 "The Black Bogie! Too Bad About the DVD!" | 2008-09-13 |
| - Reviewed By fredster5 |
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. |
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 "Cats and caterwauling kittens" | 2008-04-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2NZ0V9TOFLPUS |
| There's a kidnapping of a crime lord's daughter, that P.I. John Shaft is hired to return safely to... The plot is beside the point, it's secondary, for with Shaft, he makes the most mundane thing like trying to hail a cab, entertaining to watch. Richard Roundtree inhabits the part of the Harry Callahanesque, candid, nimble rejoinders-toting wife-cheating black not-so-private dick, who's is own man, and does things his own way, and who's got an underground hideaway den where he brings all his female pickups to. With Charles Cioffi ('Klute,' 1971; 'Missing,' 1982), as the Lieutenant, Vic, Shaft's long-suffering superior. Be on the lookout for 'Putney Swope' himself, Arnold Johnson, as a shoeshine man (this time, we get to hear what the actor's voice 'really' sounds like), and the blaxploitation staple, Antonio Fargas, as a dude on the street that Shaft pumps for a tip-off. With Moses Gunn ('Ragtime,' 1981) as Bumpy, the black crime boss, and Drew Bundini Brown as Bumpy's ambassador, Willy, who steals every scene he's in. The basso profundo, Isaac Hayes, provides the film's score, and Oscar-winning theme song. Directed by Gordon Parks ('Shaft's Big Score,' 1972). As a movie buff that watches every film he views twice, to see whether the film 'holds up' amid the second viewing, so as to get a more honest and clearer perspective, it must be noted that 'Shaft' is not as flawlessly awesome as it first appears to be. Don't let John Shaft's deep-chested, hearty guffaw fool you - it's bigger than the film's bite ... which would rather choose to have the plot become first and foremost and 'the' point of it all. |
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 "SHAFT" | 2008-02-15 |
| - Reviewed By hapkidoman67 |
| They say this cat Shaft is a BAD MOTHER........I can dig it, and you will to.... |
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| "Cool Music" | 2008-02-06 |
| - Reviewed By johnjordin |
Shaft DVD
As far as I know Shaft broke new ground as a movie starring a black man in 1971. Gordon Parks created a sensation in Shaft with an ultracool performance by Richard Roundtree who went onto to do several films in this series. However none holds up as well as does the first film, which plays just as well today as it did in the 70's. Shaft was the quintessential rogue cop, taking orders from no one and tracking down the crooks no matter where they hid in the city. But what really makes this movie work is the feel Parks has for New York, capturing the quality of the inner city like few others have been able to do. One is carried along on the very fine hip soundtrack by Isaac Hayes, taking in the mean streets of Harlem as Shaft fights both the corrupt police force and the underworld.
Recommended for fans of Richard Roundtree and quality jazz.
Gunner February, 2008
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| "Be There or Be Square" | 2007-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2L35O9XSTCH51 |
| ...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. |
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 "We can dig it" | 2007-08-22 |
| - Reviewed By knightlander |
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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| "This movie is Afrolicious!," | 2007-03-13 |
| - Reviewed By jen2sha |
I always see this movie as a great Harlem detective story. Shafts pulsate with street-level lingo and a deep sense of conviction you can help but admire. In the great tradition of detective movies Shaft is clearly a hard-bitten loner who spars with friends and foe alike, then gets just what he wants from everyone.
Even though "Shaft" was an MGM release it was clearly intended for the black audience Hollywood had always ignored. The attitude of Shaft is what set it apart - it made no effort to court the white audience at all. John Shaft kept his mouth shut for nobody, and wasn't interested in carrying a civics lesson or being an ambassador from an alien race. He was openly promiscuous, keeping at least a couple of steady women on his string, and taking in the occasional admiring prostitute. He talked dirty, told white cops where to get off, pushed around the toughest of the black mobsters, and made mincemeat of adversaries both black and white. A year before "The Godfather," the Mafia of Shaft consisted of fairly accurate Italian goombah types; Shaft had no trouble letting loose with the ethnic slurs either. In other words, "Shaft" was a fresh dose of reality, in 70s parlance, 'telling it like it is.' This script showed no influence of studio influence, whatsoever.
Shaft has a good New York look. The overall atmosphere is great, a mixture of dingy, claustrophobic hotel rooms and neglected city streets. A lot of the action appears to take place around Times Square, which was quite a different place in 1970 - much rougher, much more rundown. Shaft must hold the record for the number of movie marquees on view in one film; I'd guess it was filmed in late Summer-Early fall with what's playing in downtown Manhattan. Roundtree fills out the role believably while the surrounding cast work well together, even if the stereotype line is occasionally breached. Several nice moments in the script carry the film over its dull passages, all leading up to a great ending.
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| "There is a good deal of the Bogart characterization in Richard Rountree's portrayal..." | 2007-01-13 |
| - Reviewed By robertfrangie |
Shaft is a black private eye in the sleazy, downtown part of Brooklyn, and of all the new gumshoes trying to fill the Marlowe shoes, he probably comes nearest to the type of character devised by Dashiel Hammett in "The Maltese Falcon" and sharpened by Raymond Chandler in "The Big Sleep."
He is the kind of man of whom Chandler wrote: "But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid."
If Shaft is ever afraid, he does not show it... He moves through city streets on foot with the slim grace of a panther... He can hold his own with black man or white...
To the white police detective who looks sardonically at him and comments: 'You ain't so black," Shaft is quick to pick up a white coffee-cup, hold it alongside the cop's face, and reply: "And you ain't so white either baby."
The mood of the film is set in the beginning when Shaft, striding along the pavements, is asked where he is going. "To get laid," he says without pausing... At the end, almost the same situation recurs... He is asked: "Where've you been, man?" and he says: 'I got laid. "
The real point about Shaft, however, is that though the character does happen to be a black man, he could just as easily be white, red or yellow... Yes, some of the dialog would have to be altered if he were turned into a Charlie Chan, but that is not at issue... There is a good deal of the Bogart characterization in Richard Rountree's portrayal, blended with a touch of the Paul Newman's...
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| "A Winner!" | |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| This is the genuine original "Shaft" from 1971, with Richard Roundtree, that scored so well with inner-city (read: African-American) audiences that it spawned two sequels and created a new mini-genre, the grudgingly titled "Blaxploitation" films. As a kid living in a rural white area at the time, I missed this important and popular movie until I saw it last week in my VCR. And you know what? It's good. Shaft is a private investigator who is hired by a local crime boss to find his beautiful, vulnerable daughter, who has been kidnapped by a rival ring from New Jersey. This is no small potatoes: a major drug war could break out between Jersey and Harlem if the problem isn't resolved soon. By the way, someone goes crashing through Shaft's very high office window in his presence, so Shaft has to bargain and barter with his only sympathetic contact in the NYPD to keep from being arrested on a murder charge. Shaft has to work on his own, under cover, without most of the advantages the police enjoy. The performances in this film are wonderful. It shows how shamefully Hollywood has ignored black talent that actors the caliber of Moses Gunn didn't get steady work, and the situation is only marginally better today. The talent brings conviction to a gangster plot line that is really just an update of 1930s material, minimizing its formulaic quality and keeping it fresh. There are also sharp points made about the realities of urban black life. Example: A taxicab pauses, then zooms by well-dressed Shaft, only to stop 50 feet up the street to pick up a similarly dressed white guy. It's stuff like this that raises "Shaft" well above the movie-of-the-week level that infects so many routine and direct-to-video films. I think that time may have actually improved "Shaft." The violence is just violence. Shooting a gun is just that, not an invitation to buckets of blood. A car crash is a car crash, not a fireball. One thing the writers or producers seem a little conflicted about is the level of swearing: a character will say "[bad]" in one sentence, use the s-word in the next, then revert to "[bad]" Ditto those well-worn terms about fornication. Well, 1971 was a confusing time. For a generation raised on Joe Fridays, Shaft is quite an interesting character, a handsome leather-clad James Bond without all the high-tech gadgetry. He has a nice apartment and a loving wife, but he also keeps a sleek, tasteful bachelor pad that Hugh Hefner might envy. He must be quite the successful P.I.! I suppose this bit of fantasy was meant to serve as relief to the gritty urban drama played out on the streets. At any rate, I didn't mind it. If you're sitting on the fence about this movie, buy the tape; it's quite cheap. |
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| "Decent (not great) presentation of drive-in classic" | |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| Of course, if you're reading this, you probably already know that "Shaft" is an above-average blaxploitation flick with Richard Roundree as a private detective hired to track down a Harlem gang boss' missing daughter. With dialogue like "You got problems, Shaft?" "Yeah, two of 'em. I was born black and I was born poor." you really can't lose. So on with the DVD. The film itself is nicely letterboxed (I think for the first time), and while it's not made from the greatest print (there are a couple scratches), it's a perfectly acceptable presentation. Extras include trailers for all three Shaft flicks . This is great--I wish Warner had done the same with their "Dirty Harry" DVD. (They did with the VHS version.) There's also a 1971-produced short "Making of" film and the option to view the movie in French (a surreal experience, to be sure.) The cast and crew bios, however, are pretty meager, offering only a relatively complete portrait of Richard Roundtree. Where's Moses Gunn? Or Gordon Parks? The "Awards" option is pretty worthless as well, showing that the movie won the Oscar for "Best Original Song." Oh, yes, and there's no commentary track with Director Parks as is described on the Amazon site. Forgivably, it's not mentioned on the DVD box, so this is probably just something that didn't pan out at the last minute. It's still lots of fun, but not what it could have been. |
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