Review: Docteur Justice is a comic book adaptation of a very successful series created by the drawing artist Raphael Marcello and the writer Jean Ollivier. Originally Justice is a Doctor working for the OMS organisation (World Health Organisation) and is travelling around the world to help people, but ends up using his karate, judo and Ju-jitsu knowledge in various adventures against organised crime lords and villains.
The movie was not really appreciated by the fans, as it removed a few important characters of the comics such as Justice Asian Master Hiamuri, and John Phillip Law, if visually convincing as the Doctor, was clearly not a Judo fighter and his skills were very limited so he was not the virtually invincible fighter the comics depicted, requiring in many situations the help of his fellow co-stars.
As many productions of this time, the budget of the film is limited, so it gives the film a “cheap James Bond” aspect that doesn’t serve it well.
The film provides nonetheless some good moments and still is today the only attempt of a “Docteur Justice” in cinema, even if many rumours were heard about other adaptations through the years. Gert Fröbe makes a great villain as usual and the charming Nathalie Delon is always a delight to see. Paul Naschy the Spanish Horror icon appears in a small role as Ralph.
If you’re a Eurospy fan, you probably have seen worse than this one and can really get a kick out of it. This copy is from a Satellite TV DVD recording in widescreen and is in very good quality to help to appreciate the nice locations sets. Widescreen, in French language only, no subtitles. Quality A
Directed by: Christian-Jaque
Starring: John Phillip Law, Gert Frobe, Nathalie Delon, and Paul Naschy
