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Shaft (2000)
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa L. Williams Director: John Singleton Rating: R
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Who delivers ten times out of ten? Samuel L. Jackson is Shaft, the man and the movie. John Singleton (Boyz 'N' The Hood), directs this gritty action packed thriller.
With Uncle John Shaft (Richard Roundtree reprising his original role) as mentor, it's no surprise that today's Shaft is the coolest dude and the hottest action around. To stop a racist killer (Christian Bale) Shaft's got to track down the only eyewitness that can put him behind bars (Toni Colette). As Shaft closes in, so does the danger. Armed with attitude and up against corrupt cops and venomous druglords he's out to make crime pay up.
The classic blaxploitation picture from 1971 returns to the big screen with Samuel L. Jackson taking over the title role from Richard Roundtree. Jackson portrays Shaft, nephew of Roundtree's legendary John Shaft. The younger Shaft is a police detective, unlike his uncle, who was a private investigator. His latest assignment is to track down a murderer (Christian Bale) before he kills the woman (Toni Collette) who witnessed his heinous crime. The mere appearance of Roundtree, reprising his original role, gives the revamped SHAFT all the credibility it needs, but it is director John Singleton's spruced-up action sequences, as well as Jackson, that make the movie so entertaining.
Samuel L. Jackson stars as detective John Shaft, a new-generation "black private dick who's a sex machine with all the chicks" in this stylish, action-packed update of the classic blaxploitation trilogy (SHAFT, SHAFT'S BIG SCORE!, and SHAFT IN AFRICA) from the early 1970s. Shaft's nemesis this time around is Walter Wade Jr. (Christian Bale), a cocky, blue-blooded white kid who commits a violent hate crime but still manages to skirt the system. When Wade forms an unholy alliance with powerful Dominican drug lord Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright) along with two dirty cops from Shaft's own precinct, Shaft turns in his badge to dispense justice on his own terms. Luckily for him, the original Shaft (Richard Roundtree, who is this Shaft's uncle) is around to help out, along with Vanessa Williams as a trustworthy cop, Toni Colette as an eyewitness to Wade's crime, and rapper Busta Rhymes as Shaft's man-on-the-street Rasaan. Director John Singleton (BOYZ N THE HOOD, HIGHER LEARNING) appears in a brief cameo, as does original SHAFT director Gordon Parks; the only creator missing is Ernest Tidyman, who wrote the novel that started it all. And SHAFT fans, take comfort--Isaac Hayes's remake of his classic theme is as funky as ever.
A racially motivated, cold-blooded killing starts the wheels turning in the hard-hitting, action-packed "Shaft," directed by John Singleton. When a young black man is killed outside of a restaurant by the son of wealthy businessman, NYPD cop John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) takes him down; but the kid, Wade, (Christian Bale), gets bail, then proceeds to skip to Switzerland for the next two years. Meanwhile, the only witness to the murder, a waitress named Diane (Toni Collette), disappears. When Shaft gets a tip that Wade is coming back to town, he makes it his business to see that justice is done, and meets him at the airport. When Wade gets bail again, Shaft resigns from the force, to take the matter into his own hands, and to do it on his own terms. First, he has to find Diane; without her, they have no case. During his pursuit, he runs afoul of drug lord Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright), whom Wade has hired to kill Diane. Making things even more difficult for Shaft are two wrong cops (Dan Hedaya, Ruben Santiago-Hudson), who are in league with Peoples. But Wade and Peoples soon find out they have their hands full dealing with Shaft, who is backed in his play by Uncle John (Richard Roundtree), and Carmen (Vanessa Williams), another of NYPD's finest. |
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| Cast & Crew: |
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Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson | Vanessa L. Williams | Jeffrey Wright | Christian Bale | Busta Rhymes | Dan Hedaya | Toni Collette | Richard Roundtree | ...more
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Directed By:
John Singleton
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| Technical Information: |
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Genre:
Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense
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DVD Release Date:
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Format: Region 1
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Rating:
R
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Year:
2000
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Regional Coding:
R1:
Will only play on North American Region 1 or multi-region DVD players.
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Number of Discs:
1
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Subtitles:
English
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Screen Ratio:
Anamorphic (16:9), Widescreen Edition - 2.35:1
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English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) | |
Running Time:
127 minutes
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Studio:
Paramount
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UPC/Barcode Number:
097363361947
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Closed-Captioned: Yes
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Color: Yes
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| DVD Features: |
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- "Reflections On Shaft" Exclusive Cast and Crew Interviews
- "Shaft: Still The Man" Making Of Featurette
- "Theme From Shaft" Isaac Hayes Music Video
- "Bad Man" R. Kelly Music Video
- Theatrical Trailer
- Dynamic Interactive Motion Menus
- Scene Selection
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