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Shaft in Africa

Shaft in Africa

Adventure · Crime · Thriller · 1973

Detective John Shaft travels incognito to Ethiopia, then France, to bust a human trafficking ring.

Movie details

Shaft in Africa

“Shaft is stickin' it...all the way.”

1973 Adventure · Crime · Thriller 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.9 / 10

3.3K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

64 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Detective John Shaft travels incognito to Ethiopia, then France, to bust a human trafficking ring.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Shaft in Africa?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Cotton Comes to Harlem

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Action · 1970

Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.

The Protector

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Black Caesar

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Black Belt Jones

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Action · 1974

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Guillermin

Written by

Stirling Silliphant

Richard Roundtree

Richard Roundtree

John Shaft

Frank Finlay

Frank Finlay

Vincent Amafi

Vonetta McGee

Vonetta McGee

Aleme

Neda Arnerić

Neda Arnerić

Jazar

Debebe Eshetu

Debebe Eshetu

Wassa

Spiros Focás

Spiros Focás

Marco Sassari

Jacques Herlin

Jacques Herlin

Perreau

Court is in session

Put Shaft in Africa on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.