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Information
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 100 min.
- Director
- Gordon Parks
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Thriller
- Rating *
- 6.6
- Votes *
- 10,745
- Checks
- 5,985
- Favs
- 127
- Dislikes
- 41
- Favs/checks
- 2.1% (1:47)
- Favs/dislikes
- 3:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Shaft, the blaxploitation hit that rocked the world, is perhaps definitely a product of its time, and I'd love to see it with a 1971 audience (alas, I was born that year). While it hasn't exactly aged well, I don't think that's because of period details, but simply that its attitude and politics don't seem as shocking or groundbreaking today. So we're left with an exploitation movie done on the cheap, with bad dubbing and not as much action as you imagine. Still, Richard Roundtree's charisma in the lead role takes us a long way, the groovy production design is fun, the funky Isaac Hayes music is iconic, and the camera work is actually pretty cool in the first half of the film (but the tricks seem to evaporate in the second half as the complicated, unmemorable plot takes hold). Shaft will feel a little slow to today's audience, but you can tell why its insolence had an impact back in the day. 6 years 11 months ago -
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senorroboto
Enjoyable tentpole of the blaxploitation genre, although Roundtree's portrayal of Shaft lacks some spark. Has some really intriguing camera work. 9 years 5 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 10 official lists
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This movie ranks #8 in Slate's The Black Film Canon
Slate's The Black Film C…
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This movie ranks #30 in Quentin Tarantino's Coolest Movies of All Time
Quentin Tarantino's Cool…
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This movie ranks #56 in 101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die
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This movie ranks #161 in Jennifer Eiss's 500 Essential Cult Movies
Jennifer Eiss's 500 Esse…
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This movie ranks #217 in Harvard's Suggested Film Viewing: Narrative Films
Harvard's Suggested Film…
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This movie ranks #309 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
Library of Congress's Na…
309 -
This movie ranks #525 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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525 -
This movie ranks #774 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
774 -
This movie ranks #797 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
797 -
This movie ranks #1371 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
1371