Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVIE SUCKS
Review: I checked this movie out, because the soundtrack is all hyped up, but this movie is incredibly bad. Just incredibly bad filmmaking. The storyline has no twists, and this movie is very short.
Rating: 
Summary: Above average detective film.
Review: I don't claim to be an expert on the history of films. Therefore, I won't discuss the place of "Shaft" in cinema. Instead, I'm simply going to review the movie.Right from the beginning, this movie shows it has an attitude, in the opening montage set to the backdrop of Isaac Hayes's now famous theme song. This attitude belongs to both "Shaft" the movie and John Shaft the character. Shaft is definitely the main character of this film. Watching him both outwit and outfight his opponents is a welcome change from today's mainly brainless action heroes. Indeed, one of my personal favorite scenes is the one where he serves drinks to the two men out to get him. This is a movie with a deliberate sense of pacing. There are a couple of scenes that may drag a bit (and hence why I subtracted one star), but the vast majority keep you alert and never bored. In summary, I definitely recommend "Shaft" for any fan of the detective or action genres, and indeed of film in general.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic in its Right -- but Great?
Review: I just got my video of Shaft. In this film, you have a truly winning opening theme, and a wonderful personality in Roundtree. His interaction with the black drug lord (and to a lesser extent that with the white police lieutenant and the city around him) are also interesting to watch. I get the feeling, though, that entertainment value suffers from there on out. Watching through the movie, it struck me how much the production resembled that of your mediocre TV drama series of the '70s. Probably due to the budget. Still, if you're missing "dig it", "bag", "brother", and other lingo of the Seventies, you have it here in (bad pun alert) spades! If you want that groove, and one of the first images of a black man standing tall, by all means get the video -- right on!
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious
Review: I laughed so hard that I thought the vein in my forehead would pop. Truly incredible film, and 'Chef', Isaac Hayes, sure did sound young while cutting the tracks in this one. Truly entertaining, pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Black Film
Review: I was amazed that this film was produced as a DVD. I glad it was ! This film shows that Black men can do more than protray a thief, or dope fiend. Shaft is a Black man that does not take any stuff from anyone, Black or White. The movie was well shot. There is action and more.
Rating:
Summary: This movie was terrible.
Review: I was pretty disappointed when I watched this movie. I thought it was suppose to be cool but it sucked. Don't waste your money on this.
Rating:
Summary: The Original Shaft Is The Best!
Review: In comparing Shaft 2000 with the original Shaft movie, I would have to say that the original is better. Shaft 2000's storyline is pointless and to me, Samuel L. Jackson is out of control. The characters appear to be cardboard cutouts as props and Richard Roundtree is severely underused. The original Shaft is in a class all by itself. It captures the flavor of New York City in the early 70's. Richard Roundtree never goes out of control as Samuel L. Jackson does. He does not have to remind people that he is a "bad mutha:. His presence says it all. People don't realize that the original Shaft movie was shot on a low budget (notice that Shaft didn't have a car until Shafts Big Score?). People complain about the shortness of the film but it didn't have a big budget to start with. MGM was cautious with the budget which makes this film all the more important. It shouldn't even be dubbed "blaxploitation". John Shaft didn't take mess from Whites, Blacks, the Mob or the NYPD. He, at times was a tough hombre (smashing through the window to rescue the girl) sensitive (giving a kid that was hungry two bucks to eat), defiant (scolding Ben on the value of friendship "Don't call me Judas!") and he didn't take crap (from Bumby or the cops). All during this, he kept his cool. Isaac Hayes soundtrack is a classic and it is what soundtracks sounded like before sound producers for films came up with the brilliant idea of letting artists use outtakes from their other albums as filler for a soundtrack album. The original Shaft soundtrack is a mixture of jazz, blues and funk (The only abberration being "Do Your Thing" which is psychodelic funk that is way too long). The Shaft 2000 soundtrack is awful. Even the remake of Theme From Shaft sounds empty (Ever notice that the horn lines in the remake sound tired?) If you really want to get a feel for the character of Shaft, buy this movie. It'll make you want to put on your leather coat and stroll down Times Square. Shaft 2000 cannot match the original offering.
Rating:
Summary: What a great movie!
Review: It must have been great, look out for the re-make coming soon. I'll stick to this version.
Rating:
Summary: Classic detective movie
Review: James Bond made intelligence work look sophisticated and sexy, while Sam Spade offered a more tough-guy, common man appeal. But Shaft was what made it *cool* to be a private dick. While the success of Shaft (which itself owed a little something to "Sweet Sweetback's Badasss Song") spawned many sub-standard flicks, some not even viewable as camp by today's standards, Shaft itself was no-nonsense, offering a straight-ahead gritty feel that was true to the times. No kung-fu hookers, just the mafia and some street thugs for villains. Bumpy Jonas may be no Dr. Evil, but damn, that cat was made of *ice*. The pacing of the movie may be a bit slow for the MTV generation; the sequence where Shaft methodically chases down leads as to the whereabouts of his mark were authentic at the time, but by today's standards, are unnecessary and slow. Still, they don't torpedo the movie, they merely require a little more patience than usual. While the detective movie has today all but succumbed to the dominance of the action movie (which isn't really the same thing), this is a fine specimen of one from its heyday. At the time, much was made of the fact that the film's titular hero was black (and, at the time, there was good cause). Sadly, to a certain extent, this has placed the film in the realm of camp or cult cinema in the minds of many. The fact is that, regardless of how groundbreaking it might have been, Shaft's place in modern film is not as a piece of black cinema, but rather, as simply a great detective film.
Rating:
Summary: "Shaft" rises above the insulting "blaxploitation" label.
Review: John Shaft's first screen adventure finds him hired by Harlem gang boss Bumpy to track down his daughter, who has been kidnapped. Setting aside the stigma many people attach to 1970s "blaxploitation" films, and my constant raving about how Shaft is da man, there's quite a lot to recommend in this film. Among the film's most famous attributes is its excellent score, particularly the "Theme from Shaft," by the legendary Isaac Hayes. To fully experience the power of his music for the film, however, one needs to seek out the "Shaft" soundtrack album. The recordings differ slightly from what is heard is the film, and the sound is much richer. Truly, this is one of the all-time greatest film scores. Leading the pack of talented actors is the man himself, Richard Roundtree, whose charismatic performance would carry the film even if it did not excel on all other fronts. As it is, Roundtree positively shines. I could go on to write pages about this film. Suffice to say it is an expert blend of humor, action, romance(of a sort), and suspense that is worth anyone's time. As for the picture and sound quality on the DVD, both are less than outstanding, but better than you might expect from a film nearly thirty years old. The extra features are nothing to get excited about, with most of them being pretty standard.
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