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Dom Robinson reviews
Paramount
- Cert:
- Cat.no: PHE 8057
- Running time: 95 minutes
- Year: 2000
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 12 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English, German
- Subtitles: 15 languages available
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Featurette, Interviews, Trailer, Music Videos
Director:
- John Singleton
(Baby Boy, Boyz N The Hood, Higher Learning, Poetic Justice, Rosewood, Shaft (2000))
Producers:
- Scott Rudin and John Singleton
Screenplay:
- Richard Price, John Singleton and Shane Salerno
Music:
- David Arnold
Cast:
- John Shaft: Samuel L. Jackson
Carmen Vasquez: Vanessa Williams
Peoples Hernandez: Jeffrey Wright
Walter Wade Jr.: Christian Bale
Rasaan: Busta Rhymes
Detective Jack Roselli: Dan Hedaya
Diane Palmieri: Toni Collette
Uncle John Shaft: Richard Roundtree
Who is the black private dick, that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft
Samuel L. Jackson reprises the role as Detective John Shaft, playingnephew to the original Richard Roundtree, who sadly gets very littleto do here other than be a sounding board for a few crack from Jackson aboutthe way things used to be.
The plot’s rather thin on the ground as well, with Brit Christian Baleas racist American Walter Wade Jr., son of a wealthy real-estate high-flyer, whichmakes him believe he’s untouchable when he batters a black man to death outsidea bar in the street and the only witness being timid barmaid Diane Palmieri(Toni Collette), although when the heat’s on he turns to local drugdealer Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright) after an unlikely introductionearlier on.
But what’s the most important thing about this new incarnation is that, ifyou can get past all the “nigger” and “motherfucker” phrases,which director John Singleton probably had left over after his scriptfor Boyz N The Hood, you’re left with an action flick that’s fast, loudand very proud, even if it does use well-worn themes such as corruption withinthe police force as well as the hero of the hour quitting his job and settingout on his own because he thinks he’s been delivered a raw deal.
Samuel L. Jackson comes out of this extremely well though as theepitomy of cool and the man with an eye for all the ladies, which thankfullywe don’t get to see the end result of as fake sex scenes in Hollywood filmstend to be about as titillating as watching paint dry. Christian Balealso puts in a strong performance, but there is less to shout about fromsinger Vanessa Williams who is very much underused here. Toni Collette‘salways crying her eyes out or looking unhappy which makes you think she camestraight from the set ofThe Sixth Senseand the usually reliable Dan Hedaya just bumbles about with a cartoonishsmirk on his face throughout the movie. Finally, “gangsta” rapper BustaRhymes shows his face, waffling away as Shaft’s friendly accompliceRasaan.
Presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen ratio, from the stylish openingcredits through to the hi-energy action shots and the camera pans revealingJackson’s face when he needs to look mean and moody, it’s nothing short ofexcellent.The average bitrate is a high and fairly steady 7.28Mb/s.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound soundtrack is available in English andGerman only. Gunshots, smashing glass, Isaac Hayes‘ monumental themetune – it’s all here, perfectly.
There’s around 30 minutes of content total amongst the Featuretteand Interviews section, all mixing together soundbites from the castand crew with non-anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen clips from the film. A2-minute 16:9 non-anamorphic trailer is also included as are pop promosfor Isaac Hayes: Them from Shaft and R.Kelly: Bad Man.
There are a pitiful number of chapters in the mere 12, but the subtitlesredress the balance with 15 in total: English (and hard of hearing),Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic,Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish and Turkish.
The disc’s main menu contains some animation and music from the film.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.