| Final Justice | |
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Poster. |
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| Directed by | Greydon Clark |
| Produced by | Greydon Clark |
| Written by | Greydon Clark |
| Starring | Joe Don Baker Rossano Brazzi Venantino Venantini Patrizia Pellegrino Bill McKinney Helena Abella Lino Grech Tony Ellul |
| Music by | David Bell |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Josef von Sternberg |
| Editing by | Larry Bock |
| Distributed by | Arista Films |
| Release date(s) | May 1985 (USA) |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Box office | Unknown |
Final Justice is a 1984 film starring Joe Don Baker and directed by Greydon Clark. It follows the exploits of a Texas sheriff who overturns a Maltese city to find the mobster who killed his partner. The film was lampooned in a 1999 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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Joe Don Baker plays Texas "lawman" Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III, a beefy sheriff and avid milk drinker. His partner, the former sheriff, is killed by an Italian mobster. He finds the criminal, a man named Joseph Palermo, and escorts him back to Europe, only to lose him in the capital city of Valletta in Malta. He then thumbs his nose at local law enforcement and uses all the tactics of Texas justice to pursue Palermo. A cat-and-mouse game follows, rife with car chases, gunfights, fistfights and boat chases.
The film was featured in the eighth episode of MST3K's tenth and final season. It is the second Joe Don Baker film to be riffed on MST3K, following Mitchell, to which a few references were made in this episode. Including the end of the episode, when show host Mike falsely believes it is his turn to leave after viewing Final Justice. This is in reference to the show's previous host, Joel, leaving the series at the end of viewing Mitchell.
The version of the film used in the MST3K episode also contains a very prominent editing mistake. Early in the film when the sheriff (played by director Greydon Clark) dies, there is a shot of the partner getting killed and collapsing to the ground. Moments later, the exact shot is repeated. This error only appears in a TV print. The original Vestron release does not contain this mistake. One host segment in the MST3K episode makes reference to the editing mistake by having host Mike Nelson trip over and over again.
Another reference to Final Justice is made in a host segment in the next episode, using Geronimo's catch phrase from the film: "You think you can take me? Go ahead on. It's your move."
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