Pluskylang Great Film overall

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

billshattner A ten, you say? Sure, you might admit, Mitchell is decent, certainly better than the usual MST fare. But a ten on IMDb?Let me justify: As a fan of many movies, not just those with big budgets or respected reputations, I am willing to address a film on its own terms. And, having done so with Mitchell, I am proud and unabashed to state that it is a great movie. The plot is easily navigable, and contains a handful of genuinely intriguing moments. In addition, several of the characters, including even Mitchell himself, are somewhat morally ambiguous, lending a certain credibility to the film.Sure, it's 70s fabulous, and parts of it are slow-developing. However, those facts are easily ignored when one chooses to focus on the acting performances in the movie, perhaps highlighted by the work of Martin Balsam, who plays the shrewd yet compromised white-collar gangster. Indeed, his performance is to be commended.And the same goes for the rest of the cast: in almost every case, the actors and actresses do a commendable job, including that object of so much comedic ridicule, Joe Don himself.Bottom line, this is a cool, fun renegade cop movie, and I highly recommend it, in either version (original or MST3K). Enjoy, please!!

Seth Nelson It's a good thing a movie like "Mitchell" was made and a star like Joe Don Baker ran the show - without the two things together, how would have the 70s had given us the finest in cinema, huh? I mean, all the funny things happen here in "Mitchell" - and I will not give these things away, because not all of us have seen this movie - yet! (Including me - I want to see the MST3K version!) Speaking of which, this movie is best seen on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," because instead of a horror movie being lampooned, it was a cheesy action film that got the boot! Also, it's amazing how a now out-of-print TV copy has made it this far thanks to the Best Brains deciding to use a heavily edited version for all to see!