John Singleton	...	(Director)
Ernest Tidyman, John Singleton	...	(Writer)
Vanessa L. Williams	...	Carmen Vasquez (as Vanessa Williams)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	John Shaft
Philip Bosco	...	Walter Wade, Sr.
Toni Collette	...	Diane Palmieri
Zach Grenier	...
Vanessa Williams	...	Carmen Vasquez
Dan Hedaya	...	Jack Roselli
Jeffrey Wright	...	Peoples Hernandez
Christian Bale	...	Walter Wade, Jr.
Busta Rhymes	...	Rasaan
Richard Roundtree	...	Uncle John Shaft
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Jimmy Groves
Josef Sommer	...	Curt Fleming
Lynne Thigpen	...	Carla Howard
Pat Hingle	...	Hon. Dennis Bradford
Daniel von Bargen	...	Lt. Kearney
Lee Tergesen	...	Luger

Summary: Cool and deadly NYPD detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade, Jr. in a racially-motivated slaying. The eye witness disappears, Wade jumps bail for Switzerland, and Shaft is livid. Two years later, Wade returns to face trial, confident his father's money and influence (and racial politics) guarantee an innocent verdict. Shaft looks hard for the witness, so Wade wants someone to kill her. He turns to a ghetto drug king, Peoples Hernandez, who's willing to kill for money, use Wade as a route to rich drug customers, and shaft Shaft. Can Shaft find the witness, convince her to testify, and shepherd her through the hail of bullets that Peoples is sure to let fly?