"Real dude jus' been in here askin' 'bout you Shaft. $50 shoes, funky plaid coat and grey flares...."
Wearing enough leather to re-upholster a rodeo Shaft is an icon of 70's cool. Recently the subject of comedy and satire he stands out from the other blaxploitation characters because he is a well written character who is more than just a black face. Credit for this has to go to the actor Richard Roundtree who is a massive presence on the screen capable of clinical violence and sensitive loving.
The main plot of Shaft is a war breaking out between black gangstas and the mafia. Shaft is a private detective with a good friend in the Police dept. Everybody needs him, the Police need his street knowledge, the gangstas need him on a dangerous job, his woman needs him for..... well he knows just what his woman needs.
Moses Gunn is a superb villain, it seems a strange parallel to make but Alan Rickman in Die Hard uses the same tricks on his opponent as Gunn does on Shaft. It would be nice to think that the cold teutonic Hans Gruber owed just a little to mean ol' m*ther Bumpy Jonas !
Well-directed, with a surprisingly measured pace and with a superb soundtrack Shaft is a good film by any measure. The Isaac Hayes songs and incidental music are second to none, every effect used in Shaft has become an archetype. The wah-guitars signifying quiet tension, the fast picking during the chase scenes, the vibes when his gives his woman good loving......
Starsky and Hutch owe everything to Shaft including Antony Fargas, who makes an appearance as a "pseudo Huggy Bear". The brilliant "Chef" from South Park and UK comedian Lenny Henry may send up the genre but Shaft is an original and the best.
Wearing enough leather to re-upholster a rodeo Shaft is an icon of 70's cool. Recently the subject of comedy and satire he stands out from the other blaxploitation characters because he is a well written character who is more than just a black face. Credit for this has to go to the actor Richard Roundtree who is a massive presence on the screen capable of clinical violence and sensitive loving.
The main plot of Shaft is a war breaking out between black gangstas and the mafia. Shaft is a private detective with a good friend in the Police dept. Everybody needs him, the Police need his street knowledge, the gangstas need him on a dangerous job, his woman needs him for..... well he knows just what his woman needs.
Moses Gunn is a superb villain, it seems a strange parallel to make but Alan Rickman in Die Hard uses the same tricks on his opponent as Gunn does on Shaft. It would be nice to think that the cold teutonic Hans Gruber owed just a little to mean ol' m*ther Bumpy Jonas !
Well-directed, with a surprisingly measured pace and with a superb soundtrack Shaft is a good film by any measure. The Isaac Hayes songs and incidental music are second to none, every effect used in Shaft has become an archetype. The wah-guitars signifying quiet tension, the fast picking during the chase scenes, the vibes when his gives his woman good loving......
Starsky and Hutch owe everything to Shaft including Antony Fargas, who makes an appearance as a "pseudo Huggy Bear". The brilliant "Chef" from South Park and UK comedian Lenny Henry may send up the genre but Shaft is an original and the best.
