Director – Greydon Clark (Black Shampoo, Dark Future)
Starring – Joe Don Baker (Mars Attacks, Cape Fear), Rossano Brazzi (Fear City, Elvira’s Movie Macabre), and Venantino Venantini (Aladdin, The King’s Whore)
Release Date – 1984
Rating – 3/5
Blu Release – 3/5
I’m a sucker for 80s action flicks. I love the campy characters, predictable stories, and the poorly coordinated action sequences are a thing of beauty. These 70s and 80s gems were the reason I started writing reviews. I wanted to watch this cheesy and often forgotten films while writing about how I felt revisiting or watching for the first time.
Sometime ago I watched a Rifftrack or Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode where they riffed the 1984 action flick Final Justice starring Joe Don Baker. I remember enjoying the episode but I don’t remember shit from the movie. When MVD announced that the film would be part of their MVD Rewind collection I was all about it. I quickly reached out for a review copy and they were kind enough to send one over. I want to thank MVD for allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to check it out.
**Spoiler Alert** A small town sheriff from Texas finds himself in the middle of an international game of cat and mouse when two murders shoot and kill his partner forcing him to shoot one of them. When an extradition to Italy goes wrong it’s up to the sheriff to hunt for his partners killer in a foreign land. **Spoiler Alert**
Final Justice isn’t a bad movie. It’s campy, corny, and sleazier than expect but I had fun with it. The Riff Track or MST3k episode was more enjoyable but it’s still fun on it’s own. Fans of those early 80 western inspired action films will have a blast but someone wanting a bigger story and memorable characters will be a bit disappointed.
The acting in this one is unintentionally funny but I still had fun with it. This is not Joe Don Baker’s proudest moment. The movie seems like a burden to him which is where a lot of the unintentional humor comes from. His character reminded me a lot of how my father acted when my brother would visit us with his kids. He was happy to be there but he would clearly rather be some where else. His character is generic and he does very little to give the viewer someone with a fun personality. The supporting cast is much of the same. The cast only does the bare minimum which is funny at times and dull at others.
The story for this one is more or less the same as so many other films from the same time. An office of some sort is on the hunt for a killer who may have ties closer to home. However, this one take a stereotypical Texas officer out of his element and in a different country. It’s predictable, goofy, and surprisingly sleazy. We do get a bit of nudity which was not expected.
Finally, we get some blood and some nice gun shot wounds but that’s the extent of it. It’s not a gory flick for you sick fucks. Overall, Final Justice is not as enjoyable as it could be but if you want a cheesy as fuck flick with boobs and actors who doesn’t want to be there then this film is for you. I had fun but it’s not for everyone.
Special Features:
NEW! Audio Commentary with Tony Piluso, Newt Wallen and Crystal Quin of ‘Hack the Movies’
NEW! “The Making of Final Justice” featuring all-new interviews with writer / director / producer Greydon Clark, editor Larry Bock and cinematographer Nicholas Josef von Sternberg (74 mins, HD)
Theatrical Trailer
Collectible Mini-Poster
