2019 ‘Richard Roundtree of Shaft.
Legendary actor and Hollywood icon. Richard Roundtree He died in 2023 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 81.
Best known for playing the iconic character John Shaft in five films, including the original.Axis‘ and the 2000 reboot starring Samuel JacksonRoundtree also appeared in the groundbreaking television series ‘Estate‘, as well as popular films such as ‘Earthquake‘,’se7en‘,’George of the jungle‘,’Brick‘, and ‘speed runner‘.
Roundtree’s latest film is the action comedy ‘telma,’ which also stars Oscar nominee june squibb and it opens On cinemas The 21st of June. Roundtree’s latest performance is already earning the late actor some of the best reviews of his long career.
In honor of ‘Thelma’s release, MovieFone is counting down the 20 best films of Richard Roundtree’s legendary career, including his last one.
Let’s start!
(From left to right) Peter Berg, Chris Penn and Chris Kattan in ‘Corky Romano’. Photo: Buena Vista Image Distribution.
Roman cork (Chris Kattan) is a clumsy, simple-minded veterinarian and the youngest, outcast son of an elderly gangster, named Pops Romano (Peter Falk), who asks Corky to infiltrate the local FBI and recover and destroy evidence being used to frame Pops on extortion charges.
19. ‘Steel‘ (1997)
When a renegade military pushback puts new superweapons in dangerous hands, John Henry Irons (Shaquille O’Neal) becomes Steel. Wearing a bulletproof vest, wielding a fearsome electric hammer, and riding a motorcycle packed with gadgets, he’s ready to wage war… if he can fix the untimely malfunctions of his untested equipment.
“Heroes are not greater.”
43
1 hour 37 minutesAugust 15, 1997
The Englishman Robinson Crusoe (Peter O’Toole), stranded alone on an island for years, he is delighted to find a companion, a black islander he names Friday (Roundtree). But Crusoe cannot overcome the chains of his own heritage and upbringing and is unable to see Friday as anything other than a savage in need of Crusoe’s kind of cultural and religious enlightenment. Friday tries to share his own, more generous and shameless culture, but eventually realizes that Crusoe will never be able to see him as anything other than an inferior being. With that awareness, Friday sets out to turn Crusoe around.
68
1 hour 55 minutesMarch 4, 1975
Deep in the African jungle, a baby named George (Brendan Fraser), the only survivor of a plane crash, is raised by gorillas. George grows up to be a lovable klutz who has a rainforest full of animal friends: Tookie, his large-beaked messenger toucan; Ape, a clever-talking gorilla; and Shep, a peanut-loving elephant dog. But when some poachers mess with George’s friends, the King of Swing springs into action.
“Careful!”
56
1 hour 32 minutesJuly 15, 1997
During World War II, prisoners in a German camp on a Greek island try to escape. Not only do they want their freedom, but they are also searching for an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island’s mountain.
“The patriot, the professor, the comedian and the stripper… they fought for what they believed in… To get rich!”
56
2 hours 5 minutesJune 6, 1979
fifteen. ‘Axis‘ (2019)
(Left to right) Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree in ‘Shaft’ in 2019. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
JJ, aka John Shaft Jr. (Jessie T. Usher), may be a cybersecurity expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education that only his father can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary John Shaft (Samuel Jackson) agrees to help his brood navigate the heroin-infested underbelly of Harlem.
Magically able to hear what men think, a sports agent (Taraji P. Henson) uses her new ability to turn the tables on her domineering male colleagues.
“She can hear men’s thoughts. Let the games begin.”
62
1 hour 57 minutesFebruary 8, 2019
South African businessman David Swansey (Richard Harris) is delivering illegal German helicopters to Rhodesia. This angers patriot Gideon Marunga (Roundtree).
“In every war there are those who kill and those who kill”
South African businessman David Swansey delivers illegal German helicopters to Rhodesia. This angers the patriot Gideon Marunga. Read the plot
Several interconnected people fight to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.
“When the big one finally comes to Los Angeles”
61
2 hours 3 minutesNovember 15, 1974
Innocent people are brutally murdered on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young policeman, Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell), is marked as the main suspect after the murder of his wife.
“You have the right to remain silent… forever.”
61
1 hour 25 minutesMay 13, 1988
Richard Roundtree in ‘Shaft’s Big Score!’ Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
John Shaft (Roundtree) returns as the beloved black police detective searching for a client’s killer.
(From left to right) Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood in ‘City Heat’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Set in Kansas City in 1933, Clint Eastwood he plays a police lieutenant known simply by his last name, Speer. Burt Reynolds He plays an ex-cop turned private detective named Mike Murphy. Both Speer and Murphy served together on the force and were once good friends, but are now bitter enemies. When Murphy’s partner is killed, they team up again to fight the mob.
“When a hot cop and a smart detective get together…the tension is on!”
55
1 hour 33 minutesDecember 5, 1984
(From left to right) Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda star in ‘Moving On’ from director Paul Weitz.
Two old friendsJane Fonda and lily tomlin) meet again at their friend’s funeral and decide to take revenge on the widower who hurt them three decades earlier.
(Right) Richard Roundtree in ‘Shaft in Africa’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Detective John Shaft (Roundtree) travels undercover to Ethiopia and then France to take down a human trafficking ring.
“The shaft is stuck all the way”
60
1 hour 52 minutesJune 14, 1973
(Left to right) Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Kick Gurry and Emile Hirsch in ‘Speed Racer.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
speed runner (Emile Hirsch) is a brilliant young racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the police and the mysterious RacerMatthew Fox) to put an end to corruption and criminal activities.
“A world built for speed.”
63
2 hours 15 minutesMay 3, 2008
5. ‘Axis‘ (2000)
(Left to right) Samuel L. Jackson and Jeffrey Wright in ‘Shaft’, 2000. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
NYPD Detective John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) arrests Walter Wade Jr. (Christian bale) for a racially motivated murder. But the only witness disappears and Wade bails and goes to Switzerland. Two years later, Wade returns to stand trial, confident that his money and influence will get him acquitted, especially since he paid a drug lord (Jeffrey Wright) to kill the witness.
4. ‘Brick‘ (2005)
(Left) Joseph Gordon-Levitt in ‘Brick’. Photo: Focus functions.
After a phone call from his ex-girlfriend (Emilie de Ravin), lonely teenager Brendan Frye (Joseph Godron-Levitt) learns that they found his body. Vowing to solve his murder herself, she must infiltrate high school cliques he previously avoided. His search for the truth brings him before some of the school’s toughest characters.
3. ‘se7en‘ (nineteen ninety five)
(From left to right) Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in ‘Se7en’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate search for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the “seven deadly sins” in this dark and disturbing film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The experienced detective. summer (Morgan Freeman) investigates each sin in an effort to get inside the killer’s mind, while his rookie partner, Mills (Brad Pitt), mocks his efforts to unravel the case.
(L-R) Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in ‘Thelma,’ a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Deceived by a telephone scammer posing as her grandson, a 90-year-old woman (june squibb) goes on a quest to recover what was taken from him.
“Revenge has never been sweeter.”
Tricked by a phone scammer posing as her grandson, a 90-year-old woman sets out on a quest to recover what was taken from her. Read the plot
1. ‘Axis‘ (1971)
Richard Roundtree in ‘Shaft’ from 1971. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Cool black detective John Shaft (Roundtree) is hired by a crime lord to find and recover his kidnapped daughter.
“The mafia wanted to take back Harlem. They have Shaft… up to here.”
Sixty-five
1 hour 40 minutesJune 25, 1971