Detroit 9000

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.

"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.

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.

I would leave college early everyday just to find what Detroit street they would be filming at that particular day. It was an exciting time seeing such local personalities as Dick Purtan, Woody Willis, Laura Lee, Mike Lucci of the Detroit Lions, John Nichols, and the one and only Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg. This was a great time for me and for the city of Detroit. I have a copy of this film and watch it whenever I can. A must see movie for all Detroiters. A favorite of Quinton Tarrentino.