Review of Shaft

Introduction

Not a re-make of the 1971 original, more a liberal use of the franchise, with a little cameo from the original Shaft himself, Richard Roundtree. John Singleton gets behind the camera, with Samuel L. Jackson stepping in to the long leather coat. I`ll watch Jackson in anything (I don`t even switch over when his Barclays adverts are on!), so that`s why I decided to take a look at this.

John Shaft is coolness itself. Armed with his stylish clothes and the right selection of one-liners, he sets out to find the only witness to a murder. Can he track her down before the murderer stops her from talking ever again...

Video

A 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, which is pretty good indeed. Colours are vibrant, there`s plenty of detail, and everything looks just fine and dandy. Visually this film is a classic cops and robbers/murderers tale, with gunfights, car chases and a few nice little punch ups too.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack which complements the visuals nicely. There`s plenty of action for your speakers, with booms and bangs, gunfire and lots of nice little surround effects. I thought there could have been a little bit more overall though. Dialogue is always clear, with Jackson`s delivery sounding as good as ever.

And then of course there`s David Arnold`s respectful re-working of the classic Isaac Hayes theme. It works very nicely indeed.

Features

Oh dear, a typical Paramount offering, with a "making of" featurette made up of standard PR fluff, and some interview footage that is a little more interesting. There are also two music videos "Theme from Shaft" by the man himself Isaac Hayes and "Bad Man" by R. Kelly. The former is good, the latter is forgettable.

And what Paramount release would be complete without the trailer...

Conclusion

I watched this film because of Samuel L. Jackson, and by the end I decided that he was the only reason to watch it. He gets all the best lines and delivers them in his own cool style. But if you look at what`s going on around him, you`ll find that there`s not a lot else happening. There`s not much in the way of plot or character work, and you just know exactly what will happen and when it will happen. There are some good action scenes if that`s your cup of tea though.

Technically the disc is fine, with good picture and sound (and that funky theme tune), and the usual Paramount style poor collection of extras. But you won`t be picking this one up unless you`re a massive Samuel L. Jackson fan. Rental only for everyone else, and don`t set your sights too high.