Shaft
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Movie Reviews of Shaft
Movie Review: The Black Bogie! Too Bad About the DVD!
Summary: 2 Stars
Now this movie is one baad muther-shut-your mouth! I thought this was an excellent movie that tried to portray the life of a private detective in the Harlem of the early 70's in a gritty and hence more realistic manner. As a result, this movie is certainly dated and unmistakenably of that time and place as witnessed by the lingo and slang used liberally throughout and yet I found it still very enjoyable to watch even today.
This cat Shaft reminded me a lot of Humphrey Bogart's character in the "Maltese Falcon" which I also thoroughly enjoyed but one thing that this movie has which is lacking in that great film noir classic is an excellent score. Rarely has a film been identified or even been associated so much with a score that one can't think of one without the other. Sure there have been great scores that heightened the enjoyment of the films around that time like those for "The Graduate" and "Easy Rider" but those were made almost exclusively from pop songs that were already written but here we have a great score that was written just for the movie that became a pop hit and a classic even today that still gets airtime on classic rock radio stations throughout the world. How this didn't win the Oscar for best score that year escapes me and only Curtis Mayfield's work on "Super Fly" comes close in terms of overall quality of scoring.
Although there are just a couple of special feature documentaries on this dvd they are quite enjoyable as we get to see the director doing his thing and for me the better one was where we get to see the late great Isaac Hayes working with his band on the score.
The sad thing about this dvd is the shocking picture and sound quality. Both are extremely poor and do not do this film any justice whatsoever. Here's hoping that a Blu-ray version surfaces soon with a significantly restored picture quality and a similarly restored sound quality with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or better options just as they did with "Dirty Harry". This movie is also a prime candidate for a new Director's Cut version if Gordon Parks is still around but tragically with his death two years ago a great opportunity was missed.
Great movie but terrible dvd version and perhaps you should wait for the Blu-Ray version that comes with significantly remastered and restored picture and especially sound quality with surround sound options which is the only way to truly do justice to an excellent score and is a fitting way to remember the late, great Isaac Hayes and Gordon Parks.
Movie Review: This is one bad DVD!
Summary: 2 Stars
And it aint bad in the good way! (N.B. This isn't a knock on the movie, it is classic 70's afro stuff). 1st of all, let's look at the special features. Mmmkay, here we have a trailer for each of the three 70's SHAFT movies. This is a nice touch, yet I feel something missing - mainly a clear picture and audible sound. Next up is the "Soul In Cinema" documentary, which looks and sounds like something that The Reject Shop rejected. And finally, we come to the so-called "Awards" section, which basically tells you what everyone already knows: that the theme won best song. So after the 30 seconds of thrills and spills that the extra features provided us with, we decide to watch the film itself. The picture, well, that's why I gave this a 2 star rating, because it at least if half-decent, and you have the option of wide or fullscreen. But please folks, don't get your hopes up, because now we shuffle along to the sound quality. Have you ever put ice in the blender, and nothing else, then turned it onto Auto-Cleaning mode? Well this is the closest resemblance to the noise coming out of 4 of your 5 speakers that I can think of. The back of the case will lead you to believe that this is encoded with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. And it is - but unfortunately only on the menu music (did I mention the menu doesn't move?). And the most disappointing thing here is that I live in Australia (That is disappointing in itself), and had to import this trash. Please, spare yourself the agony of trying to decipher this mess and wait for another version, or buy the Neanderthal, outdated VHS tape.Movie Review: Video Transfer is OK, the audio is spotty and not so hot
Summary: 2 Stars
The video Transfer was ok. The Audio was not so good. The sound dropped in volume at time in the DVD.The behind the scenes extra is very good.
The Sound Track of Shaft does a much better job with his theme then the movie does.
I would pass on this one. The quality isn't there.
Movie Review: This Shaft Shafts You
Summary: 2 Stars
Besides the poor quality, the movie is edited. Shaft's vulgar language is one of the best parts of the movie, and you are stuck with Roundtree's dubbed over voice every time he yells at someone. A REAL disappointment.Movie Review: Shaft was a little limp
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this DVD because I love Gordon Parks' work and had not seen the film. I don't know how it faired when it came out but by todays standards it left a lot to be desired. I believe it was one of the first films with a black director. Considering all the wonderful things the man has done, I guess he is entitled to do something that wasn't great. Be sure to see Learning Tree and read his books.