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Shaft
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Shaft (1971) -- Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.

Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   5,965 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 15% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Gordon Parks
Writers:
Ernest Tidyman (novel)
Ernest Tidyman (writer) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Shaft on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 July 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft...up to here. more
Plot:
Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations more
User Comments:
Compared to the rest of the genre this is an exceptional film more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Roundtree ... John Shaft
Moses Gunn ... Bumpy Jonas
Charles Cioffi ... Vic Androzzi
Christopher St. John ... Ben Buford
Gwenn Mitchell ... Ellie Moore
Lawrence Pressman ... Sergeant Tom Hannon
Victor Arnold ... Charlie
Sherri Brewer ... Marcy
Rex Robbins ... Rollie
Camille Yarbrough ... Dina Greene
Margaret Warncke ... Linda
Joseph Leon ... Byron Leibowitz
Arnold Johnson ... Cul
Dominic Barto ... Patsy
George Strus ... Carmen
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Additional Details

Runtime:
100 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The women backing vocalists in the film's theme song are Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson from Tony Orlando & Dawn. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Shaft gets hit with the machine gun, one of the wounds is to his head - you can clearly see blood there. Yet after the doctor works on him and gets him patched up, all signs of the head wound have vanished - there's no scar or patch there. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
John Shaft: [holding up his middle finger to a cab driver who is honking his horn at him] Up yours! Get out the way!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in One Hundred and Eighty: The Tour Documentary (2005) (V) more
Soundtrack:
No Name Bar more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Compared to the rest of the genre this is an exceptional film, 24 July 2008
8/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

SHAFT is a very famous so-called "blaxploitation" film--a genre that showed exceptionally tough Black men fighting "the man" and coming out on top. Most of these films had poor production values--low budgets, inexperienced actors and simple story lines. However, SHAFT is a great example of a blaxploitation film that is so much more than the genre--it's got exceptional acting, a catchy soundtrack, a decent budget and a good story. Nothing about this film seems cheap or second-rate.

Shaft is played by Richard Roundtree and he's a Black private eye and super-stud (as the title song tells us). He's been hired to find and rescue a local mobster's daughter but although he's super-tough and super-determined, he might just be in over his head--as there's much more to this story.

As I said, this film is much better than the usual blaxploitation fare and it's a real shame it's lumped into this category because it is entertaining and a good film regardless if you are Black or White or Green! I can't wait to see the sequels--I hope they are of similar quality and excitement.

FYI--It's unusual to see that the White cops in this film aren't all evil like in most other films like this one.

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