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Shaft (1971) — Stream on Howdy · CriticCrunch

Shaft backdrop

Shaft

Movie1971·100 min

Shaft

Directed by Gordon Parks

Crime Thriller Drama Action

An Academy Award-winning crime thriller film directed by Gordon Parks. Winner of Best Original Song, with 1 additional Oscar nomination.

◈ CrunchScore

Top 67%

of all movies · weighted by audience size & source agreement

★ TMDB Audience Rating

6.4/10

About Shaft

Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.

Pacing: Brisk (6 of 9)
Tone: Neutral (5 of 9)
Intensity: Moderate (4 of 9)
Complexity: Easy to follow (2 of 9)
Humor: Light-touch (4 of 9)
Scale: Personal (4 of 9)
Spirit: Light (9 of 9)
Texture: Stylized, Tense
Story Tags: social injustice, freedom rebellion, late 20th century, action combat, new york, urban, parent child, strangers forced together, detective investigator, anti hero, kidnapping hostage, investigation procedural, organized crime

443 ratings

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Where to Watch Shaft

Checked Aug 31, 2026

1 streaming

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Details

Director: Gordon Parks
Language: English

Cast

Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi

⬡Explore cast & crew→

Awards

🏆Oscar Winner — Best Original Song (1971)◆Oscar Nominee — Best Original Score (1971)

How Shaft Ranks

All movies

Top 67%

1970s movies

Top 85%

Crime movies

Top 64%

Top 67% All movies.

the vibe

Shaft Vibe

What it feels like

briskneutralmoderateeasy to followlight-touchpersonallightstylizedtense

What it's about

pacing

brisk 6/9brisk 6/9

tone

texture

stylizedstyled

kidnapping hostage

investigation procedural

social injustice

freedom rebellion

detective investigator

anti-hero

parent child

strangers forced together

action combat

organized crime

New York

urban

late 20th century

neutral 5/9neutral 5/9

intensity

moderate 4/9moderate 4/9

complexity

easy to follow 2/9easy 2/9

humor

light-touch 4/9light 4/9

scale

personal 4/9personal 4/9

spirit

light 9/9light 9/9