Shaft

The hard-hitting Original that started it all.

"Hotter than Bond, Cooler than Bullitt," movie poster proclaimed. John Shaft was indeed a shut-your- mouth detective to reckon with, a fact emphasized from the film's start by Isaac Hayes' Academy Award winning Best Original Song and Oscar nominated score.

Richard Roundtree plays the smart, tough, confident lead, a private investigator whose hunt for a kidnapped woman puts him in the middle of feuding syndicates. Gordon Parks directs from a screenplay that Ernest Tidyman (that same year's Oscar Winner for The French Connection co-scripted from his own novel. John Shaft is an icon of change from an era of change.

Shaft's Big Score!

You can't say the mob wasn't warned about John Shaft. "He's a bad dude", a racketeer cautions them. Now Shaft himself will deliver that message in a way New York City's wise guys understand.

Richard Roundtree reunited with the director (Gordon Parks) and screenwriter (Ernest Tidyman) of 1971's trend-setting film Shaft for Shaft's Big Score!, the second of Roundtree's three movie portrayals of the street smart, leather jacketed private investigator.

This time Shaft runs afoul of the underworld as he investigates a friend's murder. But the players are about to be played in this sexy, hard-edged thriller. You liked it before, so he's back with more, SHAFT'S BACK IN ACTION!

Shaft In Africa

Go ahead. Slug, drug, kidnap and leave John Shaft buck-naked in a sweltering hellhole. It's still no deal. If you want to recruit this tough-minded Manhattan detective for an overseas assignment , you'd better use a language he understands. One that offers a fat up-front fee. And a drop-dead gorgeous accomplice.

Richard Roundtree returns as the indomitable Shaft, who poses as a slave, unmasks the leader of an Africa-to-Europe slavery cartel and, for good measure, mixes his business with amorous pleasure involving a beautiful princess (Vonetta McGee). The cool-fire impact of Roundtree's performances endures: the actor won the 1993 MTV Movie Award for Lifetime Achievement for his work in the three Shaft thrillers.