Continuity mistake: In the scene with the tame lion at Shaft's arrival at the Ethiopian Hilton, the movements of the extras in the background are inconsistent from shot to shot (easy seen if you focus on the bright yellow valet loading the car trunk, which keeps having people appear and disappear by him). (00:31:55)
Continuity mistake: In the Paris toilet, Shaft is ambushed by a fearsome assassin dressed as a cleaning lady. Three shots are exploded against the door (two that we see, plus one pre-existing hole presumably from one of the first bullets) but when he barges in the stall the door has 4 holes. (00:28:50)
Continuity mistake: Shaft listens to all the info about the slave trade; Osiat always stands stoic without moving in single shots, hands on his stick pointed vertically before him, but between shots you can see the hands swapped position. A particularly obvious one since it's in a direct transition with camera on him happens when the Emir tells him to let his daughter in. There's a clear swap, and also a discontinuity when his hand suddenly is off the door handle. (00:22:10)
Continuity mistake: Shaft's new four legged companion is standing in the middle of the dirt road; in his close-ups we see him cast a shadow in the direction the car comes from, but in the long shots of the road the shadows traverse it side to side (and look at the shadow cast by the bush). (00:42:30)
Continuity mistake: In the close-up of the lion looking at Shaft, the light of the scene is entirely different, plus he is also turned differently and with its tamer behind it when he was just a moment before leaning on the pillar. Despite being still, the lion moves around. (00:32:00)
Continuity mistake: After killing Marco Sassari, Shaft goes back to the corpse of Kopo. He finds him lying down with his arms close to the body and a blood splatter all over the mouth and right side of the shirt. But he died with the arms spread and no blood from his mouth. (00:56:55 - 00:59:15)
Continuity mistake: Shaft is asking his charming teacher to shoo the jolly giant while they "get down to the finer strokes." He has a closed fist on top of the sofa, but a different hand pose with the thumb and index outstretched over the corner in the next shot. (00:23:35)
Continuity mistake: While Shaft and the girl are lowering the boat, a bad guy with a knife approaches. He has an almost intact cigarette in mouth, which burns down an inch in between shots between that time and when he does his bowling-like throw and dies. (01:25:05)
Continuity mistake: When Aleme reads from the book about castles, there's an obvious difference between the close-ups (right hand moving on the page) and the wider shots (she holds the page, then she is moving the left hand on it instead of the right). (01:43:20)
Continuity mistake: Shaft slips out of the prostitute's room as he hears the clamor downstairs. He slides under the railing; his right hand holds the stick all the way at the top in the second shot, in contrast with the position in the previous. (01:10:15)
Continuity mistake: Shaft offers his hand to Aleme helping her up into the scarecrow nest; his left leg is held considerably higher than the right, but in the side view of the ladder the feet are exactly at the opposite; right up, left down. (00:44:10)
Continuity mistake: When Shaft says that his folks were not into cotton but tobacco, the Colonel has his hands (and the recorder) on the table, but jump suddenly up at the cut. Shaft's glass is also more full than at the beginning of the scene. (00:35:05)
Continuity mistake: The thin man with greasy hair that draws Shaft's suspicion on the bus out of Addis Ababa, is shown with one arm on the back of the seat and one arm on his lap in close-ups, but he has his arms folded in the wider shot. (00:36:50)
Continuity mistake: When Shaft arrives in Addis Ababa, the first close-up on Richard Roundtree shows a man with a hat behind him. No men with hats are behind him in the opening shot of the plane ladder, nor the following. (00:31:05)
Continuity mistake: When the protagonist dodges the machine gun fire in Amafi's office building, the desk in front of him has a lamp on it in the frontal views, but with the camera placed behind Shaft there is no lamp. (01:39:55)
Continuity mistake: When the Colonel proudly shows the stick and with a skillful hand motion covers the knob before offering it to Shaft, Richard Roundtree's hand is by the glass at first, close to his chest after. (00:34:25)
Continuity mistake: In the coastal town, Shaft gets bitten by Ziba to the point of bleeding the thick red goop that passes off as blood in the movie. However he is perfectly unharmed in the following scene. (01:12:30)
Continuity mistake: Shaft escapes from the brothel jumping out of a window. He is facing opposite directions in the two shots when it happens (he jumps facing the street and lands facing the building). (01:10:40)
Continuity mistake: Having received the Colonel's big knotty stick, Shaft is cupping his special pouch; you can see it turn around (look at the strings). (00:34:50)
Continuity mistake: When Aleme asks Shaft if he's disappointed she was not a virgin, her left hand is on his shoulder, or not, depending on the angle, throughout the conversation. (00:45:25)
