Shaft (1971)

90% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
66% of users liked it
(11,273 ratings)

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… More 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 can't help him and leaves, only to just miss being waylaid by two of Bumpy's strong-arm men at his office, one of whom ends up dead on the pavement eight floors or so below. Squeezed by the cops, who are holding a potential manslaughter arrest over his head, Shaft contacts Bumpy, who reveals that his teenage daughter, whom he's always kept away from his business, has been kidnapped. There's been no ransom demand and no clue as to who did it, and he wants Shaft to find the culprits, insisting that he start with a group of Harlem-based black militants led by Shaft's onetime friend Ben Buford (Christopher St. John). No sooner does he find Buford, holed up in a decaying part of Harlem, however, than his friend's comrades are mowed down by submachine gun fire, and Shaft and Buford barely escape. With Shaft angry and out for blood, everyone is forced to come clean -- Bumpy knows that it's the Mafia that kidnapped his daughter, as they want in on the Harlem drug trade that he controls; they're holding her somewhere else outside of Harlem, where his men are no good to him, which is why he wanted Shaft to hook up with Buford. Androzzi tells Shaft that a dozen Mob trigger men from out of town have been spotted in Greenwich Village. He doesn't know why they're there, but he does know that if fighting breaks out between Bumpy's men and the Mafia, it's going to look like a race war, and the whole city could erupt. Shaft doesn't like the way he's been manipulated, but he sees Androzzi's point -- he links the trigger men to the kidnapping and finds the girl, but loses her again, getting shot in the process. Even though he's wounded, Shaft heads for a final confrontation with the kidnappers, supported by Ben's friends in an armed assault on the building where they're holed up. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Gordon Parks
Genres: Classics, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1971 Wide
On DVD: Jun 6, 2000
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Forty years of gumshoe noir collided with black power in this 1971 action classic, the most popular of the blaxploitation pictures.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
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"
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
It's the music that's great here, but the iconic hero is a kick to watch.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
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.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
A hip, cool, entertaining thriller.
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
What's not to like? Shaft rocked!
James Rocchi, Netflix
Who's the black private dick that's the center of a still-enjoyable flick? Shaft!

Read all 8 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

xGary X

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… More
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.
AJ V

This is the first blaxploitation movie I saw, and it's my favourite. This movie is action packed and has a great story. Shaft really is cool.
Chris W

This movie is awesome. It's far less action packed than I thought it would be, and also contained a lot more tropes and elements of later blaxploitation ilms (cliches, stereotypes, etc) than I expected, but that's okay. This is a detective story that basically feels like… More
This movie is awesome. It's far less action packed than I thought it would be, and also contained a lot more tropes and elements of later blaxploitation ilms (cliches, stereotypes, etc) than I expected, but that's okay. This is a detective story that basically feels like a gritty 1970s take on a hardboiled film noir detective story, with a black guy as the lead instead of a white guy. It's got some modern touches (well, modern for the 1970s), but basically feels timeless with the general story at hand. Gordon Parks, Sr. gives some top notch direction filled with grit, style, and flair. Richard Roundtree is great in the role that made his career, and of course, the music is nothing but badass. If you haven't seen this one yet, you really need to. It's a classic of it's genre, and just a classic film from its time.
First L

Gosh, what a great soundtrack. Isaac Hayes manages to produce some pretty wicked funk that still incorporates elements of the traditional orchestral soundtrack AND gives us what is possibly the most iconic song of the seventies: the "Theme From Shaft". He's a… More
Gosh, what a great soundtrack. Isaac Hayes manages to produce some pretty wicked funk that still incorporates elements of the traditional orchestral soundtrack AND gives us what is possibly the most iconic song of the seventies: the "Theme From Shaft". He's a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman.... I hear that Shaft is a bad mother- shut your mouth! I'm just talkin' bout Shaft... Theme song aside, Shaft just isn't a very good movie. The story involves a black mob boss who's daughter has been kidnapped by a white mob boss, and he hires Shaft to get her back. The main things about Shaft is, he doesn't take no guff from whitey. When a white criminal spits in his face, he bashes him over the head with a whiskey bottle. He somewhat deals somewhat less severely with the white guy who calls him "boy", and likewise sticks up for himself when the police start to get patronizing and/or bullying. All this isn't nearly as shocking in 2010 as it probably was in 1971, and minus the shock factor, we're left with a pretty bland crime story. The quality of the story and film and the level of acting all suggest a less interesting episode of the A-Team than anything (although I really enjoyed looking at the early 70s New York City locations). I realize this is B- movie "blaxploitation", and maybe you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate it, but, outside of a few comedically dramatic scenes, I found the whole movie to be extraordinarily dull and low on entertainment factor. It may have been revolutionary and the first-of-it's-kind, but what it's originating isn't terribly interesting to me.
Mister C

The original. Nothing like it. <br/>Richard Roundtree rules. Not to even mention the Oscar winning theme from Issac Hayes.
Cassandra M

John Shaft is a private detective in Harlem. He is hired by pimp and drug dealer Bumpy Jonas to find Bumpy's daughter who has been kidnapped by an unknown party. Shaft investigates the local Panther organisation but ultimately finds that an Italian mob is trying to move in on… More
John Shaft is a private detective in Harlem. He is hired by pimp and drug dealer Bumpy Jonas to find Bumpy's daughter who has been kidnapped by an unknown party. Shaft investigates the local Panther organisation but ultimately finds that an Italian mob is trying to move in on Bumpy's territory. With all parties at conflict Shaft must keep his cool to get the girl back. Ay the start of a decade filled with cheap movies aimed at getting the black audience a product aimed at them in particular. Many of these were poor but Shaft stood out because it could have been a film in it's own right. The story is a normal detective movie with a black twist and that helps ? because it's not forced at all. The story is gritty and tough as befits the setting and the hero. Shaft is tough but hadn't yet turned into 007 (as he did in Shaft's Big Score), this makes him tough but also keeps him down to earth. Roundtree handles himself sexily and looks great ? the film very much revolves around his performance and he holds the attention easily. The film eventually gets into gun fights and an exciting conclusion but really this is all about mood and funk. And it delivers both.
Lenny M

Along with Superfly, top Blaxpoitation films, memorable lines for days.
Daniel H

What makes Shaft impressive isn't the mere stylization of the blaxploitation era it depicts. Rather, the movie is actually a bona-fide private-eye flick, with serious attempts at portrayals of race-relations in New York. The lack of thoughtless stereotyping manages to elevate… More
What makes Shaft impressive isn't the mere stylization of the blaxploitation era it depicts. Rather, the movie is actually a bona-fide private-eye flick, with serious attempts at portrayals of race-relations in New York. The lack of thoughtless stereotyping manages to elevate this movie past it's blaxploitation roots.
Michael G

One of the best movies from the 70s.
Stephen E

I understand that this is regarded as a classic blaxploitation, and I respect it for that, but I felt that it was all over the place, switching between plots every ten minutes. By the end, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. One thing about it that was great, and I'm… More
I understand that this is regarded as a classic blaxploitation, and I respect it for that, but I felt that it was all over the place, switching between plots every ten minutes. By the end, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. One thing about it that was great, and I'm sure everyone else will agree, was the score set by Issac Hayes. Now, that's a classic soundtrack.
Lesley N

Top film. Richard Rountree as Humphrey Bogart, PI, quick with the retorts and a hit with the ladeeze. Classic Isaac Hayes score. .
Stephen E

I understand that this is regarded as a classic blaxploitation, and I respect it for that, but I felt that it was all over the place, switching between plots every ten minutes. By the end, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. One thing about it that was great, and I'm… More
I understand that this is regarded as a classic blaxploitation, and I respect it for that, but I felt that it was all over the place, switching between plots every ten minutes. By the end, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. One thing about it that was great, and I'm sure everyone else will agree, was the score set by Issac Hayes. Now, that's a classic soundtrack.
Doctor S

"They say this cat Shaft is a baaaad muther..." "SHUT YER MOUTH!"

Read all 13 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Richard Roundtree as Shaft

            Moses Gunn as Bumpy Jonas

            Gwen Mitchell as Ellie

            Christopher St. John as Ben Buford

            Charles Cioffi as Lieutenant Victor Androzzi

            Camille Yarbrough as Dina Greene

            Lawrence Pressman as Sgt. Tom Hannon

            Victor Arnold as Charlie

            Eddie Barth as Tony

            Dominic Barto as Patsy

            Ed Bernard as Peerce

            Sherri Brewer as Marcy

            Drew Bundi Brown as Willy

            Donny Burks as Remmy

            Antonio Fargas as Bunky

            Edmund Hashim as Lee

            Arnold Johnson as Cul

            Damu King as Mal

            Tony King as Davies

            Al Kirk as Sims

            Tommy Lane as Leroy

            Joseph Leon as Byron Leibowitz

            Rex Robbins as Rollie

            Shimen Ruskin as Dr. Sam

            Adam Wade
            
            Margaret Warncke as Linda

            Alan Weeks as Gus

            Dennis Tate as Dotts

            Robin Nolan as Waitress

            Lee Steele as Blind Vendor

            Jon Richards as Elevator Starter
See full cast

Shaft (1971)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Cast

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