Shaft
Richard Roundtree
Blu-ray
Originally released 1971
Warner Brothers
Who’s the private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chick? Shaft! Right on! Shaft is the most famous Blacksploitation movie made in the late sixties and early seventies. Now available on Blu-ray, Shaft is still an excellent action flick but it certainly shows its age culturally. Shaft Blu-ray features a behind the scenes documentary and three trailers (both available on the DVD version). It also includes an episode of the short-lived TV series.
Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is the coolest and most plugged in private dick in NYC, Black or White. The movie opens with his learning a couple of men are looking for him. A confrontation and a talk with an NYPD detective later, he meets with Bumpy. Bumpy is the man who runs “uptown”. Somebody’s got his daughter and he wants Shaft to find her. This leads to a bit of a gang war.
The pacing here is a bit slow but this is made up for by the movie’s cool factor. Shaft also ends a bit abruptly if you ask me.
Notable in this action movie is the Isaac Hayes soundtrack. The Shaft theme song won an Academy Award and the rest of the music is just as good.
The picture quality for Shaft Blu-ray is of course better than DVD. The sound is still stereo though.