Movies Like Shaft (1971)

Shaft is a 1971 action, crime, thriller film from Gordon Parks with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Shaft's Big Score! and Shaft in Africa.

Action Crime Thriller

Shaft's Big Score!

1972

John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.

6.0

MagicScore

Shaft in Africa

1973

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

6.0

MagicScore

SuperFly

2018

Career criminal Youngblood Priest wants out of the Atlanta drug scene, but as he ramps up sales, one little slip up threatens to bring the whole operation down before he can make his exit.

6.7

MagicScore

Serpico

1973

New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

7.5

MagicScore

Set It Off

1996

Four inner-city Black women, determined to end their constant struggle, decide to live by one rule — get what you want or die trying. So the four women take back their lives and take out some banks in the process.

7.2

MagicScore

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.

7.4

MagicScore

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

2016

An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

7.3

MagicScore

The Card Counter

2021

William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.

6.1

MagicScore

The Minute You Wake Up Dead

2022

A stockbroker in a small southern town gets embroiled in an insurance scam with a next-door neighbor that leads to multiple murders when a host of other people want in on the plot. Sheriff Thurmond Fowler, the by-the-book town sheriff for over four decades, works earnestly to try and unravel the town’s mystery and winds up getting more than he bargained for.

5.3

MagicScore

#10

Perfect Stranger

2007

A journalist goes undercover to ferret out businessman Harrison Hill as her best friend's killer. Posing as one of his temps, she enters into a game of online cat-and-mouse.

5.8

MagicScore

#11

Premium Rush

2012

In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.

6.3

MagicScore

#12

Colors

1988

A confident young cop is shown the ropes by a veteran partner in the dangerous gang-controlled barrios of Los Angeles, where the gang culture is enforced by the colors the members wear.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil

2019

After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seok, a relentless and incorruptible detective who often disrupts his illegal business. However, while Jang Dong-su wants K dead, Jung Tae-suk is determined to bring him to justice. With a deal in place—whoever finds K first will decide his fate—the hunt begins, blurring the lines between crime and law.

7.8

MagicScore

#14

Metamorphosis

2019

An evil spirit that changes faces infiltrates one family placing one brother in danger while the other tries to save him.

7.1

MagicScore

#15

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within

2010

After a bloody invasion of the BOPE in the High-Security Penitentiary Bangu 1 in Rio de Janeiro to control a rebellion of interns, the Lieutenant-Colonel Roberto Nascimento and the second in command Captain André Matias are accused by the Human Right Aids member Diogo Fraga of execution of prisoners. Matias is transferred to the corrupted Military Police and Nascimento is exonerated from the BOPE by the Governor.

7.8

MagicScore

#16

The Batman

2022

In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.

7.7

MagicScore

#17

American Gangster

2007

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

7.6

MagicScore

#18

Dirty Harry

1971

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

7.5

MagicScore

#19

A Quiet Place Part II

2021

Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

7.5

MagicScore

#20

The Godfather Part III

1990

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

7.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Shaft?

The top films similar to Shaft by MovieMagicScore are Shaft's Big Score! (6.0), Shaft in Africa (6.0), SuperFly (6.7). Each shares action/crime/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Shaft worth watching?

Shaft holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 395 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Shaft?

Shaft (1971) is a action, crime, thriller film directed by Gordon Parks, starring Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi.

Where can I find more recommendations like Shaft?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Shaft's Big Score!Movies like Shaft in Africa Movies like SuperFly Movies like Serpico Movies like Set It Off Movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

About movies like Shaft

This ranked list pairs Shaft (1971), a action and crime and thriller film from Gordon Parks, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Richard Roundtree take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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