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xsBusiness - Shaft (1971)
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $4.49
Your Save: $ 10.46 ( 70% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Victor Arnold (II), Dominic Barto, Sherri Brewer, Drew Bundini Brown, Charles Cioffi
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780792839965
Format: Color
ISBN: 079283996X
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: 1999-01-05
Running Time: 98
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1971-07-02
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Black Bogie! Too Bad About the DVD!
Comment: Now this movie is one baad muther-shut-your mouth! I thought this was an excellent movie that tried to portray the life of a private detective in the Harlem of the early 70's in a gritty and hence more realistic manner. As a result, this movie is certainly dated and unmistakenably of that time and place as witnessed by the lingo and slang used liberally throughout and yet I found it still very enjoyable to watch even today.
This cat Shaft reminded me a lot of Humphrey Bogart's character in the "Maltese Falcon" which I also thoroughly enjoyed but one thing that this movie has which is lacking in that great film noir classic is an excellent score. Rarely has a film been identified or even been associated so much with a score that one can't think of one without the other. Sure there have been great scores that heightened the enjoyment of the films around that time like those for "The Graduate" and "Easy Rider" but those were made almost exclusively from pop songs that were already written but here we have a great score that was written just for the movie that became a pop hit and a classic even today that still gets airtime on classic rock radio stations throughout the world. How this didn't win the Oscar for best score that year escapes me and only Curtis Mayfield's work on "Super Fly" comes close in terms of overall quality of scoring.
Although there are just a couple of special feature documentaries on this dvd they are quite enjoyable as we get to see the director doing his thing and for me the better one was where we get to see the late great Isaac Hayes working with his band on the score.
The sad thing about this dvd is the shocking picture and sound quality. Both are extremely poor and do not do this film any justice whatsoever. Here's hoping that a Blu-ray version surfaces soon with a significantly restored picture quality and a similarly restored sound quality with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or better options just as they did with "Dirty Harry". This movie is also a prime candidate for a new Director's Cut version if Gordon Parks is still around but tragically with his death two years ago a great opportunity was missed.
Great movie but terrible dvd version and perhaps you should wait for the Blu-Ray version that comes with significantly remastered and restored picture and especially sound quality with surround sound options which is the only way to truly do justice to an excellent score and is a fitting way to remember the late, great Isaac Hayes and Gordon Parks.
Customer Rating:
Summary: SHAFT
Comment: They say this cat Shaft is a BAD MOTHER........I can dig it, and you will to....
Customer Rating:
Summary: Cool Music
Comment: 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
Customer Rating:
Summary: Be There or Be Square
Comment: ...Nothing is more funky then this Groovy film, which has been said to be the beginning of the blaxploitation genre. John Shaft is the man, and no one knows but his woman, as he tries to find the truth behind things, and mind you as whitey always tries to bring him down. Now, if I were you, I'd stay the soul-loving person you are, and stay away from the Jive Turkey re-make in 2000. Which although holds a wonderful characterization of the last man on Earth who you can still call "COOL"; Samuel L. Jackson, but, it still plays only as a mind-bender compared to the first film. In short, Shaft is like a James Bond movie, only with a cool character who is more human. The only thing bad about Shaft, is that IT IS dated.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We can dig it
Comment: 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.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree) directed this 1971 detective story about John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), an African American private eye who has a rocky relationship with cops, an even rockier one with Harlem gangsters, and a healthy sex life. The script finds Shaft tracking down the kidnapped daughter of a black mobster, but the pleasure of the film is the sum of its attitude, Roundtree's uncompromising performance, and the thrilling, Oscar-winning score by Isaac Hayes. Parks seems fond of certain detective genre clichés (e.g., the hero walking into his low-rent office and finding a hood waiting to talk with him), but he and Roundtree make those moments their own. Shaft had a couple of sequels and a follow-up television series, but none had the impact this movie did. --Tom Keogh
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