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Shaft

Play trailer Poster for Shaft R Released Jun 16, 2000 1h 38m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 118 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Crooked cops on the take -- small-time drug lords -- sleazy informers and sadistic rich kids ready to kill --- for police detective John Shaft, its just another night in the underbelly of New York City, another shift facing down cops and criminals who want him dead and a legal system that thrives on money, not justice.
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Shaft

Shaft

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Critics Consensus

With a charismatic lead, this new Shaft knows how to push the right buttons.

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Critics Reviews

View All (118) Critics Reviews
Nell Minow Common Sense Media A guilty pleasure for adults and older teens. Rated: 4/5 Dec 28, 2010 Full Review Globe and Mail Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 22, 2002 Full Review Peter Travers Rolling Stone Rated: 3/5 May 10, 2001 Full Review Chuck Klosterman Akron Beacon Journal This is really a totally different creation, and it ends up being almost as good for totally different reasons. Rated: 3/4 Oct 28, 2023 Full Review Tony Black Cultural Conversation Super-empty but super-cool thrills. Rated: 3/5 Feb 14, 2021 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins While there's time for action and chaos, the detective work is sloppy, resulting in plenty of collateral damage and destruction; it's all brawn and no brains. Rated: 3/10 Nov 9, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Matt W Shaft (2000) has a good performance from Samuel L. Jackson as the lead, a good performance from Christain Bale (right in the middle of his Amercian Psycho phase) as one of the villains, and then there's Jeffrey Wright, who absolutely acted his Ass Off as Peoples Hernandez, the other main villain. Supporting cast did well enough for what was asked of them, including Richard Roundtree who played the original Shaft and apparently stepped right out of a time portal from the 1970s to play Jackson's uncle. And yet, this movie as a whole is so completely forgettable. I saw it as a young dude back in the early 2000s and thought it was okay/not bad. I happened to come across it on one of my (few) movie channels earlier this year and while it was a nice little diversion and trip down memory lane, ultimately it does not provoke a strong urge in me to watch it again anytime soon. Maybe I'll buy 2 copies of the DVD to watch in 2044, one for me and one for the space capsule. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/12/24 Full Review Chad W Listen. This movie is supposed to be an homage to the original, even having THE original John Shaft in the movie. As much as I love Samuel Jackson and Jeffery Wright. I can't recommend it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/10/24 Full Review James B i watched it on tv it was good film is 24 years old early 2000 vibes cool seeing jeffrey wright and christian bale as villains good action flick samuel l jackson is cool Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/02/24 Full Review Joshua E So to get this strait: He becomes a serial killer just to apprehend one suspect of a single murder suspect. In the end, he doesn't get shot. Were we supposed to be on his side or something here? I didn't get the memo. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/24 Full Review Ari V Absolute garbage, except for where Jeffrey Wright does here. This and Basquiat (which, in contrast, is actually a brilliant film) showcasing the peak of his acting skill. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/19/24 Full Review Farah R Although the story is vapid, Samuel L. Jackson and Christian Bale add the right kick to make it an enjoyable, fast-paced action movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

Shaft

Shaft: Official Clip - New York Car Chase Shaft: Official Clip - New York Car Chase 2:13 Shaft: Official Clip - Shoot Him Shaft: Official Clip - Shoot Him 1:37 Shaft: Official Clip - The Iceman Goeth Shaft: Official Clip - The Iceman Goeth 1:15 Shaft: Official Clip - Thrown in Jail Shaft: Official Clip - Thrown in Jail 1:16 Shaft: Official Clip - April Fools Shaft: Official Clip - April Fools 2:08 Shaft: Official Clip - Mano a Mano Shaft: Official Clip - Mano a Mano 1:56 Shaft: Official Clip - Gimme Your Shoes Shaft: Official Clip - Gimme Your Shoes 0:52 Shaft: Official Clip - Million Dollar Bailout Shaft: Official Clip - Million Dollar Bailout 0:41 Shaft: Official Clip - Meeting Peoples Shaft: Official Clip - Meeting Peoples 1:23 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis Crooked cops on the take -- small-time drug lords -- sleazy informers and sadistic rich kids ready to kill --- for police detective John Shaft, its just another night in the underbelly of New York City, another shift facing down cops and criminals who want him dead and a legal system that thrives on money, not justice.
Director
John Singleton
Producer
Scott Rudin, John Singleton
Screenwriter
Ernest Tidyman, John Singleton, John Singleton, Shane Salerno, Richard Price, Shane Salerno
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Shaft Productions Ltd., Paramount Pictures, New Deal Productions, Scott Rudin Productions
Rating
R (Strong Violence|Language)
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 16, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$70.3M
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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