Gordon Parks seminal blaxploitation film Shaft get the Criterion Collection treatment this summer, with a plethora of extras and a new 4K digital restoration that is sure to please the most dedicated cinephile.
The Criterion Collection’s version of Shaft will be available as a three disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray combo (for a retail price of $49.95) and as a two disc Blu-ray set ($39.99). For the 4K UHD edition, one 4K UHD disc of the film will be presented in Dolby Vision HDR and the additional two Blu-rays will include the film and special features. The Blu-ray edition will include the Blu-ray version of the film and all of the special features found in the 4K set.
And speaking of features, as usual, the Criterion Collection edition is loaded with them including: the first sequel to Shaft, Shaft’s Big Score! (with additional behind-the-scenes footage), a new documentary on the making of Shaft featuring curator Rhea L. Combs, film scholar Racquel J. Gates, filmmaker Nelson George, and music scholar Shana L. Redmond, a behind-the-scenes program featuring Parks, actor Richard Roundtree, and musician Isaac Hayes, archival interviews with Hayes, Parks, and Roundtree, a new interview with costume designer Joseph G. Aulisi, a new 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 (2019) featurette, trailers, and an essay by film scholar Amy Abugo Ongiri.
The cover also sports artwork by comic legend Bill Sienkiewicz.
Look for the “the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks” in stores on June 21.
