Take my rating on this film with a very large grain of salt, since most people would probably find it mediocre at best if they aren't subject to 1970s nostalgia.It plays like a decent trashy TV movie from the '70s (I know, because I was there), albeit with some swearing that would never have been allowed on the air. The plot is actually pretty good and reasonably convoluted and, I think, worthy of a skilled remake (except, please, for the absurdly drawn out shootout near the end), but the execution is really, really dated. This movie is notable for having the worst "blood" special effects I have ever seen. When shot, the victims appear to have been hit by a paintball gun loaded with red fluorescent paint. Also, I never personally ever heard any real person use the term "Honky" in the '70s, yet it is used constantly here, so that seemed a bit weird to me. In summary, this movie is a long way from being great filmmaking, and I would only recommend it if you wanted to see an old OK blaxsploitation flick, since as far as that goes, you could do a lot worse.

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.

Blaxploitation but sophisticated blaxploitation, if you will. Right from the bat you'll notice a little deeper characterization and more intricate plot mixed in with the jive music and bloody violence and for the most part, it works well. Some of the story does bog down the pace at times but not enough to cause any major problem. Seeing that this is one of the films released under Tarantino's Rolling Thunder company, the fact that Reservoir Dogs shares a few traits with Detroit 9000 should come as no surprise. However, Detroit 9000 took a few lines of dialogue from Dirty Harry, so I guess that's just the nature of the beast.

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.