Detroit 9000 (1973)

In 1971, the "French Connection" was released. It had a great cast with great acting, script, photography, soundtrack (even though the music in and of itself was HORRID, it fit the film perfectly!) and in summery, was a GREAT cop movie.In 1973 "Detroit 9000" was released. It had a decent cast with some good acting (Alex Rocco and Hari Rhodes-True Professionals!), OK script, decent photography and one seriously FUNKY soundtrack. Most of the acting was wooden, though I'm taking a guess here, many of the actors weren't really actors, as can be seen when you look up their bios here on IMDb. "Known for 'Detroit 9000'" and not much more. I'm also going out on a limb by guessing that many of the cops, especially the ones in uniform really were cops recruited to add realism and help with the budget. (Just think, they can wear their own uniforms-we don't have to BUY any!!!) A lot of the dialogue is a bit TOO over the top. I was around in 1973 and I listened to how people spoke and this was a bit much, but hey, they made you listen so I guess it was effective.The funny thing about this movie, and many others made over the years, it's NOT a good movie, but it hits all the marks to make it a GREAT bad movie. I personally cannot put into words exactly how this happens and please keep in mind, this IS just my opinion, but this does fit that oddball category. Like "Plan 9 From Outer Space", it's bad, but it's a classic. Also sort of like "The Room" which is more current. "The Room" SUCKS, and yet is SOOOOOOO horrible, it's a classic. It lacks acting, script, photography, soundtrack...it's a train wreck, but a CLASSIC train wreck.I seem to be rambling, but in the grand scheme of things, I enjoyed "Detroit 9000". It was never boring, more lead flew throughout this movie than at the Battle of Gettysburg and the car chases were pretty good. The twist at the end was excellent. It's Blaxploitation at it's best with a slight bit of Grindhouse thrown in for fun.Not a good movie, but they don't have to be to entertain, and this does.

Unlike many of the other movies of its ilk, Detroit 9000 has a much more serious tone. It's more akin to something like Across 110th Street than it is to Foxy Brown. As serious as it may be, there's still a lot of fun to be had – funky music, gunfights, and plenty of fake looking blood. For the most part, it's a fast faced, enjoyable, gritty look at crime in Detroit in the 70s.But the movie isn't without its problems. Chief among them is the lead detective played by Alex Rocco. I enjoy watching an actor who makes you forget they are an actor and you really start to believe in their character. No such luck with Rocco in Detroit 9000. I never bought his down-on-his-luck, good-cop routine. To me, he was nothing more than someone reciting lines. And the whole subplot about his wife in the asylum added nothing to the film other than to slow things down to a crawl.

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.

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.