Joe Don Baker

  • Mitchell
  • Final Justice

0 voters

Which is a better movie?

5 Likes

I do love Final Justicebut Mitchell is a better film with a funnier song.

9 Likes

Mitchell has better actors (Balsam, Saxon) and pacing, while Final Justice has a better locale (Malta). The latter is killed in large part by the seemingly endless repetition of Geronimo (ugh) getting in and out of the holding cell.

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He’s certainly more likeable in Final Justice, though that’s a low bar of course. But Mitchell is so important to the show’s mythos that it has to be my choice. Also, the leading lady in FJ is cute, but she’s not really much of an actor. Linda Evans manages to convey that she cares about Mitchell, which is honestly an amazing accomplishment.

9 Likes

Mitchell has hot merging action!

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I thought it was more or less the same character.

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I rank him slightly higher as a person in FJ since at least he’s not trying to get in the sack with his temporary colleague, or leer at the sex workers like he does at the poor housekeeper in Mitchell.

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Ugh! You’re right! That part of Mitchell completely slips my mind.

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Joe Don did an episode of The Big Valley in which he spent a lot of screen time with Linda Evans. I think they became friends then, and it shows in her performance in Mitchell.

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Whoawhoawhoa…… what about Mittens? He’s a cop!!

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I’m not sure whether we were being asked which was actually a better movie, or which was the better episode, so I took it literally as the better movie. Although I’m not sure that really changes my answer.

Mitchell is a movie that thought it was a TV series, and it shows in the plot, pacing, and cinematography. Final Justice was made by Greydon Ckark, and it shows in the plot, pacing, and cinematography. Final Justice is a bad movie, but at least it knows it is a movie, and despite all the later callbacks to Mitchell, I think Final Justice is a better episode of MST3K, so that was my pick.

4 Likes

Mitchell by a landslide. Better jokes, more iconic - Both movies cause much suffering, but I’ve seen Final Justice unriffed and it left a scar (the things MST spared us, the villain is a sadist and rapist).

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Whoa. Helena Dalli (Geronimo’s cop sidekick) has gone on to have a pretty big career, but not in showbiz. Not gonna’ spoil it for everyone. Go ahead on and see for yourselves.

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That’s impressive!

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I kinda like Final Justice it’s a fun movie. Mitchell is a classic though, I even own an un-riffed version.

I never thought I’d say this but I guess I’m a JDB fan

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At a benefit show several years back, I told Trace Beaulieu that MST3K had made me into JDB’s biggest fan. The response: “You should tell him that!” :smiley:

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Mitchell has both Hoyt Axton and wocka-joe-wocka.

That’s a hard hand to beat.

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No. All right, fine. The Maltese…hmmmm…dunno.

Good find.

That’s excellent, however. First laugh of the day.

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Honestly, he’s a good actor. However gross his characters get, his performances are always good.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I think Mitchell is actually an okay movie. The acting is all good and I like the idea that the criminals can only be half-bothered to kill or bribe Mitchell because he’s a gross loser. Like, the movie makes no bones about the fact that, as his boss puts it, “nobody likes you Mitchell.” And I’m sure no one’s going to like him even after he takes down the drug ring. The movie knows he’s a dumb slob, it’s not trying to act like he’s secretly awesome, just that he’s bull-headed and incorruptible. The fact that he doesn’t think Linda Evans is a bribe from the minute she shows up at his door shows how dumb he is. It’s slow and the Martin Balsam scenes are annoying, but I don’t think it’s terrible.

Final Justice is just awful in every way. Again, I think Baker can act, but this is not a good performance and everyone else stinks on toast. The plot is garbage and repetitive to the point of nausea - the fourth or fifth time he’s taken from his cell to the police superintendent’s office my brain actually hurts. Unlike Mitchell, this movie really wants us to think Geronimo is the best - a tough cop who gets justice no matter what it takes. He’s so awesome, he even got fired for killing a Senator’s brother! Except he flat out says he thinks laws are a joke and “good” cops don’t follow them if they get in the way. When he smiles and says “I bagged my limit that day, that’s for sure” when he’s talking about getting the Senator’s brother, it’s so creepy - he loves killing, being a cop is just a way to justify it.

Anyways, the important thing is I have definitely not put too much thought into this.

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That is cool as heck! Pretty serious upgrade from “babysitter for a dyspeptic ham shank”. Though I expect that experience comes in handy in the new career, too.

Is that what the baby oil is for?

5 Likes