DETROIT
9000 (1973)Director: Arthur Marks
Miramax
DETROIT
9000 (1973)During an all-black fund-raising event honoring a black politician, an armed gang in ski masks steals $400,000 worth of donations and jewelry. The police department and the media are obsessed with determining whether this was a racially motivated crime, and the case is given to veteran white detective Danny Bassett (Alex Rocco). Against Bassett's wishes, he is teamed up with black, ex-athlete hero Sgt. Jesse Williams (Hari Rhodes) to crack the caper.
Despite what you might think, the two get on very well together and uncover a lot of lucrative leads (a dead Indian in a trunk, an emergency call from a prostitute played by BLACULA's Vonetta McGee, etc.) before tracking down the culprits in a bloody shoot-out.
Originally released in 1973, this low budget blaxploitation potboiler--filmed on location in Motown land--was recently re-released by Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder group. It's easy to see why Tarantino was absorbed by it--gory "cop and robber" shoot-outs, overdone racially tinged dialog ("Was it a brother man or a jive-ass honky?"), and a story-telling approach that could have inspired his own films (notably RESERVOIR DOGS and JACKIE BROWN).
Basically, DETROIT 9000 is an enjoyable, well-written film, feeling a lot like the cheap (but rather polished) AIP black action films of the 70s. In fact, director Marks later went on to make a number of these sort of flicks for that company (FRIDAY FOSTER, BUCKTOWN, J.D.'S REVENGE). The film is enhanced by the believable performances of its leads--Rocco (who the year before was Moe Green in THE GODFATHER) and Rhodes (fresh from his appearance in CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES--a racially fueled sci-fi epic). While both characters are extremely diverse, the two actors offer a nice amount of complexity to their roles.
The DVD of DETROIT 9000 looks--to coin another 70s icon's phrase--dynamite. The colors are vividly stunning, and this is very colorful film. The source material is in excellent shape, with only a hint of grain during some dark scenes and some slight speckling damage here and there. The picture is letterboxed at 1.85:1 and 16x9 enhanced. The mono sound works fine for the wildly funky soundtrack (which I believe was or is available). There are no extras, unless you count the trailers for other Miramax releases. (George R. Reis)