What makes it different from others?

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

While I'm not saying that "Cleopatra Jones" is a BAD example of the blaxploitation genre - it's fun to a certain degree - there are some aspects of it that will likely disappoint viewers in this day and age. The movie is indeed well produced, and while Tamara Dobson is a little awkward in the moments involving action, she does otherwise make a charismatic lead. As the lead bad guy, Shelley Winters is campy and a lot of fun in her scenes. Strangely, however, she only appears for a few minutes in total - a movie like this really needs a villain who regularly shows up to cause trouble. Another problem with the screenplay is that Cleopatra Jones seems mighty slow tracking down the bad guys - her investigation moves at a crawl. It's also strange that Cleopatra Jones is also offscreen several times for significant periods of time. Despite these problems, the movie is still worth a look. It is occasionally fun, and it's one of the few blaxploitation movies outside of Pam Grier movies to showcase a black actress in a lead role.

This film sure has a lot of familiar faces--Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Shelly Winters (as "Mommy"), Esther Role and even Don Cornelius (from "Soul Train") are all here to support Tamara Dobson as Cleopatra Jones. Cleopatra is an extra-special narcotics agent--practically James Bond and a DEA officer combined! She knows martial arts, carries a machine gun, drives like a NASCAR driver AND manages to look hot on top of everything else! It seems that Cleo's efforts have begun to hurt Mommy's businesses and those of her associates--especially Fargas' drug dealing. So, it's the mob against Cleopatra. Considering it's only 682 to 1, it's reasonably certain that Cleo will be victorious by the end of the film.This movie has some similarities to COFFY and FOXY BROWN, as all three films are about an angry woman's attack on the drug trade. One major difference was that in these two Pam Greer films, the title character wasn't a special agent--just a vigilante wanting to rid the world of dope fiends. Dobson, unlike most other blaxploitation heroes works for "the Man"! Another difference is that Ms. Dobson manages to keep her clothes on throughout the film! The final difference is that, believe it or not, Greer's films were a lot more believable, as Dobson can do ANYTHING and is practically Wonderwoman--whereas, Greer is just really, really mad!! Heck, one of the victims even calls Dobson "Wonderwoman"!Overall, this film is far less gritty blaxploitation and more like an episode of "Get Christie Love" or "Charlie's Angels"--the music, the plot, the acting--the whole package. I wonder if Aaron Spelling had anything to do with this project!!

Back in the Seventies, mainstream audiences still reeling from the one-two punch of Shaft and Superfly were subjected to a barrage of ghetto avengers - Black Caesar, Willie Dynamite, The Candy Tangerine Man and the rest - all covering depressingly familiar terrain. Black writer Max Julien (also an actor, playing the lead role in the pimpsploitation classic The Mack) offered AiP his script for a female alternative but passed. Warner was quick to snatch up the rights, and in 1973 foisted the first black superchick onto the American public: Cleopatra Jones.The film opens with a blazing opium field somewhere in Turkey. Cleo Jones, hap-ki-do expert and international do-gooder, returns to America to report on her success as a 'special agent' in her one-woman war on dope. Lesbian drug baroness Mommy (Shelley Winters, fresh from Corman's Bloody Mama) is furious her poppy fields were torched, and threatens an all-out war between the Brothers and the Mothers. One of Mommy's uppity underlings, Doodlebug (Antonio Fargas, best remembered as Huggy Bear in Starsky And Hutch) is getting rich off stealing Mommy's coke, and provides a cautionary moral aside warning against living as a White Man's flunky (Cleo points to Doodlebug's white chauffeur, and asks "What next - two white jockeys on the lawn?"). With a "whacka-whacka" superfunk guitar in the background, Cleo does her chop-sockey routine on the coke dealers and crooked cops, and kicks Shelley Winters' portly ass for her wild overacting in the final showdown. Tamara Dobson as Cleo Jones reportedly stood 6"2, and that doesn't include what must've been the BIGGEST afro in the business! Despite her physical prowess, the script doesn't give Cleo any real motive for her cartoon crusade (unlike the later Coffy and Foxy Brown) and reduces her to a smug self-satisfied cardboard cutout. Add the sloppy direction by Jack Starrett and you get a surprisingly poor release by a major studio.

"Cleopatra Jones" was one of the first "blaxploitation" movies that I ever saw back in the '70s. Tamara Dobson plays Cleopatra Jones, a government agent that must crack a drug ring run by Mommy, Shelley Winters. This movie has a nice pace, and looks like it had a fairly big budget for this genre. Tamara plays the role flawlessly and with style. Some of those fashions! I am surprised she could do some kung-fu fighting with those killer platform shoes on. The other thing that stands out in my mind about this movie is Cleo's sexy corvette, complete with a cassette deck! This was state of the art back in '73 for most cars came with the standard AM radio, or if you wanted to, you could upgrade to 8-track! Shelley Winters is funny and over-the-top with her role as Mommy, the Queen of drug trade. Her performance just adds to the campy appeal of this movie. The supporting cast do well too, and round out this made-for-drive-in classic! The DVD is very basic with no extras, however, it is presented in it's original "cinemascope" aspect ratio. The print looks good, and clear. I am glad that this movie is available on DVD, for it's an enjoyable taste of the '70s!