Film

Detroit 9000

A 1973 crime thriller pairing a white and Black detective to solve a high-stakes robbery targeting a Black politician's fundraiser. Grimy, propulsive, shot through with the racial friction and urban decay of early-seventies Detroit. Built for audiences who want their procedurals angry and their politics felt rather than debated.

TMDb rating2.8

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Shaft1971

The template for every blaxploitation detective story that followed. Richard Roundtree as a private eye navigating Harlem's underworld with style, rage, and a bulletproof sense of self. Isaac Hayes' theme alone justifies the ninety-five minutes.

But The plotting is lean to the point of skinniness, and some of the racial power dynamics read differently now than they did in 1971.

Shaft poster

The French Connection1971

A masterclass in procedural filmmaking. Gene Hackman as a cop hunting heroin smugglers across New York with an obsession that curdles into something almost pathological. Genuinely tense, beautifully edited, and that car chase still works.

But Slow in stretches, and the hero is abrasive enough that rooting for him requires patience.

The French Connection poster

Coffy1973

Pam Grier as a nurse turned vigilante dismantling the drug trade that destroyed her sister. Exploitation cinema with real fury underneath, and Grier commands every frame with an intensity most action stars can only dream of.

But The plot lurches between tones, and some of the supporting performances veer toward camp in ways that undercut the rage.

Coffy poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Putney Swope1969

Both use crime/exploitation frameworks to interrogate race and power in America; both are genuinely angry films disguised as genre entertainment.

A Black advertising executive accidentally inherits control of a top Madison Avenue firm. Robert Downey Sr.'s satire is anarchic, funny, and furious about race and commerce in ways that feel like they're boiling up from genuine outrage. Totally unexpected.

But Avant-garde and deliberately chaotic. If you want a straight narrative, this will frustrate you. The visual style is deliberately crude.

Putney Swope poster
More like this (8)

Serpico1973

Al Pacino as a cop trying to expose corruption within the NYPD itself, which means his real enemy is his own department. Paranoid, unglamorous, shot through with the sense that the system will crush anyone who threatens it.

But Lengthy and procedurally dense; if you want a thriller that moves, this isn't it. The corruption feels abstract at times.

Serpico poster

The Seven-Ups1973

A parallel-era crime film about an elite NYPD squad hunting cop killers. Roy Scheider leads, the dialogue snaps, and it captures that specific moment when urban crime thrillers were still gritty and unglamorous.

But It's a fairly standard cop procedural. Nothing here will surprise you if you've seen Serpico or The French Connection.

The Seven-Ups poster

Across 110th Street1972

A Harlem bank robbery sparks a collision between a Black cop, a white cop, and the criminals in between. Brutal, uncompromising, and genuinely interested in how race shapes who gets believed and who gets crushed.

But Bleak to the point of nihilism. There are no heroes here, only varying degrees of damage.

Across 110th Street poster

Slaughter1972

Jim Brown as a former Green Beret exacting revenge on the Mafia for murdering his family. Action-packed, unapologetically violent, and Brown carries it with the kind of physical presence that made blaxploitation essential.

But The plot is tissue-thin, and the character work is minimal. It's basically an excuse for set pieces and mayhem.

Slaughter poster

The Outfit1973

Robert Duvall as a career criminal taking on the Chicago mob after they murder his brother. Taut, intelligent, and built on the idea that revenge is a job like any other, complete with logistics and risk assessment.

But Deliberately paced and cerebral rather than thrilling. If you want explosions and car chases, look elsewhere.

The Outfit poster

Hit!1973

Billy Dee Williams leads a team of ordinary citizens on a revenge mission against a drug lord. Underrated and unafraid to let its ensemble actually interact like people, with genuine chemistry and humor between the carnage.

But Uneven tonal shifts between comedy and violence. The action sequences are adequate rather than memorable.

Hit! poster

If He Hollers, Let Him Go!1968

Both pit detectives against systems corrupt at the bone; both understand that the law can be the predator, not the shield.

Raymond St. Jacques as a Black man falsely accused of rape in the 1960s Jim Crow South, hunted across state lines. A procedural thriller, yes, but one that understands that for a Black man on the run, the law isn't the real danger—systemic hatred is.

But Claustrophobic and bleak. There's real trauma here, not entertainment. And it's obscure enough you'll have to search.

If He Hollers, Let Him Go! poster

Medium Cool1969

Both are seventies films about power, surveillance, and who gets to define truth in a broken system; both believe cinema can interrogate these questions rather than just entertain.

Robert Forster as a TV cameraman covering the Chicago Democratic Convention riots, then getting swept up in them. Documentary-adjacent, formally daring, and genuinely interested in how media distorts reality and citizenship. Radical cinema, not radical rhetoric.

But Deliberately experimental and sometimes alienating. Long sequences of unscripted material; if you need plot, you'll lose patience.

Medium Cool poster

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