Movie · 1971 · Action, Crime, Thriller · 1h 40m · R · English
Curator score: 4.9/10 (60.8K ratings)
The mob wanted Harlem back. They got Shaft...up to here.
Overview
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.9/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.47/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Metacritic: 66
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Gordon Parks
Production
Shaft Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast
Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John, Gwenn Mitchell, Lawrence Pressman, Victor Arnold, Sherri Brewer, Rex Robbins, Camille Yarbrough, Margaret Warncke, Joseph Leon, Arnold Johnson, Dominic Barto, George Strus, Edmund Hashim, Drew Bundini Brown, Tommy Lane, Al Kirk, Shimen Ruskin
Curator Review
Verdict
A stylish, influential early-70s crime thriller with real swagger: sharp location work, a memorable Isaac Hayes score, and Richard Roundtree’s effortless charisma make it an essential watch for anyone interested in blaxploitation, urban noir, or cool-as-hell genre cinema. Its plotting is straightforward and its politics can feel dated or underdeveloped, but the vibe, iconography, and historical significance still land hard.
Best for
fans of 1970s crime films and noir
viewers who prioritize style, soundtrack, and atmosphere
people interested in landmark Black genre cinema
audiences who like charismatic antiheroes and urban detective stories
Skip if
you want tightly plotted, idea-driven crime drama
you’re sensitive to dated gender politics and exploitation-era attitudes
you prefer polished modern pacing over loose, vibe-first storytelling
Overview
Shaft is one of those movies where the image, the music, and the lead performance fuse into a cultural object bigger than the plot itself. Richard Roundtree gives John Shaft an easy, self-possessed authority that the film never has to explain; he simply arrives, moves through New York like he owns it, and the movie builds its legend around that confidence.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the combination of noir structure and 1970s street-level cool. The city feels lived-in and grimy, the score is instantly iconic, and the film understands how to turn a detective story into a mood piece. Even when the story moves in familiar beats, the craft keeps it buoyant.
Bottom line
At the same time, it’s very much a product of its era. The women are often written through a sexist noir lens, and the film’s social ideas are more suggestive than fully explored. But as a landmark of Black action cinema and a blueprint for a certain kind of swaggering urban thriller, it remains a major watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (4★) · 911 likes
see, Shaft is both his name AND his game
demi adejuyigbe · 888 likes
Great shots, incredible score, horny, blah blah blah. Brass tacks. Shaft's sweater and skincare game are out of this world. I need a commentary track from the wardrobe and makeup teams. Where's the Vulture article that explains what kinda moisturizer and face wash is gonna make me smooth as Ricky Roundtree
Josh Lewis (3★) · 489 likes
a funk update on the noir genre with richard rountree walking around and investigating a gorgeously-lit, grimy 70s new york in turtlenecks and leather jackets to a killer, moody soul score by isaac hayes. a movie seemingly more about the vibe than the ideas regarding race, authority, community, etc which makes it a breeze to watch but is also sorta the issue? it's so cool it's honestly just a relaxing surface going through the expected plot motions after awhile with… more a funk update on the noir genre with richard rountree walking around and investigating a gorgeously-lit, grimy 70s new york in turtlenecks and leather jackets to a killer, moody soul score by isaac hayes. a movie seemingly more about the vibe than the ideas regarding race, authority, community, etc which makes it a breeze to watch but is also sorta the issue? it's so cool it's honestly just a relaxing surface going through the expected plot motions after awhile with… more
Alexander Boucher (3★) · 470 likes
A guy describes a woman as having "groovy boobs" in this movie