Criminale asservito alla polizia

Detroit 9000 is a lesser known and very underrated heist thriller that somewhat falls under the blaxsploitation genre. No matter how you want to classify this Detroit 9000 packs a punch to the gut. Very well acted with Alex Rocco and Hari Rhodes as a pair of cops working on a high profile case. The film is very gritty and shows political corruption, racism and a whole lot of violence with high powered shootouts ending with lots of carnage, blood and lead left in it's wake. The score by Luchi DeJesus is very cool and stylish giving it that funky 70's flavor and I think this was quite well acted and well made as a whole. Scatman Crothers appears in a brief but memorable role and along with lots of familiar faces that worked in films at the time gets the job done on this very tough and action packed movie. Thumbs way up on this one.

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.

"Lieutenant Danny Bassett" (Alex Rocco) has just been handed an extremely volatile case involving some burglars who have stolen approximately $4 million in cash and jewels from a fund-raiser being hosted of a black Detroit congressman. There is no way he can win because if the suspects turn out to be black the mostly black population will think it's a cover up. If the perpetrators are white then the white population will think it's a whitewash to appease the black community. And obviously if he fails to find the culprits the public will want his head on a silver platter. To make things even worse a black police sergeant named "Jesse Williams" (Hari Rhodes) is also assigned to the case who Lt. Bassett believes will get all of the credit for apprehending the suspects instead of him. Anyway, for a "blaxploitation" film this movie wasn't too bad. While the film was a little rough around the edges I liked the selection of Detroit for the movie which was a refreshing change from the usual locations (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). I also liked the addition of Vonetta McGee as the prostitute "Roby Harris". Again, this wasn't a bad blaxploitation film and I rate it as about average.

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.

Not your typical Blaxploitation movie. I rented it because Vonetta McGee is in it but was pleasantly surprised. You should see the top tier Blaxploitaion movies (Fred,Pam,Jim,Isaac) first to appreciate this one. Definitely a sleeper.