Shaft
Directed by Gordon ParksJohn Shaft is the ultimate in suave Black detectives. He first finds himself up against Bumpy, the leader of the Black crime mob, then against Black nationals, and finally working with both against the White Mafia who are trying to blackmail Bumpy by kidnapping his daughter.
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Shaft Ratings & Reviews
- EmpowermentJune 21, 2025Classic action film with Richard Roundtree and a perfect cast that transcends the so-called now controversial "blacksploitation" label (whatever that means) just good action with a classic Oscar winning musical score by Issac Hayes that transcends the era and ensures "Shaft" will stand the test of time as a entertaining urban crime drama, The remake with Samuel Jackson was a embarrassing waste of time and money don't waste your time. Stick to the original
- NonPlayableContentOctober 21, 2025The music is so iconic and the real settings with on the street style shooting added the the icon status. This is some people's only real example of black exploitation as a genre and Isaac Hayes (even if he's not a great person) so I feel like its worth highlighting for more exposure so more people can join the topic and explore the genre and its branches.
- Dan LeonardOctober 12, 2024Shaft is a fairly fun watch. The pacing is way slower than you would expect or want, but the characters are interesting, and their are some really interesting choices with the camera work. I think about half of those choices fail, but it's great that they tried them, and the ones that do work are absolutely interesting.
Shaft Trivia
Shaft was released on July 2, 1971.
Shaft was directed by Gordon Parks.
Shaft has a runtime of 1h 40m.
Shaft was produced by Joel Freeman, Roger Lewis, David Golden.
John Shaft is the ultimate in suave Black detectives. He first finds himself up against Bumpy, the leader of the Black crime mob, then against Black nationals, and finally working with both against the White Mafia who are trying to blackmail Bumpy by kidnapping his daughter.
The key characters in Shaft are John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn), Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi).
Shaft is rated R.
Shaft is an Action, Adventure, Thriller film.
Shaft has an audience rating of 6.8 out of 10.
Shaft had a budget of $1.1M.
Shaft has made $12.1M at the box office.