CROOKED cops on the take, small-time drug lords, sleazy informers and sadistic rich kids ready to kill - for police detective John Shaft, it's just another night in the underbelly of New York City.

With Samuel L.

Jackson in the starring role and John Singleton directing, Shaft is a new approach to one of the great film icons of the 1970s.

He's tough, he's smart, he's cool - just what you would expect from a man whose uncle and mentor is John Shaft who, now as then, is played by Richard Roundtree.

The story centres around spoiled college kid Walter Wade (Christian Bale) who is arrested by John Shaft after killing a young black student.

Walter skips bail and flees the country, only to be hauled back into custody two years later by Shaft after secretly returning to the States.

But when Walter's wealthy father posts bail once again, Walter is back on the streets and looking to put Shaft in a body bag.

So are two of Shaft's corrupt colleagues, as well as a Dominican drug lord who wants revenge.

For back-up, Shaft has only his two closest pals - Carmen (Vanessa Williams), a colleague on the police force, and his street-wise confidant (Busta Rhymes).

Meanwhile, Shaft has to track down the one murder witness (Toni Collette) who can put all of his enemies away for good, even as the toughest killers in the city close in on him.

The original Shaft was a groundbreaking movie which marked the birth of a new genre - audiences had never seen an African-American hero as tough, as sexual or as street-smart as John Shaft.

"Things were different then," says Singleton.

"Up until that time, we really only had Sidney Poitier.

When Richard Roundtree came on the scene in Shaft, it had an effect that was just wild.

Everybody wanted to copy it.

"We only have a few actors who can play this type of role today.

Sam Jackson was absolutely the pinnacle of those guys.

Shaft is a cool, contemporary presence - a man who moves easily among many different worlds.

He's as much at home downtown or uptown.

That's the way the character was originally, and that's what Sam brings to it now."

Samuel L.

Jackson says: "I first saw the original Shaft in Atlanta when I was in college, and it was pretty awesome stuff for me.

It was the first time I actually saw someone who looked like me, sounded like me, dressed the way I always wanted to dress and played a hero.

He was our first real hero.

"It was all about Black Pride, and he was very proud.

He was strong, he was smart, he was unafraid.

He had the power and even the ego that we all wanted to have."

For Vanessa Williams, who plays police detective Carmen Vasquez, a tough action-filled role was a departure from most of the characters she has portrayed.

She jumped at the chance to work opposite Jackson, saying: "He's probably the hardest-working man in showbusiness.

He really knows the art of filmmaking and had a lot to offer every day."