Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Alex Rocco | ... | Lieutenant Danny Bassett | |
Hari Rhodes | ... | Sergeant Jesse Williams | |
Vonetta McGee | ... | Roby Harris | |
Herbert Jefferson Jr. | ... | Ferdy | |
Robert Phillips | ... | Captain Chalmers | |
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Ellaraino | ... | Helen Durbin (as Ella Edwards) |
Scatman Crothers | ... | Reverend Markham | |
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Sally Baker | ... | Ethel |
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Rudy Challenger | ... | Aubrey Hale Clayton |
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Doris Ingraham | ||
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George Skaff | ... | Oscar |
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Council Cargle | ||
Regis Cordic | |||
Stacy Keach Sr. | |||
Davis Roberts |
Police procedural movie set in Detroit during the early 1970s. At a fundraiser for a black Congressman held at a downtown Detroit hotel, a group of heavily armed masked men bursts on the scene demanding the fund-raised fund. The fund consisting of gold, jewels and cash is estimated to be around 400,000 dollars. The donors mostly are rich black supporters of Congressman Aubrey Hale Clayton who intends to run for state governorship. After the armed robbery, the criminals disappear in a white getaway van. The police arrives at the scene but no one has any description of the suspects. Some speculate that white men committed the crime in order to sabotage the election efforts of a black candidate but others suggest it was black-on-black crime. The Detroit Police Department is careful not to place blame on any racial or ethnic group in order to avoid controversy and criticism. The Department assigns two cops to the case. One cop is Lieutenant Danny Bassett who's white and the other cop is ... Written by nufs68
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.