Product Details

• Actors: Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Keith Cooke, Doug Wright, Nijel
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Studio / Sterling
• DVD Release Date: December 15, 1998
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305232725
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,118 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "China O'Brien" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Action diva Cynthia Rothrock stars as a former big-city cop determined to both avenge her father's murder and succeed him as county sheriff in this entertaining action vehicle. The good-natured cross between Billy Jack and The Candidate doesn't exactly break new cinematic ground, but the martial-arts prowess of five-time world kickboxing champion Rothrock, frequent Jackie Chan collaborator Richard Norton, and hunky newcomer Keith Cooke (who would later star as the malevolent Sub-Zero in the Mortal Kombat films) more than compensates for the threadbare production values and some voluminous plot holes. For extra fun, try to count the number of times a certain thudding sound effect is recycled (hint: It's in the high double digits). Director Robert Clouse is no stranger to the martial-arts genre, having directed both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in their American debuts (Enter the Dragon and The Big Brawl, respectively). Every election campaign should have this much full-contact mayhem. This full-frame DVD includes the original trailer, production notes, and cast and crew bios. --Andrew Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I used to love this movie when I first saw it 13 years ago, June 10, 2005

By 

E Rice (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: China O'Brien (DVD)

This movie is particularly good for martial artists, for everybody else you may want to pass on this one. The fight scenes are done in the "last dinosaur" style, by that I mean that the action is very close (or closer) to how a real martial art fight would be and NOT like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon like most modern martial art movies are. Not to fear though, the action is not dull in any sense, the fight scenes are similar to 'The Best of the Best'.

The story goes like this, a female cop/martial artist quits the force after an incident in a back alley. She goes back home and her father/ex-sheriff is murdered so she decides to run for sheriff and clean up the town. Then she and her high kicking boyfriend proceed to whip everybody's you know what that gets in their way. Cheesy...maybe but the action is good. Also, there is another character in the movie named "Dakota" who is awesome; to me he almost stills the show from Cynthia.

There is even a sequel to this, which is even better (action wise), called China O'Brien 2.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, early Norton and Rothrock adventure, November 12, 2001

By 

W. Gantt (Birmingham, Alabama United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: China O'Brien (DVD)

"China O'Brien" demonstrates the chemistry between martial artists Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock in an early co-starring effort that would ultimately make them a team in demand
for fight movie fans. This agreeable adventure casts Rothrock
in the lead, as she campaigns for town sheriff, with Norton as
her most loyal ally. It's a winning movie that laid the founda-
tion for later films for the pair such as "Rage and Honor" and
"Lady Dragon." It's a pleasure to return to a movie that, among
others, helped to promote the careers of two terrific stars!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to female butt kicking., January 17, 2004

By 

Brendan O'Neill (England, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: China O'Brien (DVD)

With Cynthia Rothrock taking on the american film industry, starring as China O'Brien, a karate teacher, whom resign s her badge/gun after a alley-way shooting, returns home to her "sheriff" father. After witnessing her father been killed, she decides to campaign for her fathers position as sheriff, vowing to clean the town of all its corruption, she enlists the help of her young sweetheart, played by fellow blackbelt Richard Norton (whom she stars in numerous films after) helps clean the town, with their extreme talent of martial arts, only seen in most hong kong movies, (minus the dubbed dialogue, of course). This is a must for all martial arts like me.