Detroit 9000

Blaxploitation but sophisticated blaxploitation, if you will. Right from the bat you'll notice a little deeper characterization and more intricate plot mixed in with the jive music and bloody violence and for the most part, it works well. Some of the story does bog down the pace at times but not enough to cause any major problem. Seeing that this is one of the films released under Tarantino's Rolling Thunder company, the fact that Reservoir Dogs shares a few traits with Detroit 9000 should come as no surprise. However, Detroit 9000 took a few lines of dialogue from Dirty Harry, so I guess that's just the nature of the beast.

As a huge fan of 70's action movies, I was looking forward to seeing this, especially since it has Quentin Tarantino's endorsement. I was expecting another campy blaxploitation movie, but was very surprised that this was not the case. The film explores the politics and race relations in Detroit in the early 70's, using the repercussions of an armed robbery of a political fundraiser as a backdrop.

Aside from the funky music and 70's fashion, and to a certain extent the dialogue, this could easily be any urban area in the 90's. The media is portrayed as eager to turn this high-profile crime into a racially-motivated crime. The cops are shown as being under pressure from all sides to solve the case quickly.

As the investigation unravels, the viewer finds out that not everyone is who they seem to be. And although the end of the film is somewhat predictable, it is still entertaining.

Some of the dialogue is typical camp, and some of the acting is wooden, but the one major complaint I have with this movie is the chase scenes that are shown in immediate succession. Its almost as if the writers thought to pad the drama with some action as an afterthought. Overall, though I was very suprised by this film and the issues it attempts to address.

Quinten Tarrantino is obviously a big fan of this movie as indicated by his re-releasing of said title on his Raging Thunder label and if there's one thing I really like about Tarrantino, it's his taste in films which I share wholeheartedly.

Having said this, whilst not implied as an insult to the film itself, this particular blaxploitation offering can hardly be described as one of the best of its ilk; indeed it seems to plod around somewhat aimlessly for most of its running time. However, don't switch off just yet for the final third does pick up incredibly well as it ties up the threads and culminates in a tremendously fun, prolonged chase sequence backed in typical seventies style by a suitable groovy track.

Final verdict: Certainly worth a look but far from the most memorable Blaxplotation flick out there.

Another entry into the blaxploitation genre, Arthur Marks's "Detroit 9000" has a black detective and a white detective cooperating to investigate the theft of some jewels from a congressman's fund raiser in the Motor City. For the most part the movie has a lot of the things that we expect to see in a blaxploitation flick, although they put an interesting twist on racial stereotypes: the black detective is the refined character while the white detective is the streetwise one. There was even a line or two that they obviously lifted from "Dirty Harry". Otherwise, it was just a fun movie with a funk soundtrack. Among the cast members are Hari Rhodes, Alex Rocco (Moe Greene in "The Godfather"), Vonetta McGee and Scatman Crothers (Dick Hallorann in "The Shining").

Detroit was long seen as the backbone of the US economy and now it's bankrupt. Geez.

A white Detroit detective (Alex Rocco) has to investigate a heist at a political fundraiser and he's none too happy about it. He's even less happy when he's forced to partner up with a black detective (Hari Rhodes). Despite their differences, the two cops work well together and get to the bottom of things.

Alex Rocco and Hari Rhodes are both good. Beautiful Vonetta McGee isn't on screen nearly enough but has an important part. The minor roles are played by a variety of actors, some of whom seem like complete amateurs who recite their lines robotically. The actress playing Rocco's wife has one scene and she uses it to give a lesson on terrible acting.

Mostly straight but there are some unintentional moments of hilarity. Such as a car moving at slow speed driving into a parked car, causing both vehicles to instantly explode like they were packed with dynamite. Or an older white reporter seriously asking the Chief of Police "Do you think it was a honky caper?" There's also a scene that rips off Dirty Harry's "do you feel lucky punk" scene. The dialogue is different but the scene is too similar to be a coincidence considering Dirty Harry came out a couple years before this and that scene was an instant classic.

It's a good blaxploitation flick. I enjoyed all of the Detroit locations, including many now-demolished buildings. It's obviously a limited movie, in terms of budget, but it's still entertaining.