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Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Widescreen, Documentary, Director's Cut, Original, Trailers
"Hotter than Bond. Cooler than Bullitt,” movie posters proclaimed. John Shaft was indeed a shut-your-mouth detective to reckon with, a fact emphasized from the film’s start by Isaac Hayes’ Academy Award®-winning Best Original Song and Oscar®-nominated score. Richard Roundtree plays the smart, tough confident lead, a private investigator whose hunt for a kidnapped woman puts him in the middle of feuding syndicates. Gordon Parks directs from a screenplay that Ernest Tidyman (that same year's Oscar winner for The French Connection) co-scripted from his own novel. John Shaft is an icon of change from an era of change. Today, Shaft still tells it like it is.
"...Slick, upbeat entertainment..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
Editor's Note
Following the breakout success of Melvin Van Peebles's SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG, Gordon Parks' SHAFT would officially launch the historic Blaxploitation movement. Based on the novel by Ernest Tidyman, the film stars Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, a debonair, tough-talking private detective, who became a full-fledged American archetype after the film was released. Combining street smarts and sharp wit, Shaft is the quintessential black action hero. After battling against Harlem gang kingpin Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn), Shaft decides to help rescue Bumpy's daughter from the Mafia. What follows is an action-packed thrill ride through the rough-and-tumble streets of early 1970s New York City.Featuring one of the most recognizable theme songs in movie history (for which Isaac Hayes' won a Best Song Oscar in 1972), Parks' follow-up to his critically acclaimed, though monetarily disappointing, drama THE LEARNING TREE remains the definitive Blaxploitation film. Roundtree delivers a legendary performance as the ultra-cool detective, in this groundbreaking film that would spawn two sequels (SHAFT'S BIG SCORE! and SHAFT IN AFRICA) and a big-budget remake in 2000.
Plot Summary
In this quintessential blaxploitation film, Richard Roundtree is Shaft: a good looking, tough-talking private detective hired to rescue a gangster's daughter from kidnappers.
| Features | English Dolby Digital Stereo | | French Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio Commentary | | English Subtitles | | French Subtitles | | Scene Access | | 3 Original Theatrical Trailers | | Behind-The-Scenes Footage | | Documentaries | | Widescreen Version | | Interactive Menus |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 5/3/2005 |
| Running Time: 100 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1971 | | Catalog ID: 65051 | | UPC: 00012569505124 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1972) |  | Isaac Hayes, Winner, Best Music, Song | | | Isaac Hayes, Nominee, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score | |
Golden Globe (1972) | | Isaac Hayes, Winner, Best Original Score | | | Richard Roundtree, Nominee, Most Promising Newcomer--Male | |
British Academy Awards (1972) | | | Isaac Hayes, Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award For Film Music | |
Grammy (1972) | | Isaac Hayes, Winner, Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture | |
MTV Award (1994) | | Richard Roundtree, Winner, Lifetime Achievement |
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| | Professional Reviews | Total Film
"...The last 25 minutes are an object lesson in the art of ending a movie with a bang..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 08/01/2000 p.92USA Today
"...Gordon Parks remains one of the past century's great still photographers....[The film] still surprises with a visual shoddiness that's ultimately part of its off-the-cuff charm..." 06/16/2000 p.11E Entertainment Weekly
"...It's cool legacy hasn't mellowed..." 01/11/2002 p.34 Premiere
"John Shaft was an in-charge, blatantly virile hero, with attitude to spare." 12/01/2003 p.11 |
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