Spiff's Tribute to Shaft!

People ask me, "What makes Shaft so cool? Why do you like him so much?" And I say, "'Cause ain't no other detective who's as cool as Shaft, as clever, as tough, or as good with the ladies as Shaft!" That shuts 'em up for a while. I don't think it can be disputed that Shaft is the best detective of all time. Anyone who's seen Shaft, its sequel Shaft's Big Score or Shaft in Africa (Sadly, I haven't been able to find the latter one) know that Shaft is really the best.

The plot of Shaft is both simple and complicated. We first meet John Shaft as he walks through the streets, to the tune of Isaac Hayes classic, oscar-winning song "The Theme From Shaft" and we instantly sense his coolness. He meets a big, powerful mobster Bumpy (Moses Gunn, in a brilliant performance) whose daughter has been kidnapped. While Shaft goes looking for him he enlists the help of the clueless police officer Victor Androzzi (Charles Cioffi) and the old friend Ben Buford (Christopher St. John) in his quest. The ending, which I will not reveal in case you haven't seen the movie, is great.

This is without a doubt one of the best movies of all time, up there with classics such as The Godfather and Lawrence of Arabia. Many filmmakers have imitated the story of Shaft in other movies, but none has ever been as good as the original.