| Shaft (1971) Cast:Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn,Christopher St John John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is a gritty private eye who is hired to rescue the daughter of a mobster, while doing so, he ends up going up against a mobsters and assembles an army of black mercenaries to rescue the damsel in distress and wipe out the bad guys in this exciting blaxploitation that is probably the best one ever made. Shaft really is the pinnacle of this genre. Richard Roundtree's performance is charismatic,refined and upbeat. Indeed when compared to Pam Grier or Fred Williamson, Roundtree is friendly by comparison. For a burned out private eye, there is actually a surprisingly less hostile tone toward the man, so to speak and the film simply is straight forward good guys vs bad guys flick. The action sequences surprisingly hold up fairly well, sure it's nothing spectactular but the film has well staged action and most importantly it also has the attitude down perfect. Maybe this is the most mainstream blaxploitation flick, due to the fact that the film seems to be made with a budget and boasts slick production values, but the film is interesting mainly due to the performance of Richard Roundtree. The film needs someone hard boiled yet likable and for this reason the film is a true classic of the genre.D.Gordon Parks***1/2 |