Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 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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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, Enjoyable Bubblegum Nonsense Action Sequel, January 1, 2002
The sequel to "Cleopatra Jones" benefits from the authentic location of Hong Kong and its good production design. The story is almost the same as the original one, showing us Cleo fight against drug syndicate, of which mastermind, this time Stella Stevens, lives in a gorgeous casino.You might remember Warner Brothers once produced "Enter the Dragon" featuring Bruce Lee, which became a worldwide hit, and probably this fact influenced the studio's judgment to shoot the film in Hong Kong. The film is full of shoot-outs and kung-hu fights, but unfortunately, not as good as Lee's deadly fighting style, but still it is mildly entertaining. The final action sequence, chain of good stunts using motorcycles running in a casino, with its riders shooting machineguns (!), is the showdown of the film, and though the film nearly gets so close to ludicurousness, still remains enjoyable as a whole. And check out Stella Steven's outrageous costume.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cleo and Mi Ling are unstoppable!, January 27, 2006
Typical blaxploitation from the 70's but with a great flair in that that leading roles are played by two hot butt kicking ethnic Princesses! Cleo knows her Kung Fu and uses it well. My fav is the asian hottie Mi. In one scene Mi has just finished showering and walks out into the living room in her bathrobe only to be greeted by a group of intruders. They proceed to tie her hands up but are in for real surprise. This lady is a deadly martial artist. With her hands still tied, she turns her bare legs and feet into deadly weapons overpowering the men with some explosive kicks. She is soon joined by Cleo and the girls finally finish the guys off leaving the baddies knocked out cold. Although a bit campy, this movie is a cult classic and a great sequel to the original.
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