Shaft's Big Score! (1972)

Shaft is back to find the murderer of an old friend on the cold hard city streets with a little help from his new friends.

Director:

Gordon Parks

Writer:

Ernest Tidyman

Stars:

Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Drew Bundini Brown

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Roundtree	...	John Shaft
Moses Gunn	...	Bumpy Jonas
Drew Bundini Brown	...	Willy
Joseph Mascolo	...	Gus Mascola
Kathy Imrie	...	Rita
Wally Taylor	...	Johnny Kelly
Julius Harris	...	Capt. Bollin (as Julius W. Harris)
Rosalind Miles	...	Arna Asby
Joe Santos	...	Pascal
Angelo Nazzo	...	Al
Don Blakely	...	Johnson
Melvin Green Jr.	...	Junior Gillis
Thomas Anderson	...	Preacher
Evelyn Davis	...	Old Lady
Richard Pittman	...	Kelly's Hood #1

Storyline

When Shaft finds out that a dead friend ran a numbers racket out of his legitimate business and left $200,000 unaccounted for, he knows why he has suddenly found himself in the middle of a war between rival thugs. These goons are all trying to take over the territory of the dead man as well as get their hands on the missing 200 grand. Shaft has all he can handle trying to track down the money and, at the same time, keep his friend's sister from the clutches of the hoods.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | chase | african american | funeral | blaxploitation | 

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Taglines:

A brand new caper.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Marca de Shaft

Filming Locations:

Laguardia Place 520, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Shaft Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The shotgun used by John Shaft in the last part of the film is the High Standard HS-10B designed circa 1970, originally a law enforcement only firearm.

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Goofs

In one scene, the rotor-blades of a helicopter just finish winding down. In the next several scenes, the rotor-blades are still rotating.

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Quotes

Shaft: [carrying a semi-automatic shotgun] Drop the guns and freeze! When this baby starts kicking, it won't stop. So, nobody get cute!
[a thug goes for his gun and Shaft blows him away]
Shaft: Who's Next?

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Connections

Referenced in Carlito's Way (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Move On In"
Lyrics and Music by Gordon Parks
Sung by 'O.C. Smith'

User Reviews

Shaft's big blast!

Shaft really was the African-American answer to the popular James Bond franchise. This movie shows this perhaps more than any of the other Shaft movies. Violence, girls, sex, chases, "Shaft's Big Score!" has it all!

By no means any of the Shaft movies are among the greatest of all time. Nevertheless they are extremely memorable thanks to its main character, played by Richard Roundtree. He's hip, digs his women and isn't afraid to hold back when it comes to action. He's a classic and important iconic African-American character from the '70's.

The movie its story and plot lines are a bit messy (in that way this movie also resembles James Bond movies), which also makes the movie unclear and not always totally interesting to follow. The movie also really lacks a good main ruthless villain. The villain in this movie is perhaps introduced a bit too late to really leave his mark on the movie. In that way "Shaft's Big Score!" is a really lacking movie, when it comes down to its story, storytelling and characters.

Thankfully the movie isn't lacking in action and great dialog. Some of the dialog is just brilliant and suits the atmosphere of the movie- and its time period extremely well. Also of course the music adds to this atmosphere. But surprisingly good is also the action in the movie. The movie doesn't really feature that much action but the lack of it is made up during the great finale, that features a good old fashioned typical '70's car chase, boat chase and helicopter chase in one, James Bond style. It's really true that the ending makes up a lot. It makes you forget some of the weaker points of the movie, although in the end "Shaft's Big Score!" is still nothing more than an average action-flick with one great, cool main character.

A good movie featuring the classic character Shaft and some really great action.

6/10

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