The mob wanted Harlem back. They got Shaft...up to here.
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Shaft (1971) is a crime, thriller, drama and action film directed by Gordon Parks, released on June 25, 1971 with a runtime of 1h 40m. It stars Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi and Christopher St. John. Viewers rate it 6.4 out of 10 across 437 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Shaft before you stream it.
Richard Roundtree
as John Shaft
Moses Gunn
as Bumpy Jonas
Charles Cioffi
as Vic Androzzi
Christopher St. John
as Ben Buford
Gwenn Mitchell
as Ellie Moore
Lawrence Pressman
as Sergeant Tom Hannon
Victor Arnold
as Charlie
Sherri Brewer
as Marcy
Rex Robbins
as Rollie
Camille Yarbrough
as Dina Greene
Margaret Warncke
as Linda
Joseph Leon
as Byron Leibowitz
Directed by Gordon Parks, written by Ernest Tidyman, Ernest Tidyman and John D.F. Black, produced by Joel Freeman, David Golden and Roger H. Lewis.
Average viewer score of 6.4/10 from 437 ratings.
Richard Roundtree was great and Shaft as a character was absolutely amazing, everything else from the plot which was thin and performances by the supporting cast was a bit iffy. The pacing was also pretty slow and despite only being 100 minutes, felt a bit longer. Still, a good opening into the franchise. **3.5/5**
Reviewed on June 10, 2022
Richard Rowntree exudes loads of charisma here as he takes on the role of the shrewd Harlem private investigator “Shaft” who finds himself embroiled in some fairly brutal New York politics. He’s drafted in by local gangster “Bumpy” (Moses Gunn) when this man’s daughter is kidnapped. He doesn’t know by whom or why - there are no ransom demands nor many breadcrumbs to follow, but there are plenty of suspects.…
Reviewed on September 1, 2025
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Shaft (1971) is available to stream on Howdy Amazon Channel, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home and Spectrum On Demand. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of Shaft (1971) includes Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John and Gwenn Mitchell. The film was directed by Gordon Parks. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Shaft was released on June 25, 1971 and runs for 1h 40m.
Shaft (1971) holds an average rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 437 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy crime, thriller and drama films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Shaft trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
