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Ian and Pat break out their turtlenecks and leather trenchcoats to review Gordon Parks' seminal Blaxploitation epic, Shaft!

Richard Roundtree stars as the Black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks. It's 1971 in New York City, and John Shaft has been hired to find the kidnapped daughter of a Harlem gangster. He winds up on the wrong side of the police, the Mafia, and a crew of militants all battling to control the streets of the Big Apple.

The guys continue their exploration of 70s Black cinema with a (pretty much) first-time viewing of Parks' swagger-heavy procedural--comparing it to Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (which came out the same year), and questioning whether or not this film belongs in the genre with which it is most heavily associated.

Shaft was recently given the deluxe treatment by The Criterion Collection, which has made the film available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

Show Links:

• Watch the Shaft (1971) trailer.

• Keep up with Pat at HollywoodChicago.com.

• Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!