China O'Brien

Average story which should be expected out of a martial arts movie. The major reason to watch this movie is to Cynthia Rothrock kick the villains butts. Originally was written as a project for Jackie Chan before the story was changed around as a film the Cynthia Rothrock. The action sequences are well choreographed. The negatives of China O'Brien(1990) are the sloppy editing and the low budget structure.

Saw this on TBS the other night, expecting the usual poor substitute for a good action movie. True, I did get a mediocre film overall, but as a form of reimbursement, I received a bunch of quality martial-arts sequences.

Yes, the plot is amazingly uncomplicated - the most unexpected thing (and also the dumbest) is when not just one, but TWO car bombs explode within two days of each other. But besides the improbability of a Utah native growing up with an Australian accent (can we assume he picked that up in the "Special Forces"?), at least it's not too unrealistic.

But this movie was basically created to showcase Rothrock's abilities, and they are readily apparent. Someone mentioned that this film was meant as a vehicle for Jackie Chan; this is also easy to see based on the beautifully choreographed fight scenes that make good use of the available props (the scene in the high school's weight room is particularly fun).

Overall score: With regards to the filmmaking process, this one gets a low rating thanks to bad sound effects, cheap production and minimal writing talent. However, the great fights more than make up for it. Five (5) stars out of a possible 10.

This a good action story built on a very good premise. This could be a very good TV series for Rothrock and her ensemble cast of Keith Cooks and Richard Norton. Walker Texas Ranger was some what of a spin from Norris's "Lone Wolf McQuade" film where he played the infamous Texas ranger JJ McQuade.

In this feature film we see Rothrock succeeding her father (who was murdered by a local corrupt business tycoon) as the town sheriff. Rothrock displayed a lot of passion in her character's quest to avenge her father death. She did great justice to this role as well. Her supporting cast of Norton and Cooks were second to none in terms of their chemistry with Rothrock as well their excellent fighting abilities.

Yes, budget constrains was a factor in regards to the overall quality of the film. Nonetheless, Clouse did the best with what he had. To do a sequel was pretty much a given. China O'Brien deserves to be a TV series like Walker.

Chuck I hope your reading this...

China O'Brien; big city police woman; martial arts trainer, is forced to hand in her badge and head home to her father and the small town where she grew up. The peaceful town she knew is now struggling against the clutches of organized crime. When her father, the town sheriff, is killed China decides to run for his position and clean up the town. The poll results spark a series of confrontations that finally decide who runs the town . . .

Cynthia Rothrock displays her martial arts prowess in this enjoyable B-film. The low budget is obvious, the acting is a little amateurish, but there's a strong aura of a sense of right reeking from the three protagonists, especially from Rothrock, and you're rooting for them. Rothrock comes across sincere, sweet and likeable, but of course her main appeal is kicking the bad guys to oblivion and she does that numerous times in some well-choreographed fight scenes. There's enough spinning kicks to send you in a tizzy. And she is ably supported in the kicking the posterior league by Richard Norton and Keith Cooke, both are equally as impressive as Lady Dragon Rothrock. The fight scene in the gym is a standout and inventive. An enjoyable Rothrock vehicle, which I think is her best.

Its a Cynthia Rothrock movie about a cop who goes on a revenge spree. And based on this blurb I thought I had watched this at some point but turns out this one had escaped me. But was it worth the watch in 2024?

These were some of the first Rothrock movies to be based in America, although you can still see the influence of the Hong Kong production style.

Of course these movies only exist so that Cynthia has an excuse to kick people, so in this movie she accidentally shoots and kills and young gangbanger. Which forces her to leave the police and return to her parents and home town. Her father is killed by the local yahoos and we have a reason for Cynthia to kick lots of men in increasingly complicated ways but very quickly.

Some of the action is fine but its not on the same level as the Hong Kong stuff, although the HK people seem a bit crazy because they for some odd reason think things should look real so actual injuries occur. Watching this in 2024 with HD video its far more obvious when a male stunt double in a wig stands in for Cynthia. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments like this. Other areas that stand out as funny but not supposed to be are the usual "martial arts philosophy" lines, which try to paint them as something lofty when its really just trying to batter people.

The China O'Brien movies are probably some of her most famous movies, but I wouldn't rank them as the best. These are mid-tier at best but you know exactly what they are so that's fine.