Faus And Big Halsey competing with triple X features He And She, School for Sex and The Wild Females, this ain't Busby Berkeley Territory anymore. Isaac Hayes' soul and funk-styled iconic theme song begins to pulsate the title appears over a subway entrance as leather clad Shaft glides up to the trash littered gum stained sidewalk and jaywalks his way across the main stem. This title sequence segues into the beginning of the story when Shaft is alerted by Marty the blind news stand paper seller that two cats were looking for him. Shaft is based on an Ernest Tidyman and John D. F. Black screenplay from a book by Tidyman. The dialogs are all spot on in 70's hip jive. It's co-produced by Stirling Silliphant (who wrote late classic noirs, 5 Against the House, Nightfall, The Lineup and also neo noir -ish In The Heat Of The Night). What's sad is Shaft gets right what practically every Mike Hammer, the quintessential NY P.I, based film neglects, and that is a real feel for the gritty noir, on location, underbelly side of New York City. (save Allen Baron's 1961 Blast Of Silence, and Armand Assante's I, The Jury(1982)) and even the latter doesn't spend near enough time in the streets Shaft is a very plausible re-imagining of the classic private eye flick. The P.I. was always about cool this go round it is about back COOL. Richard Roundtree is perfect as the suave hip protagonist John Shaft, a good detective, grudgingly getting genuine respect from all. Moses Gunn is incredibly good as tough crime boss Bumpy Jonas showing quite a bit of range as he pleads with Shaft to take his case. Charles Cioffi as Androzzi Shaft's NYPD detective cop buddy holds his own and runs interference between Shaft and the department. Drew Bundini Brown is Bumpy henchman Willy, Christopher St. John is Ben Buford a former hood rat friend of Shaft who is now a black militant, Antonio Fargas is great as streetwise Bunky. Character actor Lee Steele plays a blind news vender. Shaft is a Neo Noir New York City wet dream, it hits on all cylinders, check it out. 10/10

Jackson Booth-Millard Many years before this original version I had seen the John Singleton/Samuel L. Jackson remake version, I knew about the name of the leading actor, the iconic theme song, and it was featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so I was looking forward to it. Basically John Shaft (Golden Globe nominated Richard Roundtree) is an African American private detective, he seeks out the gangsters in the Harlem neighbourhood, the New York City borough of Manhattan, and on assignment he gets into a fight with a couple of them in an office, it ends with him throwing one out of the window, the other reveals that uptown gang leader Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn) wants to meet him. After a meeting at the police station, where he lies to Lieutenant Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi) and his superior about the fight, Shaft is allowed to return to the streets for 48 hours, he arranges to meet with Bumpy, the gang leader reveals that his daughter has been kidnapped, he wants to hire the detective to safely return his daughter, but this will not be easy with the escalation of the race war, i.e. blacks against whites, Shaft being a target himself, and of course Bumpy cannot be trusted. Shaft assumed Ben Buford (Christopher St. John) was a target, and not himself, together they find where the daughter Marcy Jonas (Sherri Brewer) is being held and confirm that she is alive, they end up in a gunfight and Shaft takes a bullet in the shoulder, but he recovers and tells Bumpy that his daughter is fine and that backup will be needed to get her out of the hotel she is in safely. The plan becomes like a military operation, Ben's men all dress as hotel staff to avoid arousing suspicion, to create a distraction an explosive is thrown into the room and the disguised men deal with the Mafia members, in the end Marcy is successfully rescued and taken out of the hotel where the arranged transport is waiting, as the others get away Shaft calls Vic in a phone booth, then simply walks away. Also starring Gwenn Mitchell as Ellie Moore, Lawrence Pressman as Sergeant Tom Hannon, Victor Arnold as Charlie, Rex Robbins as Rollie, Camille Yarbrough as Dina Greene, Margaret Warncke as Linda and Joseph Leon as Byron Leibowitz. Newcomer and ex-male model Roundtree as the black stud private eye who works his way through both gang activity and women is well cast, this works well for promoting equality for black people during a turbulent time for them, as a police and gangland story, and an interesting enough kidnap rescue plot, and of course the theme song (number 38 on 100 Years, 100 Songs) and original music by Isaac Hayes, who I know better as Chef from South Park, is fantastically funky, a watchable Blaxploitation crime thriller. It won the Oscar for Best Song for "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes (also nominated the Golden Globe), and it was nominated for Best Music for Isaac Hayes, it was nominated the BAFTA for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Good!

Benjamin Cox I'm always weary of watching films that are revered or perceived as being seminal. Not because any criticism I have will be ignored but because what flaws are there are easily over-looked in the face of the film's stature - no-one complains about the Venus De Milo having no arms, after all. In movie terms, this is a film that is all about breaking barriers - the first successful blaxploitation movie, it was this film (and its iconic soundtrack) that fuelled an entire genre of cinema and led to two sequels, a TV series and even a recent reboot - such is the reverence that "Shaft" is held in. However, in the cold light of day and ignoring such feelings, it's interesting to note that it is actually a pretty average film albeit one with an astonishing soundtrack.Richard Roundtree plays John Shaft, a cool-cat private eye working the seedy streets of New York City. After encountering two goons in his office (and sending one of them to the sidewalk via a window), Shaft finds himself in the employ of local crime boss Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn) who hires Shaft to locate his missing daughter. Reluctantly, Shaft takes on the case and soon finds himself in all sorts of trouble with the Mafia who are muscling in on Bumpy's turf. Not only that but Shaft is tailed by homicide detective and occasional buddy Vic (Charles Cioffi) who is convinced that there is more going on than Shaft is prepared to tell him...There is a curiously low-budget feel to "Shaft" that I wasn't expecting, highlighted by the near-constant over-dubbing of Shaft and other characters' dialogue. The action, when it does come, is also not filmed very well by director Gordon Parks - his strength seems to be in building atmosphere and there are times when the air hangs heavy with expectation such as the fantastic opening scene. Roundtree is the ultimate bad mother-f*****, making what might have been an ordinary character into one for the ages. He is almost impossibly cool and with Isaac Hayes' legendary soundtrack pulsating in the background, you can't help but fall in love with the film. All the other actors can do is bask in Roundtree's glory and to be fair, they all do their part. The story might look and feel like a classic (or should they be clichéd) film noir and initially, I was struggling to find interest in it. But something curious happened - I suddenly found myself paying more attention to it and getting involved. Digging it, if you will.In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the first "Star Wars" in that here is a film that isn't that well made in parts and at times, isn't that entertaining but slowly and surely, you fall in love with it. You have to give it respect for its legacy if nothing else but also because it helped to break down racial barriers that had existed in Hollywood for so long. Here was a film where almost all the principal characters and actors were black and the film was still successful, flying in the face of studio expectation or cynical critics. This is a deeply cool movie to watch and even better to listen to - it's also better than the Samuel L Jackson version a few years back because this feels like the genuine article and it is, of course. Not every day that Sammy J comes second in a cool contest but on this occasion, "Shaft" really is the man. Looks like I've proved my own point...