Liebesgrüße aus Pistolen (1972) Online

I'm not sure what went wrong with this sequel to 'Shaft'. Once again Gordon Parks directs, Ernest Tidyman writes and Richard Roundtree stars, but there's something missing. It isn't anywhere near as entertaining as the original and the story is very thin and padded out. The score isn't as good either. Isaac Hayes only contributes one number, Parks himself does the rest. Moses Gunn and Drew Bundini Brown reprise their roles as Bumpy and Willy and blaxploitation fave Julius W. Harris ('Superfly', 'Black Caesar') appears as a cop who forms an uneasy alliance of sorts with Shaft. Also check out future soap star Joseph Mascolo as a clarinet playing mobster called, er, Mascolo and Joe Santos later of 'The Rockford Files' as his right hand man. Richard Roundtree is still super cool as John Shaft and he helps make this movie to be fairly enjoyable. Personally I prefer the third in the series 'Shaft In Africa' to this, but if the truth be told neither sequel is a patch on the original which in an undisputed blaxploitation classic and essential viewing for any 70s buff.

The second outing concerns about Shaft , the African-American independent eye-private . This time confronts sinister mobsters , battling black (again Bumpy, Moses Gunn) and white (Mascolo , Joe Santos) gangs . Fiercy Shaft finds a dead friend , a brother his sweet-girl , he ran under legitimate business , a funeral home and all types of insurances , however he hid stakes issues in Queens . Two-fisted Shaft in order to avenge his friend , vows revenge and investigates the deeds . Meanwhile , a police captain (Julius Harris) suspects on Shaft . Extremely tough Shaft spontaneously encounters himself in the middle of a bands war and running afoul of the underworld .

This one features thrills , hair-raising suspense , raw energy , nudism, adult subject matter and lots of violence . Plenty of intrigue, kinky sex and noisy action ; Shaft keeps things moving along , until final fight on a pier with a breathtaking pursuit by helicopter . Violent , tough screenplay by Stirling Shilliphant based on characters created by Ernest Tidyman . Great and enjoyable musical score by the same director Gordon Parks in Isaac Hayes style , recently deceased. Hayes's theme song stills resonates today .

Followed by superior third part 'Shaft in Africa (John Guillermin)' with Vonetta McGee and Frank Finlay ; besides contemporary and revisionist version by John Singleton (2000) with Samuel L. Jackson and as secondary Richard Roundtree as Shaft's uncle . Furthermore , seven television episodes (1973 , 74 years) starred by Roundtree . The Shaft series turned out to be one the best black films from the early 70s.

Shaft really was the African-American answer to the popular James Bond franchise. This movie shows this perhaps more than any of the other Shaft movies. Violence, girls, sex, chases, "Shaft's Big Score!" has it all!

By no means any of the Shaft movies are among the greatest of all time. Nevertheless they are extremely memorable thanks to its main character, played by Richard Roundtree. He's hip, digs his women and isn't afraid to hold back when it comes to action. He's a classic and important iconic African-American character from the '70's.

The movie its story and plot lines are a bit messy (in that way this movie also resembles James Bond movies), which also makes the movie unclear and not always totally interesting to follow. The movie also really lacks a good main ruthless villain. The villain in this movie is perhaps introduced a bit too late to really leave his mark on the movie. In that way "Shaft's Big Score!" is a really lacking movie, when it comes down to its story, storytelling and characters.

Thankfully the movie isn't lacking in action and great dialog. Some of the dialog is just brilliant and suits the atmosphere of the movie- and its time period extremely well. Also of course the music adds to this atmosphere. But surprisingly good is also the action in the movie. The movie doesn't really feature that much action but the lack of it is made up during the great finale, that features a good old fashioned typical '70's car chase, boat chase and helicopter chase in one, James Bond style. It's really true that the ending makes up a lot. It makes you forget some of the weaker points of the movie, although in the end "Shaft's Big Score!" is still nothing more than an average action-flick with one great, cool main character.

A good movie featuring the classic character Shaft and some really great action.

6/10

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This is the proper sequel to Shaft and one that is worthy of his name. He is again the cool and calm brother that doesn't let anything bother him. He even gets worked over good by the baddies.

Moses Gunn is back as Bumpy, a Blofeld character, and antagonist extraordinaire. And, of course, it's the old song about the Mafia horning in on Black turf that makes Shaft interesting - playing against both sides; black and white.

Rosalind Miles is here to keep Shaft interested at home, but you know he will stray, so there is Kathy Imrie to bump into and bed.

The ending with it's car chase and helicopter and machine guns is pure Bond, and Shaft outdoes Bond with a satchel full of loot to take home.

Pure fun!

(77%) Very likely to be the most backed blaxploitation movie of them all, as the original was such a big hit both critically and financially. Most of the blaxplotation boxes are ticked here, Shaft is super cool, the music is great, some of the lines are very funny, he gets the girls, the opening is great, the bad guys are mostly white gangsters with a lone black guy letting the side down, it's all there, but what this has that all others don't is the fantastic action-packed ending. As action sequences go this is one of the best I've ever seen, it just goes on and on and I loved every second of it and it looks as if the director Mr Parks was given free control to do what ever her wanted and he really went for it. This could very likely be may favourite of the breed as along with "Black Caesar", it's a fine example of what the series was capable of when everything slotted into place so well.

Private Investigator "John Shaft" (Richard Roundtree) is back and this time he is trying to find the murderer of his friend who was running a numbers game in Queens. As it so happens the victim's partner "Johnny Kelly" (Wally Taylor) had gambled away $250,000 and a mob boss by the name of "Gus Mascola" (Joseph Mascolo) wants it back—along with a 50% share in Johnny Kelly's numbers racket. However, Johnny Kelly has other plans and decides to double cross Mascola by getting another mob boss from Harlem named "Bumpy Jonas" (Moses Gunn) involved in the same deal. Not only does he hope for a war between the two mob bosses but he also wants John Shaft killed in the process too. Now, rather than reveal any more of the movie I will just say that this was an adequate sequel to "Shaft". While it started off pretty well it got bogged down toward the end with an extremely long chase-and-gunfight scene which I thought actually detracted from the overall effect. In any case, although it wasn't bad necessarily it still wasn't nearly as good as the original. I rate it as average.

In this second installment in the Shaft franchise, the film centers much more on mobsters than on John Shaft. It seems that $250,000 has disappeared and mobsters are threatening to kill an innocent widow to find the money. So, naturally, in steps Shaft to save the widow and out-muscle the mob.

What was so great about the first film, SHAFT, was its "cool factor". Richard Roundtree was smart, handsome and always in control--a man other men would have wanted to be. However, here he's not in the film as much and he's less a Black hero and more just a hustler with way too much emphasis on action and not enough on brains and determination. The best example of this is the very silly ending. It's Shaft versus a ton of mobsters in cars and a helicopter--and Shaft manages to take out every crook AND knock down a helicopter with a shotgun. All the crooks had were pistols and a machine gun!!! They didn't stand a chance in this ridiculous finale.

I was an enormous fan of the original SHAFT (1971) and because of that I was sure to seek out this sequel. Unfortunately, so much of what I loved in the original was gone and this turned out to be just another action picture. For example, the great tune "Shaft" by Isaac Hayes was gone and the music was rather bland. While still watchable, it's also rather brainless and forgettable--earning a 5. Sadly, the next film SHAFT IN Africa is even worse.

The difference between "Shaft" and "Shaft's Big Score" is that director Gordon Parks flaunts a bigger, beefer budget. Whereas the production values on the original "Shaft" seemed threadbare, "Shaft's Big Score" boasts a thick carpet piled with production values. Unmistakably, "Shaft's Big Score" is an impressively photographed epic with "The Seven Ups" lenser Urs Furrer teaming back up with Parks. Furrer creates eloquent visual compositions with his Panavision cameras, especially during an exciting car, boat, and helicopter chase. Nothing is claustrophobic about this spacious sequel. Okay, Issac Hayes doesn't reprise his role as composer. Instead, Parks performs double duty as composer with three songs for O.C. Smith that he penned the lyrics to so he could take up the slack wherever he could. The opening moments of this "Shaft" have been staged with considerable finesse. The cross-cutting between Shaft at the wheel of a car in route to meet with a close friend, Cal Asby (Robert Kya-Hill) and the friend pacing his insurance office is nicely done. Joseph Mascolo's mafia villain is not your usual thuggish type. He is an accomplished clarinet player who appreciates the finer things in life. Ernest Tidyman, who created the "Shaft" character, penned the sequel, and he doesn't retread the original. Crime boss Bumpy Jones (Moses Gunn of "Shaft") and his bodyguard Willy (Drew Bundini Brown) reappear here, too, but Captain Bollin (Julius W. Harris of "Live and Let Die") replaces Lieutenant Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi of "Shaft").Yes, there is a coffee gag reminiscent of the original where Shaft orders his coffee black from Bollin's subordinate Cooper. Naturally, when Cooper returns, he hands Shaft a coffee with cream and three sugars.

A partner in a New York City numbers racket, Cal Asby, dies in an explosion and his partner John Kelly (Wally Taylor of "Rocky III") searches for the loot that Asby cleaned out of the safe. Meanwhile, the Mafia wants half of the action, and Kelly already owes mob boss Gus Mascola (Joseph Mascolo of "Jaws 2") a quarter of a million dollars. Kelly has a gambling debt that he owes Mascola, and Mascola wants to cut up the numbers racket that Asby and Kelly have. As it turns out, Cal Asby's half of the organization belongs to his younger sister, Arna Asby (Rosalind Miles of "The Black Six"), and she is in bed with private detective John Shaft when Asby calls Shaft at 2 AM and informs him that he has deposited $5-thousand in his bank account. Asby and Shaft are friends so when Ashby dies in the explosion, Captain Bollin wonders if Shaft hasn't gone over to the other side because he saw Shaft speaking with Bumpy and Willy after Asby's funeral. Bollin knows that Asby and Kelly are running numbers, but they haven't harassed their operation because it doesn't involve loan sharking, drugs, and prostitution. Meanwhile, Kelly learns from custodian, Jesse (Jimmy Hayeson) at the funeral home that Asby had a shopping bag with him before he died and he entered the casket display room where the models are arranged for customers to review. Shaft wants answers from Kelly, and Kelly asks that Gus take Shaft off his back. Shaft outsmarts a couple of Italian mobsters who call on him.

Eventually, Gus and his men get to Shaft and rough him up behind a Mother Ike's night club. This entire scene is lensed in slow-motion. If turnabout is fair play, Shaft retaliates later when Willy and he masquerade as window washers and break into Gus's luxurious penthouse. Shaft beats up Gus, and Willy drops Pascal (Joe Santos of "Blue Thunder") with a bottle across the top of his head. Afterward, Gus tells Pascal to take the red peppers that he sent him out to fetch and use them as suppositories. Anyway, Kelly concludes that Asby must have stashed the loot in his coffin so he takes a crew out to the Oakland cemetery, and they exhume the casket. The Italians descend on the graveyard by helicopter. Gus gets every dollar bill from Kelly because Kelly owes him everything, and then Pascal's men riddle the lot of them with lead. By this time, Shaft has shown up, and he surprises the Italians, disarms them, and takes Gus as a hostage. Kelly's girlfriend, Rita (Kathy Imrie of "16 Blocks"), takes the wheel while Shaft slams Gus into the backseat. Pascal pursues them in a Dodge Charger for a lengthy, careening, high speed automobile chase. The Italians in the helicopter code-named 2-4 Whiskey hover over the scene, and a marksman with a sniper rifle takes potshots at them. Shaft returns fire with what appears to be an automatic shotgun. Shaft transfers Mascola to a speedboat and cuffs him to it. Finally, Mascola dies when the speedboat that Shaft stole hits an embankment and blows up. The helicopter continues its pursuit of Shaft through an old, abandoned factory building. Indeed, this chase looks like something out of either Alfred Hitchcock or James Bond. Shaft stashes the $250-thousand in the weeds and shoots Pascal and then takes out the helicopter.

"Shaft's Big Score" lives up to its title. The plot is complicated enough without being obtuse. The visual look and design are impeccable. This is such a polished piece of celluloid that it's difficult to believe that Parks and Furrer could exhibit such artistry. Several women appear nude from the waist up. Parks appears in a cameo in Mother Ike's night club. The scene at the elevator between Kelly and an elderly African-American lady is hilarious. Kelly complains about her use of the elevator, and she asks him where his f*&king manners are. The music is different and bolsters the savage action. Roundtree nails the Shaft persona again, and the rest of the cast is good, especially Joe Santos as Pascal. Parks doesn't wear out his welcome either as "Shaft's Big Score" clocks in at a 105 minutes. This is a vintage example of blaxploitation as its slickest.

My Take: Fine Harlem-set thriller with a thrilling climax.

Richard Roundtree returns as the black foul-mouthed private eye John Shaft, reprising the role he made famous in the previous film SHAFT. Made in 1972, SHAFT'S BIG SCORE clearly shows its age as an old star vehicle. Almost everything, from clothing, quips and concept, have been outdated by today's bigger standards. Still, there's much to enjoy in Roundtree's iconic portrayal as the private eye Shaft as he gets tangled up with the mob, led by gangster Gus Mascola (Joseph Mascolo).

So much of the film is devoted to a lot of mob meetings and Shaft at his private eye work, and less comes the action. Up until the finale, a terrific long helicopter chase, the film is devoted to Ernest Tidyman's (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) well-written if often tedious screenplay. Long out-dated and outdone by better anti-Bond cop movies as DIRTY HARRY and THE FRENCH CONNECTION which still stood the test of time. Still, SHAFT'S BIG SCORE! is an enjoyable caper, Roundtree and the action finale delights.

Rating: *** out of 5.

The 1971 film of "Shaft" helped to save "M.G.M" from facing bankruptcy, so naturally they commissioned a follow-up movie. Titled "Shafts Big Score" and released in 1972, the plot is what defeats this film. The scenes look as though they were hastily thrown together with no sense of continuity. I could hardly decipher what was happening from one scene to the next and I know I'm not alone here. The action scenes aren't bad but they can't compensate for a narrative that is very weak in its structure. For some reason which is only known to a handful of people, a further "Shaft" film was made!

Just recently, I've been yearning for some quality blaxploitation, but have lucked out with my last couple of choices: TNT Jackson was a completely dreadful Coffy wannabe and The Black Cobra, starring Fred Williamson, wasn't even a proper blaxploitation (that'll teach me not to do my homework first). This time around, I was more careful with my selection: Shaft is the cool cat who never disappoints (just ask the long line of ladies he leaves in his wake!).

In this, his second adventure, the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks (once again played by Richard Roundtree) becomes involved in a gang war after an old friend is blown to pieces by a bomb. As John Shaft sets about settling the score with the killers, he gets sexy with a few hot mamas, proves tasty with his fists, blows away some bad guys (resulting in some nice 'n' bloody gunshot wounds), uncovers a hidden stash of cash, drives a speedboat at high speed and shoots a helicopter out of the sky. It's not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but it is hugely entertaining, with great characters and winning performances all round, some impressively mounted action sequences (the bigger budget really shows), several pretty ladies jiggling their bits around, and that all important funky score.

Let's face it, the great thing about SHAFT was the fact that Richard Roundtree represented a new, ultra hip inner city private eye. With that novelty gone, this sequel turns out to be a fairly pedestrian crime thriller. Despite decent direction by Gordon Parks and a script by Ernest Tidyman, there's nothing new or particularly exciting here. Roundtree is fine and the supporting cast features a mixed bag of character actors: Drew Bundini Brown; Julius Harris; Joe Santos; Wally Taylor. Joseph Mascolo plays the villain, a pretentious fop who makes shrimp Newberg and plays the piccolo. There is an exciting, if protracted, chase sequence involving cars, a boat and a helicopter. The music, which is good, is mostly by Parks himself. Moses Gunn plays "Bumpy."

Hmmm....a sequel to the extremely popular "Shaft", bigger-budgeted, made just one year later...do you smell "cash in" here? Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill crime drama, redeemed only by a few good (if overlong) action sequences. Richard Roundtree still is perfect as Shaft, though (his best scene: the look he gives to a white cop while ordering "black coffee"). (**)

Richard Roundtree reprises his role as John Shaft, in this very respectable sequel to one of the greatest urban crime thrillers ever. The story is actually nothing new or spectacular; it's a standard 'cops go up against the mafia' story. But the script isn't really the draw here. It's the 70's; the clothes, the cars, the music, the incomparable "coolness" that made the first film so great. This one succeeds largely because they didn't stray from the formula that made the original a success. We have the same director, the same writers, and the same actors reprising their memorable roles. Director Gordon Parks makes full use of the super-wide lens; 1970's New York City looks absolutely magnificent in the 2:35 aspect ratio, as do the action packed, and blood drenched shoot-outs, and especially in the big finale. Featuring a classic shootout in a cemetery, followed by a manic car chase on the Cross Bronx Expressway, complete with pursuit by helicopter!. There's nothing more awesome than a 70's car chase sequence , and the action here is handled superbly. In fact this is one polished, sleek production, and it's pretty obvious that it had a larger budget than the first one. Sometimes that actually hurts a sequel, when it's more flashy than it's predecessor, but this one doesn't suffer that fate. Obviously a lot of the budget went towards the action effects. Those bloody gun shot wounds were among the most realistic I have ever seen. "Shaft's Big Score" is a must-see for fans of the original, and of 70's crime films in general. John Shaft is a truly iconic movie character, and it's a pleasure to see him on screen again, kicking bad guy ass and cleaning up the streets of New York. After seeing this one I'm really looking forward to "Shaft In Africa."

Richard Roundtree carried on his character of John Shaft for a sequel to the original Shaft with Shaft's big score. This time he has no client, he's working on his own to solve the bombing murder of a friend, find $250,000.00 from the same friend that went missing at the same time and protect the sister of the deceased who may or may not have the money.

Kathie Imrie is the sister and guarding her body is the best part of the deal as it is a lovely body. But his real problem is the partner of the dead friend Wally Taylor. Taylor and the deceased had many interests, a funeral parlor and an insurance agency. But they also had the numbers racket in Harlem and Taylor has a bad gambling habit.

As in the first Shaft film, Italian gangsters led by Joseph Mascolo and Joe Santos are looking to move in on the numbers. That is if Harlem racketeer Moses Gunn from the first Shaft movie doesn't move it first. And the ever present police are also interfering and they are represented by Julius Harris.

For some reason they dropped the Oscar winning theme from the first Shaft movie, though Isaac Hayes did write more music. Why drop a trademark? I'll bet a lot of fans were disappointed.

Without even the Oscar winning song, Shaft's Big Score shapes up as another routine action/adventure film, fans of Roundtree will like it.

Man, did this film stink! It's obvious this film helped spurn Hollywood's need to churn out tired sequels to appeal to the masses. First of all, it came out too quickly, and second of all, it just didn't have the same hipness which made the original film so successful. No new ground was broken, and it turned into a rather mundane effort.

Gordon Parks' sequel to his 1971 blaxplotation success seems to fall short of the popularity and status of the original. But, as the hyped update with Samuel L Jackson is on the way, Shaft's Big Score and the next film, Shaft In Africa, may become more well-known.

To be honest, I made my Shaft debut with Big Score. The hype over the new film made me eager to see the original but i had to settle with this sequel. For all the excitement, I was truly dissapointed but i am going to refuse to judge the original, Shaft In Africa and the Jackson update by this film's standards.

Richard Roundtree returns as John Shaft, the supercool black detective, quick with words and quick with a gun. The opening sequence sees him speeding towards the place of a friend who knows he is about to get murdered. We see some money being hidden, so we ourselves try and figure what it's all about. Shaft doesn't make it on time but he takes over the case.

What follows is a detective thriller that never explains itself well and confuses the audience even though at the end of the day, the plot - Shaft looking for his deceased friend's hidden money which is sought after by gangsters - is simple. At most times, the violence and language is unecessary but despite how excessive these things are, no real tension arises between the characters - they just swear at them and beat them up. No edge arises in the plot so there are no scenes which feature suspense. Finally, when the climax comes it starts out as a simple graveyard shoot-up but ends up on a dock-side building site complete with boats, helicopters, etc. It's spectacularly over-the-top and ridicously overlong and again there's no excitement.

The only thing that kept me watching really was Roundtree. He's great as Shaft and has a real strong presence. Actually, Roundtree makes Shaft come across a nice guy but can easily toughen him up and make his brutality come out. The supporting cast features no one famous but no one gives a bad peformance.

So, Shaft's Big Score is a big let down. But I advise you (and myself) to check out more of Shaft's adventures, as the hero has the potential and status to feature in thrillers a lot more satisfying than this.

Shaft, the coolest private detective ever is back, and he's fighting mad this time! Richard Roundtree reprises his most popular role, who is in neck deep in trouble as he tries to avenge the death of an old friend. With neat locales, a smart dialogue, and a funky soundtrack by Issac Hayes, "Shaft's Big Score" is a movie that definitely defines the word "cool."

Here's an entertaining follow-up to SHAFT, which, while lacking that film's originality and/or classic status, still proves to be worthwhile viewing for the masses - and perhaps a little more obscure than it ought to be. Okay, so I didn't enjoy this as much as the first one because perhaps the novelty of a streetwise wise-cracking black detective has gone, but the film still puts across the same gritty atmosphere of life on the street. This is a film of violence, with characters being bloodily beaten at regular intervals, and bullet hits which make their victims darned near explode.

Once again Richard Roundtree reprises his role of the irrepressible John Shaft, this time battling double-crossing criminals and the underworld in his search for revenge for the murder of an old friend. Roundtree is replete with his cheesy one-liners as he fights racism in the police bureau and battles bad guys on the street. There's also a stash of loot hidden somewhere inside a graveyard and lots of differing factions who want a cut for themselves. The supporting cast of violent villains is a great one, with many familiar faces in the cast including the metal-armed killer from LIVE AND LET DIE.

Speaking of Bond, there are some definite influences from that series on this film, and it's not trying to be as realistic as the first - just entertaining. The smack-bang over-the-top finale sees a huge chase involving cars, a speedboat, and a helicopter and is packed with impressive stunts, bloody squib hits, and the bangs of guns and screech of tyres. Well filmed and wildly entertaining, this is the highlight of the movie for me. It may be no classic but SHAFT'S BIG SCORE! is an enjoyable thriller with a very likable leading character.

"SHAFT'S BIG SCORE"-(MGM,1972)-Reunited the same team that had put together the box-office smash,Oscar winner for Issac Hayes-Best Musical Score,"Shaft",worked on this sequel which came during the summer of 1972 and the results were another power packed installment that delivered on the first one,this time around with a lot more action-packed scenes and again the presence of its star,Richard Roundtree,together with the direction of Gordon Parks,the script by Ernest Tidyman,based on his novel,and Produced by Sterling Silliphant and Roger Lewis. The only thing that was lacklustering and kinda of disappointing with the musical score that was missing from the great Issac Hayes,who composed a few of the songs from this film. With some of the performances that are completely contrived,this is still a well-paced,fast action thriller and finely tuner actioner that involves our hero John Shaft going up against the mob--again and this time the story involves a missing loot,and a friend of Shaft's turning up dead leading to Shaft to go after the missing loot and taking on the mob which features a chase through not only the streets of Brooklyn and Harlem but through Brooklyn Harbor involving cars,boats,and helicopters. Look out for Gangster Moses Gunn,who was in the first installment is also around to give our hero some difficulty and add chaos to the problems. Rated R. Running Time of 107 minutes. ***1/2 stars.

"SHAFT IN AFRICA"-(MGM,1973)-Would be the final installment in the SHAFT series-just before Richard Roundtree would move on toward television land as the star of a short-lived series that premiered on television that same year. This time around Sterling Silliphant would penned the script based on characters created by Ernest Tidyman,and produced by Roger Lewis,and this time around,Gordon Parks takes leave of the SHAFT series and it is under the direction of John Guillerman(who would strike gold the next year along with Sterling Silliphant for the Irwin Allen disaster epic "The Towering Inferno")with music provided by Johnny Pate and songs by Motown legends The Four Tops. This one lack badly due to the absence of Parks,and Tidyman behind the wheel. The heart of this project was a disappointment from the start of this film since some of the scenes are very sluggish and there nothing more than flashy entertainment that runs a length time of 112 minutes. The story has detective John Shaft leaves the ghetto to uncover a slave smuggling ring in Africa. From there he discovers that men and women of the Ivory Coast are being carried-off to France as cheap and illegal labor. Of course,Shaft smashes the slave ring and even ends up with a beautiful maiden(Vonetta McGee)and takes out the main villain(Frank Finlay)behind the organization. Very tiredsome film throughout since this was filmed in locations throughout parts of the Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa and France. Rated R. Running Time of 126 minutes. ** and 1/2 stars

Shaft (Richard Roundtree) investigates the murder of an old friend and finds himself in a war between mobsters and pimps. OK blaxploitation sequel isn't as good as the first film but is still entertaining. The plot seems like something taken from some old private detective movie from the '40s and updated to the gritty '70s. Director Gordon Parks also does the music for this one. It's not bad but not as good as Isaac Hayes. My favorite scene is the one that goes back & forth between the sexy dancers in body paint and Shaft getting his butt kicked in slow motion backstage. Overall, not bad but not particularly memorable. Shaft is still cool and there are several sexy ladies and lots of colorful dialogue. It will keep you entertained throughout.

It's a shame to see the Shaft series turning to self-parody so early in it's run, but after the low-key and surprisingly effective original this first sequel sees elements of mockery creeping into the format. Shaft, he of maroon leather trenchcoat and green rollneck, is now the ultimate supersleuth; a man who screws better than any other man, a man who fights better than any other man (he does get beaten in this film, but it takes three men to do it); a man who outwits any other man; a man who can outrun a helicopter and dodge machine-gun fire. This is a Shaft who does his detective work by hiding in coffins and posing as a window cleaner. And while he gets to sleep with the black girlfriend of one of the gangland bosses he opposes, he doesn't get to do the same to the white girlfriend of another criminal. Now that would have been groundbreaking.

There's a moment early on where a gangland boss spends several moments playing a classical piece on an clarinet. The sequence runs for too long, not just for the film's style, but also the pacing. Which, in some incongruous kind of way, makes it a work of unique genius. Imagine Woody Allen playing a slow jazz number in the middle of "Boyz n the Hood" and you'll get the idea. Truly bizarre.

The rest of the film's opening is like this: scenes are overlong and flabby, not possessing the required focus and dramatic effect. In fact, it's only until the last forty minutes or so that the movie really gets going. It's nice to see Tee-Hee from "Live and Let Die" (Julius W.Harris) as a police captain, though he fails to connect with Roundtree in the same way that Laurence Pressman did in the original.

An increased budget is also evident: Shaft ends the film bedecked in black leather like a '68 Elvis comeback special, toting a machine-gun (as Prince would say). From hereon follows an increasingly silly chase sequence that sees a red Chevy/helicopter chase, then a speedboat/helicopter chase, and finally a Shaft/helicopter chase. Shaft takes on both chopper and rival car while on foot, limping from a bruised leg.

Worst bit? Isaac Hayes, for some reason demoted in favour of the lesser O.C. Smith, only getting one mid-film song. Dreary and not of the high standard of Shaft's score (especially Soulsville), it drones on over a sex scene, shown through those curious 70s-style corrugated mirrors. The shot blends and obscures, twisting over the distorted reflections, producing in the viewer a dizzy sensation and making you feel sick.

Best bit? A genteel pensioner, when spoken to rudely by Willy (Drew Bundini Brown), responding: "You don't talk to an old lady that way – where's your f****** manners, anyway?"

If Big Score! lacks the pace and structure of it's former, then it is still an entertaining, if far-fetched, vehicle. Though its seeming need to create a black James Bond not through equality or empowerment, but via send-up, is worrying.

I hated the first "Shaft". It was very low-budget with flimsy sets, a lousy script and a horrible lead performance by Richard Roundtree. But this first sequel was a big surprise.

The budget was upped considerably, the script is well-written and moves quickly and there are heavy, enjoyable jolts of action, violence and the obligatory female nudity. Roundtree's acting is still bad but it doesn't really matter--this film is heavy on action and violence. The basic plot is about Shaft going out to avenge a friends murder and getting involved in a gang war.

This is just a movie to sit back and turn your mind off. And there's an incredible chase finale.

One of the best black films of the 70s. I give it an 8.

When Shaft's girlfriend's brother is murdered, Shaft decides to go to the streets and find out who did it and why. Same writer and director from the original and some of the main characters are back, like Bumpy and Willy. The story is a bit better this time with a few action sequences that are quite good, but the movie is still to dull and just not that good.

*1/2 out of ****

The enforced jollity of that exclamation mark should be a warning. 'Shaft's Big Score!', if I may say so under IMDb guidelines, must be the best 'bad' movie ever made. It is bad: supposedly an action film, direction, plot and action fell asleep as often as I did. But there is an intelligence and skill here unthinkable in, say, 'Police Academy IV'. If Shaft is Bond, than 'Shaft's Big Score' is an anti-Bond film, subjecting the hero to structuralist scrutiny, exposing his weaknesses and limitations; in one sex scene, site of his virile power, he dissolves into abstraction, his body disappearing from the place where it is most needed. A kind of ghost story, the funeral sequence is amazing, as a coffin is lowered down, but the camera rises and points at Shaft. This supernatural frisson is betrayed by the drive towards a risible helicopter climax.