7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's cool, baby!, June 20, 2002
"Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold" was my initiation into the "Blaxploitation" film genre. In this film, Tamara Dobson stars as a statuesque African-American secret agent woman. She teams up with an Asian woman named Mi Ling (played by Tanny) in order to rescue two undercover agents from the clutches of the Dragon Lady (Stella Stevens), a casino-owning drug pusher. Written by William Tennant, the film is directed by Chuck Bail.
"Cleo" is full of outrageous costumes, hip dialogue, action, and funky music composed by Dominic Frontiere (starting with the opening credits song, "Playing with Fire"). There is a fair amount of graphic violence. Cleo is a fun character; she's sort of like an African-American female James Bond (in fact, I found the tone and pacing of this film to be similar to that of the Bond flicks of this time period). The film makes good use of its Far East setting.
Dobson gets solid support from the rest of the cast, but I especially loved Norman Fell (an actor best known as TV's Mr. Roper from "Three's Company") as Cleo's grouchy but likeable boss. Fell and Dobson have a really enjoyable chemistry in their scenes together.
"Cleo" is a fascinating film that could, I imagine, inspire some lively analyses grounded in race, gender, economics, post-colonial politics, criminology, and other fields of inquiry. Or you could just enjoy it as a fun, slightly campy adventure flick with a kick-...heroine.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A stellar transfer for a terrific movie, October 20, 2011
Some things are frankly mystifying about this DVD release and the movie itself in terms of its high quality. In 1975, most film stock was pretty poor, especially for budget productions. Casino of Gold looks like an A-list production with great film quality, camera work, lighting, etc. and the DVD release is sharp as a tack. Someone somewhere really applied themselves to this transfer because I've seen Blu-ray releases of 70s films that don't look nearly as good as this. Worth every penny, you would be easily justified in thinking it's high-def if you saw it unawares.
We all know Tamara Dobson owned this role, but Norman Fell is terrific and under-used as her theoretical boss.
The DVD quality is so good I'm tempted to give 5 stars but ultimately this is a guilty pleasure, not high art. Strongly recommended though.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A true gem, July 7, 2005
This movie only gets better with multiple viewings. Although this is a sequel you do not have to watch the first movie, simply titled, Cleopatra Jones, to understand Casino of Gold. For various reasons a third movie was not made. ENJOY and have a great time watching a great action film.
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