---
title: "Shaft: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/shaft/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/shaft"
critics_score: 67
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Shaft (1971): what the critics said

Critics' score 67 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative.

Most critics regard Shaft as an entertaining film whose strongest qualities lie in its music and sense of place. Praise centres on Isaac Hayes’s score and the portrait of New York, with Gordon Parks’s handling of grit and humanity also drawing approval. The favourable reviews value its place in Black-led popular cinema, though the available comments offer more praise for atmosphere than for plotting.

The spread is wide, and the reservations mostly concern the story’s ability to sustain the appeal of its opening. The Guardian admires the city portrait but finds the script thin; Empire is more dismissive, faulting both the trite plot and Shaft’s humourless characterisation. Even Variety’s enthusiastic assessment notes a slowdown towards the climax. Slant Magazine sits at the favourable end, finding social commentary as well as period interest.

## Slant Magazine — Budd Wilkins

Rating 4.5/5. 2 August 2022. 

The critic calls the film a quintessential blaxploitation work and a vivid snapshot of a bygone era. He praises its portrait of New York, soulful music, and social commentary.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/shaft-4k-uhd-review-gordon-parks/)

## Variety — A.D. Murphy

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 June 1971. 

The review is strongly positive, calling the film an entertaining debut with strong box-office prospects. It praises Gordon Parks’s feel for the story’s grit and humanity, while noting that the film slows slightly toward the climax.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1971/film/reviews/shaft-1200422605/)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 73/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 1971. 

The headline presents the film as an enjoyable Saturday-night movie. The accessible page provides no further critical verdict or specific point of praise.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/11/archives/-shaft-at-last-a-good-saturday-night-movie-about-shaft.html)

## Time Out — GA

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review describes the film as hip, cool and entertaining. It singles out Isaac Hayes’s score and the film’s significance as a commercially successful story about a Black private eye.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/shaft)

## The New Yorker — Penelope Gilliatt

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 1971. 

The page identifies this as part of Penelope Gilliatt’s Current Cinema review, but provides no verdict. It offers no praise or criticism of the film.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1971/08/07)

## The Guardian — Andrew Pulver

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 21 July 2000. 

Pulver regards the original as a landmark and a fascinating snapshot, though its quality dips beyond the iconic opening song. He praises its low-budget filmmaking and depiction of early-1970s New York, while noting the script is thin.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jul/21/review-shaft)

## Empire — Kim Newman

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

Newman finds the film less cool and compelling than its introduction promises. He praises Isaac Hayes’s soulful theme but criticizes the trite plot and Shaft’s humorless characterization.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/shaft-review/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/shaft.md