One neat little bonus of going on a Neo Noir hunt is finding those diamonds in the rough that come completely out of left field. Sometimes a film is hyped so fully as one thing that its never looked upon or considered as any thing else. This film especially so since its considered one of the first of its own genre.Shaft (1971) has been called the first blaxploitation flick, screw that and it's derogatory connotations (think Sergio Leone vs the majority of "Spaghetti" Westerns as a reference point), its actually not only a great PI film, directed by Gordon Parks (acclaimed photojournalist for Life magazine ) but also shot in a very noir-ish style by Urs Furrer. Between the eye of the director and the skill of the cinematographer the film looks beautiful. The shots of Manhattan, The Village, Harlem circa 1970 are gorgeous. It's sleazy Times Square/42nd Street at fin d'une époque, before Disneyfication eradicated it all.Establishing shot, an aerial view of 7th Avenue Manhattan looking North towards Broadway and Times Square. A cacophony of traffic blares skyward, we look down upon madly scintillating 42nd Street theater marquees, classic Hollywood product, Lancasters The Scaphuters, Redfords's Little Faus And Big Halsey competing with triple X features He And She, School for Sex and The Wild Females, this ain't Busby Berkeley Territory anymore. Isaac Hayes' soul and funk-styled iconic theme song begins to pulsate the title appears over a subway entrance as leather clad Shaft glides up to the trash littered gum stained sidewalk and jaywalks his way across the main stem. This title sequence segues into the beginning of the story when Shaft is alerted by Marty the blind news stand paper seller that two cats were looking for him. Shaft is based on an Ernest Tidyman and John D. F. Black screenplay from a book by Tidyman. The dialogs are all spot on in 70's hip jive. It's co-produced by Stirling Silliphant (who wrote late classic noirs, 5 Against the House, Nightfall, The Lineup and also neo noir -ish In The Heat Of The Night). What's sad is Shaft gets right what practically every Mike Hammer, the quintessential NY P.I, based film neglects, and that is a real feel for the gritty noir, on location, underbelly side of New York City. (save Allen Baron's 1961 Blast Of Silence, and Armand Assante's I, The Jury(1982)) and even the latter doesn't spend near enough time in the streets Shaft is a very plausible re-imagining of the classic private eye flick. The P.I. was always about cool this go round it is about back COOL. Richard Roundtree is perfect as the suave hip protagonist John Shaft, a good detective, grudgingly getting genuine respect from all. Moses Gunn is incredibly good as tough crime boss Bumpy Jonas showing quite a bit of range as he pleads with Shaft to take his case. Charles Cioffi as Androzzi Shaft's NYPD detective cop buddy holds his own and runs interference between Shaft and the department. Drew Bundini Brown is Bumpy henchman Willy, Christopher St. John is Ben Buford a former hood rat friend of Shaft who is now a black militant, Antonio Fargas is great as streetwise Bunky. Character actor Lee Steele plays a blind news vender. Shaft is a Neo Noir New York City wet dream, it hits on all cylinders, check it out. 10/10

Super cool private eye John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is hired by a drug lord (Moses Gunn) to find his missing daughter. Blaxploitation classic is justifiably considered one of the genre's best, if not THE best. It's a smart, tough crime film with a memorable performance by Roundtree as the iconic title character. For modern audiences used to seeing tough macho leads in action movies, they might be underwhelmed when seeing this. But this wasn't commonplace at the time and it especially wasn't commonplace to have that lead character be a black man. So it's important from a film history perspective, as well as the obvious entertainment value. It's well-acted and directed with a terrific soundtrack. There would be two sequels that were not as good but still entertaining. The movie from 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson as Shaft's nephew was an attempt to relaunch the franchise and should be avoided.

From out of the surge of the many blaxploitation films following the release of Melvin Van Peeble's 'Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song' comes 'Shaft', directed in 1971 by Gordon Parks. 'Shaft' seems to have stood out from the others within this exclusive genre, and rightfully so for its smooth and funky approach towards a division of films that's been dominated by white leads. Richard Roundtree plays John Shaft, the big badass private eye of New York City, and displays a confident, sexy and tough attitude that makes him such a memorable character. This film is rich with soul, and features the funky music of Isaac Hayes to complete the tribute to black culture in that time. These are the elements that contribute to its significant value among blaxploitation films.The film features a typical storyline that's nothing out of the ordinary among crime films; John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to rescue his daughter from a group of Italian mob figures trying to take over territory in Harlem. While this film is more commonly known as a blaxploitation film, it actually contains a few characteristics of film noir, which certainly adds to its uniqueness in its time. The setting takes place in the suburbs of New York, and mostly appears rather gloomy and unemotional throughout the movie. The highlight of the city though is when Shaft is walking through the streets to the funky music of Isaac Hayes, who sings of the life of black culture within the city.Shaft rarely shows much emotion in this film, and often acts reserved among the people around him. He maintains a composure and attitude that should be respected and in turn delivers a strong representation for the black community. His character alone makes this movie a considerably powerful film that speaks loudly and gives the black community a powerful character in film they can find inspiration in.

I saw this film when it came out. It was "different" and hence garnered attention from the movie going populace normally being fed mainstream private eye films. I didn't like it at the time but I went to the cinema with a girl I fancied and told her I liked it - as she seemed to find the film entertaining. (or did she just give that impression because she was trying to please me??) Just for old time's sake, I watched it the other night. 42 years had indeed changed my view - I detested the film! Wooden acting, desperately bad screenplay and plot. Cheap, nasty, depressing sets and photography. Everyone and his dog spitting out surly one liners that did little more than irritate. How on earth did this train wreck ever get any traction? The director, actors and everyone else involved in Shaft should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. I now realize why it was entitled "Shaft"; the movie going public got shafted. - and yes, that was a surly one-liner.. UGH! UGH! and double UGH!