NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (June 2022): Criterion have transferred Gordon Parks' Shaft to Blu-ray and a 4K UHD transfer - presented in Dolby Vision HDR. We won't be able to obtain 4K captures, probably, till after the release date. The 1080P should give you an idea of colors etc as it will be from the same source - cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration". I have seen it and confirm that it dovetails nicely with the new transfer captures below - just a higher 2160 resolution exporting consistent grain and layered contrast. Criterion include in their 4K UHD package a second disc Blu-ray (sold separately) of the film and extras and a third disc - a Blu-ray transfer of Shaft's Big Score! with even more supplements. We only have Warner's 2012 1080P of Shaft to compare to (reviewed HERE) - not their 2019 BD transfer of Shaft's Big Score! - available individually HERE or in a three-pack Blu-ray with Shaft, Shaft's Big Score! and Shaft in Africa available HERE. The individual Criterion Blu-ray of Shaft also includes the second Blu-ray disc of Shaft's Big Score!

When the encode is broken we will add 2160 resolution captures of the 4K UHD.

The 2012 Warner Shaft  Blu-ray was in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio on a single-layered disc and it had almost 50% of the bitrate of this new Criterion 4K-restoration, in the same 1080P resolution. The 1.85:1 loses a shade on the top and bottom of the frame, gaining a shade on the sides. The Warner is vertically stretched (longer, thinner faces - that looks like they may have simply stretched the 1.85 to fill the 1.78.) The Criterion has cooler flesh tones, may be a shade brighter in spots and has superior detail. It's really no contest in-motion with Criterion's richer image winning hands-down. The stronger grain support will be appreciated - providing a wonderful textural quality to the image. This is even finer and more pronounced in the 4K UHD transfer where colors are also deeper. There were a couple of instances of teal-leaning.

Shaft's Big Score! looks a bit green and more pale than Shaft. It does show frequent depth and a shade less texture. 

NOTE: We have added 48 for Shaft, 38 for Shaft's Big Score! - more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion offer linear PCM tracks (24-bit) in both 1.0 channel mono or a 2.0 channel stereo soundtrack remastered with creative input from Isaac Hayes III. Shaft has aggressive sequences - gunfire, fists, cars - and the notable score credited to Isaac Hayes (Truck Tuner) and J.J. Johnson (Willie Dynamite). It has the iconic 'Theme from Shaft' composed and performed by Hayes - as are almost all the tracks. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song - making him the first Black man to win the award. This represented a convergence of popular and film music using influences including R&B, soul, and even a gospel rooted vibe of non-traditional grassroots electro-guitar riffs - launching part of the Funk trend to follow. It sounds wonderful in the flatter mono and the stereo gives it more, impressive, buoyancy - significantly establishing the embraceable gritty 70s atmosphere. What a pioneering film track - reminiscent of the impact of the work of Morricone. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' / 'B' Blu-rays which will be available in North American and the UK, a week later.

NOTE: The 4K UHD disc will be available in North America and has no supplements - only the feature, and it is region FREE playable worldwide. 

The Criterion Blu-rays offers many extras. "Revisiting Shaft" is a new 32-minute documentary, produced by the Criterion Collection in 2022, on the making of Shaft featuring curator Rhea L. Combs, film scholar Racquel J. Gates, filmmaker Nelson George, and music scholar Shana L. Redmond as well as excerpts from archival interviews with director Gordon Parks. "Soul in Cinema" - Filming Shaft on Location is a behind-the-scenes program featuring Parks, actor Richard Roundtree, and musician Isaac Hayes running 10-minutes. There are archival interviews with Hayes for over 1/2 hour in a 1974 episode of the French television series Point chaud, directed by Albert Raisner. In it, the Academy Award-winning composer discusses his career, influences, and creation of the soundtrack for Shaft. There is also an interview with Roundtree for 12-minutes conducted by lyare Igiehon. It was filmed at the National Film Theatre in London on September 26th, 2010. "The Soul Sound" offers Shana L. Redmond on Isaac Hayes score, produced for Criterion in March 2022. She explores the soul traditions in musician Isaac Hayes's score for Gordon Parks's Shaft. It runs a dozen minutes. "Styling Shaft" is a new 1/4 hour interview with costume designer Joseph G. Aulisi who discusses his collaboration with director Gordon Parks, including the origins of John Shaft's iconic style. Also on the first Blu-ray disc is a trailer, teaser and a radio spot.

The second Blu-ray disc, with Shaft’s Big Score!, the 1972 follow-up to Shaft by director Gordon Parks, also has some extras. "Listen to a Stranger" is a 20-minute interview with Gordon Parks made after the completion of Shaft's Big Score!, featuring the director reflecting on his youth, his career, and the meaning of success. "John Shaft and the Black Detective Tradition" is a new 26-minute program on the Black detective and the legacy of John Shaft, featuring scholar Kinohi Nishikawa and novelist Walter Mosley. A Complicated Man: The “Shaft” Legacy was made in 2019 and runs 3/4's of an hour. It is a three-part series directed by Constantine Nasr, exploring the character of John Shaft in literature and film, the success of Gordon Parks' 1971 adaptation, and the legacy of the Shaft franchise. It features interviews with actors Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree, among many others. There is also 9-minutes of Behind-the-scenes footage from Shaft’s Big Score! This footage was shot on the set during the filming of the car chase sequence, featuring actor Richard Roundtree speaking about his collaboration with director Gordon Parks and the changing roles for Black creatives in Hollywood. Lastly, on this Blu-ray is a trailer for Shaft’s Big Score! The package has liner notes with an essay by film scholar Amy Abugo Ongiri.

Gordon Parks' Shaft involves private detective John Shaft who is hired by a Harlem mobster to rescue his daughter from the Italian gangsters who kidnapped her. Shaft has themes of defiance, survival, the Black Power movement, race, and sexuality - particularly appealing to a black urban audience of the 70s. It was selected in 2000 for preservation in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Although black in the source novel, Tidyman's original draft screenplay had the character of Shaft as white. Melvin Van Peebles has made the claim that the success of his own Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song initiated Shaft to be "black film" from a "white one". Shaft played a significant part in the development of the Blaxploitation genre in Hollywood. It's kind of a 'must-own' for film fans, if only for the score, and the Criterion package is at their usual high standard - pristine a/v and a multitude of extras. Don't miss it.

Gary Tooze