Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold
When fellow operatives and friends disappear during a mission in Hong Kong, Cleopatra Jones comes to help. She discovers the disappearance involves The Dragon Lady, a feared lipstick lesbian who runs a casino and the local drug trade.
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- Cast:
- Tamara Dobson , Stella Stevens , Norman Fell , Tanny Tien-Ni , Albert Popwell , Caro Kenyatta , Chan Shen
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Reviews
How sad is this?
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Statuesque special agent Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) is back in this action-heavy sequel, facing off against yet another lesbian drug lord (Stella Stevens). Two of Cleopatra's friends go missing in Hong Kong so she heads there to find them. She teams up with a local detective (Ni Tien) and the two chop-socky their way to the evil Dragon Lady.Tamara Dobson was certainly an elegant and striking presence. While I don't think she was as good an actress as Pam Grier, she did bring something unique to the screen. She's like a more feminine and attractive Grace Jones. Her makeup choices in this are very questionable, though. Busty Stella Stevens makes for a sexy villainess. She doesn't appear nude here (despite a scene that teases she will) but she does show off her magnificent cleavage. Pretty Ni Tien (billed as Tanny) is good as Dobson's butt-kicking partner. Norman Fell plays the obligatory white boss that is the brunt of many deserved jabs from Dobson.It's a watchable movie but not as good as the first Cleopatra Jones. There's many reasons for this but a few are the weaker soundtrack, a more boring script, too much focus on other characters besides the lead, and no Shelley Winters hamming it up. This does have some nice martial arts scenes (particularly for blaxploitation, where 'amateur' would be the kindest way to describe most fight choreography). It does seem like it was filmed with a higher budget than most blaxploitation movies I've seen. Still, there's something ho-hum about it all and I found myself wishing it was more fun than it is.
Made in the midst of the seventies and the era just before the explosion of the horror genre. Just before that exploitation was the independent thing. And of course black actors wanted to have their own exploitation. Here we have a very good example what we call blaxploitation. But this here is really good. Naturally the main leads are black people but the one to look out to is Tamara Dobson. She was a natural beauty but sadly she became sick and stopped making movies in 1984. She died of her disease which was MS in 2006. Here she's Cleopatra Jones, let's just say a black 007. But look how the feature was made, back in those days they knew how to do their stuff, no CGI or other stupid effects, here's it's the real stuff but here it's effects in the attacks and the many fights. Don't think that you will see a serious amount of blood, no it doesn't. But of course for the seventies nudity was a normal thing and it contains some nudity. But also have a look at Cleopatra's clothes and the way they put some make-up on her. The score, pure seventies, this is excellent stuff. I can't say anything that I didn't like in it. The chases with the cars and motorcycles, it goes on for minutes. You can guess it, one to watch
Surprisingly entertaining Blaxploitation film from the 70s with Amazonian Tamara Dobson returning as the hustling, Kung Fu fighting, bizarre fashion plate Cleopatra Jones. This time Cleo needs to help Matthew and Melvin Johnson in Hong Kong to break up a drug ring under control of the Dragon Lady(actually she and her casino are in Macao). Dobson must wear no fewer then ten weird outfits and quips one-liners throughout with the aid of little helper Ni Tien(a most beautiful young lady). The Dragon Lady is played deliciously by the ever delicious Stella Stevens. Stevens actually gives a pretty good performance as one cold-hearted, ruthless woman accustomed to getting what she wants. This movie gives you exactly what you are promised and expect: lots of action, lots of silliness, lots of innuendo and subtle as well as obvious humour, and lots of martial arts. Dobson gives her standard performance and the rest of the cast does as well. Character actor Norman Fell is here as Cleo's governmental contact and lends the film some credibility. You got to love the 70s action sequences, the outlandish costumes, and that groovy soundtrack.
I think this is one of the best movies during the Blaxploitation era. Its full of Suspense and Drama. I would recommend this movie to anyone. I gove it two BIG thumbs up!!!!!!!!