8mm Forum: Shaft digest

This is topic Shaft digest - 18 mins in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by David Skillern (Member # 607) on March 05, 2016, 08:49 AM:

Hi all,

Has anyone got a copy of the mgm 18 minute cutdown of SHAFT and could you let me know what it's like in terms of content - is it any good ?

David

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on March 07, 2016, 02:58 PM:

Hi David. I have the digest but haven't viewed it in awhile, so will try to give you a detailed review after I see it again. I do remember that there is a portion of Isaac Hayes' theme song and if I remember correctly, the digest really moves along with nice dissolves which Ken/MGM was noted for in their last year of operation.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 07, 2016, 04:09 PM:

i would also like to get hold of a copy of this one. the only thing that puts me off is that it is mgm therefore the colour is likely to have fade or faded all together.
certainly be good to get hold of a decent one though. any images would be appreciated,and maybe a review? [Wink]

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on March 07, 2016, 05:38 PM:

Hello all. Thank you for asking for a review of "Shaft." It gave me an opportunity to view the digest again and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give Ken/MGM's cut down an A+ based on the amount of material the editors squeezed into 18 minutes. My print has sharp focus, booming sound, and excellent color quality which I rate 8 out of 10. There is still a bit of vibrant blue left and while I didn't notice any green, I'm not sure the scenes featured ever had any green, since most of the action takes place on inner city streets, shops, and apartments.
On to the storyline...I have never seen the feature, but I was able to understand the digest's plot easily. Careful attention was taken to preserve the style of editing I imagine the feature had, which is sharp, clean transitions from scene to scene. There are no dissolves or fadeout/fade ins, which gives this reel a fast-paced look and feel. I especially appreciated how the editors used the soundtrack to transition from scene to scene. Often dialogue from a new scene is featured over the last few seconds of the previous scene, so we understand the plot while we still have needed images. Not to mislead...the soundtrack features professional editing which helps the flow of the digest. I am not suggesting that it is the sloppy soundtrack editing featured on Ken's AIP releases or their Superheroes line where no attention to sound editing was given.
And hold on tight, because this reel features almost non-stop action. Even when characters are being developed, the music score creates a mood of unrest.
It is interesting that in the news lately films such as 1977's Star Wars are being associated with America's growing ADHD in that editing has become more and more frenetic and our attention spans seem to be suffering. I mention this because this digest features fast and furious editing, probably much more fast paced than the feature itself.
My only complaint is the generic "The End" title Ken used so often. It seems out of place in this digest where so much care was taken with the opening credits in order to present a whole verse of Isaac Hayes (I believe Academy Award winning song) while introducing us to Shaft and his surroundings. It would have been nice to have at least some of the original rolling credits, but I am sure the 18 minutes were long gone at this point.
I have a question for any Forum members who own this digest and have seen the feature film...Do you feel this would have been a good candidate for Ken's 3 X 400' treatment? Would there be enough good material left from the feature for such an edit? (Of course we know that a 3 X 400 edit was never made).
I highly recommend this digest!

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 08, 2016, 06:36 AM:

Looks a good un'
i shall be on the look out for a decent colour copy myself now. [Wink]

Very good review to.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on March 22, 2016, 08:18 AM:

Thank you for the excellent review Carter!

I too have this digest, and have enjoyed it for many years.

I will add comments to the review and I'll try to get some screen shots too.

Thanks.

James.

[ March 25, 2016, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: James N. Savage 3 ]

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on March 22, 2016, 12:20 PM:

There is currently 1 faded copy available on Ebay UK from someone in Greece.

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