Parks isn't especially good at action direction, but the heart of a private-eye movie is in the mood scenes, anyway, and he supplies a scene in a bar and another one with the Harlem rackets boss that are very nice.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
A hip, cool, entertaining thriller.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
fresh:
Forty years of gumshoe noir collided with black power in this 1971 action classic, the most popular of the blaxploitation pictures.
– J. R. Jones,
Chicago Reader,
1 Mar 2007
fresh:
Excellent cast, headed by newcomer Richard Roundtree, may shock some audiences with heavy dose of candid dialog and situation.