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Bookmark this pageShaft (1971)
Director: Gordon Parks
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Renowned for its Isaac Hayes score, and as the first mainstream, commercially successful film about a black private eye, Parks' film is a hip, cool, entertaining thriller that in fact never really says very much at all about the Black experience in America; rather, it merely takes the traditional crime-fighting hero, paints him black, and sets him down in a world populated by more blacks than Hollywood movies were used to. Roundtree turns in a strong performance, investigating a racketeer's criminal activities, while at the same time trying to find the man's kidnapped daughter.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
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- Marsellus said...
- Posted on Aug 08 2011 11:42 It's fairly dated with not the most well written script - but a great central performance from Richard Roundtree and 'that' inconic theme song make Shaft work. There aren't many actors in Hollywood who play convincing hard men - but Roundtree actually seems like he could go a few rounds if he had to. I'd put him up there with Bronson, Jack Palance and Lee Marvin. Forget all the martial arts crap and abs of steel... all real men need is a well-placed punch and a witty comeback. I've seen a few blaxploitation films and Shaft is certainly the best of the bunch.
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Cast & crew
Director: Gordon Parks
Producer: Joel Freeman
Cast: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St John, Gwenn Mitchell, Lawrence Pressman, Victor Arnold full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Duration: 100 mins
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