MartinHafer "Mystery Science Theater 3000" was all about making fun of bad movies. And, since they made a bunch of installments of the show, they had to find a lot of terrible films to tear to pieces. Sometimes, however, they took poor to mediocre films and gave them the full treatment--and folks just assumed that the films were trash. And, sadly, I think a lot of people who saw these films chopped up and made fun of then voted on IMDb. This would account for films like "The Girl in Gold Boots" (a poor film, but actually one of the better ones by Ted Mikels) and "Mitchell" making IMDb's infamous Bottom 100 list. "Mitchell" is clearly NOT a terrible film and is decent entertainment. And, as a guy who has seen more bad films that just about anyone, I could probably name 1000 movies worse than this one without even trying.Joe Don Baker plays a cop who likes to play by his own rules. He's honest but tough and often plays the rogue cop--a very, very common 1970s cop film theme. When he investigates the killing of a burglar, the crime scene doesn't look right and Mitchell (Baker) thinks the homeowner killed the thief in cold blood. This seemingly simple case eventually leads to a heroin smuggling ring and ultimately leads to a showdown with the man in charge.I would never call "Mitchell" a good film. It's a brainless time-passer with lots of action and a few good scenes. Brainless because Mitchell has never heard of the Bill of Rights and because a guy is shot in the head at very, very close range and he barely bleeds--when his head should have exploded since it was an AR-15!!

zardoz-13 Mitchell (Joe Don Baker of "Walking Tall") is an unkempt, beer-drinking, Los Angeles Police Detective who looks like a role model for Nick Nolte's character in "48 HRS." "Chism" director Andrew V. McLaglen has put together a less politically strident version of "Dirty Harry" with "The French Connection" heroin plot. Mitchell is such a maverick cop that he doesn't even have a partner. The formulaic Ian Martin Kennedy has our rough-hewn hero trying to bust a corrupt attorney Walter Deaney (John Saxon of "The Unforgiven") for the murder of a house prowler when he isn't shadowing James Arthur Cummins (Martin Balsam of "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys")who is part of a heroin ring. Like most post "Dirty Harry" thrillers, the eponymous protagonist in "Mitchell" makes up his own rules. When Mitchell isn't tailing Cummins, he enjoys the carnal pleasures of a $1000-a-night prostitute (Linda Evans of "Tom Horn")who totes around a bag of marijuana. Predictably, the plot goes around in circles as the characters circle each other. Deaney wants to make a real estate deal with Mitchell, while Cummins uses Mitchell as a body guard against his other unsavory associates. When Mitchell gets in a tough spot and he encounters many predicaments, he shoots to kill without a qualm. He wastes two ruffians with a shotgun, blasting them in the guts and shoots a guy on a motorcycle as the thug roars over a hill. The narcotics narrative is not as interesting as Mitchell's character. He is shown kissing on the hooker's foot after a night in bed and loves to drink beer. One amusing scene has our tough-as-nails cop arguing with a skateboard kid, telling him in no uncertain terms to "piss off." John Saxon plays a sleazy bad guy who kills prowler in the opening scene and then plants a loaded gun by his corpse. Mitchell, who is riding with the uniformed cops when they respond to the call, takes one look at the crime scene and knows that the prowler wasn't tall enough to have retrieved the loaded firearm from a gun cabinet. McLaglen stages an interesting helicopter versus a boat scene. Mitchell catches a ride in a chopper and purses Cummins and his chauffeur out to sea. They are making a run for Mexico and Mitchell rigs up a battering ram. Mitchell orders the chopper pilot to attack the yacht and they smash the elevated steering tower. Eventually, Mitchell uses the battering ram as an anchor to slide down the rope to the boat. He dispenses with Cummins' bodyguard Benton and shoots the villain between the eyes with an M16 when Cummins tries to make a deal with him. The Linda Evans hooker is used as comic relief. Mitchell busts her twice for simple possession of marijuana."Mitchell" is not as bad as everybody claims, just an ordinary cop potboiler with lots of automobile chases. Again, the lead character is more interesting than the story. Joe Don Baker does a good job playing a blue-collar cop who rents an apartment without a dish-washer and sleeps on a fold-out bed. You wouldn't see Dirty Harry in these domestic circumstances.

Woodyanders When given the awesome challenge and responsibility of making a comment on the extraordinary piece of pure cinematic gold that is "Mitchell," one simply can't just write your basic synopsis of the plot and follow it with a critique of the picture itself. Instead, one must show a little creativity and imagination (two sterling attributes which are richly abundant in this remarkably fine feature) in order to properly give the film itself it's true due. So, I'm going to happily list the many reasons why "Mitchell" is better than "The French Connection."1) Burly, bullfrog-faced 70's B-movie icon Joe Don Baker portrays the scruffy, boozy, blithely amoral and thoroughly unorthodox maverick cop Mitchell with an animal passion and charismatic conviction which makes Gene Hackman's overrated Oscar-winning performance in "French Connection" seem extremely bland and superficial. Moreover, the character of Mitchell clearly influenced such subsequent "you gotta bend the law in order to enforce it" fellow iconoclastic rough-around-the-edges police detectives as Nick Nolte in "48 Hours" and especially Mel Gibson in "Lethal Weapon." 2) The sluggish pacing will give you a profound newfound respect and admiration for the stirring spectacle that is watching grass grow. 3) Both John Saxon as a suavely slimy lawyer and Martin Balsam as a dastardly dope-dealing businessman sneer and leer with a lip-smacking go-for-it panache that's an absolute joy to behold. 4) The adversarial relationship between Mitchell and his huffy disapproving superior boldly explores heretofore untouched terrain in a cop action flick. 5) Linda Evans as a gorgeous high class hooker bears a striking resemblance to Cathy Lee Crospy. Don't miss the post-coital scene which shows Mitchell kissing Linda's bare feet; I'm sure this particular moment is wholly accountable for Quentin Tarantino's foot fetish. Furthermore, the Patsy Kensit gratuitous love interest character in "Lethal Weapon 2" was obviously patterned after Linda Evans' role in "Mitchell." 6) The choppy editing forsakes a steady snappy rhythm for a herky-jerky carelessly slapped together quality that's bound to make you queasy. Kudos are also in order for beautiful cinematography which sharply photographs the picture with a painter's discerning eye for breathtaking poetic imagery. 7) The insanely funky score cuts a righteous get-down groove which makes that over-hyped "Theme from 'Shaft'" sound like insipid elevator music. Better yet, we are further entreated to a couple of wonderfully corny country and western songs which are deftly drawled by the sublime Hoyt Axton ("Hey hey hey my Mitchell"). 8) The infrequent, but nonetheless still thrilling action scenes are staged with a rip-snorting aplomb and consummate expertise that makes John Woo seem dull and uninspired. The guy who takes a spill out of a helicopter and falls all of five lousy feet into the ocean below has to be one of the single most exciting and impressive stunts I have ever had the pleasure to see. All in all, as this illustrious list quite persuasively proclaims "Mitchell" is without a doubt a shamefully unsung and unheralded work of tremendous art that future generations of film fans will watch in total awe and amazement.

lemon_magic A strange choice for Joel's final episode of MST3K, but it's hard to imagine what would be a more appropriate choice. Maybe one of the Russo-Finnish things they covered, like "Sinbad", or "The Day the Earth Froze" (to end on a high note), or "Monster-A-Go-Go" (which embodies the essence of all the crap that MST existed to make fun of.)I understand why some people don't like Joe Don Baker movies, but my own judgments of his films are influenced memories of one of my best friends in college (since passed away, alas). My friend was an older ex-Army sergeant who was a lot like Baker in many ways, and who would undoubtedly see a lot of himself in Baker's screen persona. A couple of tours of duty in the Army as an enlisted man and non-com had turned him into a self-described "FFS" (Fat F***ing Sergeant): an overweight, dyspeptic, burned out, cynical, hard drinking sad sack. But if you got to know him and got past the outer shell, he was one of the best friends a person could ask for; intelligent, loyal, generous, kind, and hard-working to the point of being a workaholic.I think that my friend would look at Baker's character in this film (and in "Final Justice") and see Mitchell in the same way he saw himself: someone who doesn't seem at all glamorous or fancy, but still can do whatever it takes to get the job done.And that's the whole point of Baker's character in "Mitchell": he doesn't look like anyone's idea of an 'action hero', but underneath the flab and the bad attitude is an incorruptible 'real man' who can kick the pretty boys' butts when the chips are down and who stays the course in spite of every obstacle and distraction that would stop a lesser, 'metrosexual' blow comb user. And if the movie does anything well, it at least gets this point across. It seems to me that Joel and the gang took any excuse to hammer on Baker when the he and his movie weren't really any worse than most of the stuff that came out at the time. In other words, they struck an attitude and then made up 'straw man' targets to attack to justify their attitude, hoping that the sheer venom of their rhetoric would keep the audience from actually making their own decisions...just like Dennis Miller does in his rants. Baker is somewhat heavy, yes, but he's no Charles Durning or Sidney Greenfield (two actors who you DID expect to have a coronary in any given scene). And his character is somewhat unkempt, but the whole beer/baby oil/revulsion thing they paint for him is at least three notches worse than what the movie presents. You don't believe for a moment that Linda Evans would ever go to bed with Mitchell, but OTOH the results wouldn't be nearly so revolting as Joel and the Bots would have you believe.So no, not a good film by any means. But approach it with an open mind and you'll have a watchable cop flick with a twist on the usual 'action hero' casting and formula.