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Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen

Play trailer Poster for Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen PG 1981 1h 37m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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29% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 32% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The retired detective (Peter Ustinov) and his clumsy grandson (Richard Hatch) probe murders in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …the updating of Chan’s character is as baffling as the shonky back projection… Rated: 2/5 Mar 24, 2023 Full Review Diego Galán El Pais (Spain) A movie condemned to be forgotten. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 23, 2019 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 14, 2005 Full Review Rebecca Murray About.com Rated: 4/5 Jul 6, 2005 Full Review Jeffrey Westhoff Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Rated: 2/5 May 30, 2005 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Nice to look at, but what on earth were they thinking? Rated: 2/5 Jul 19, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (24) audience reviews
kevin w So embarrassing. And on so many levels. If you've done something bad, anything, this could be acceptable penance. You're forgiven. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Silly gags (despite of a very few exceptions) and clumsy spectacle made me impatient to see the end of the film. Peter Ustinov could not convince too. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member The film is quite racist in casting Peter Ustinov, but I'd dismissed that as a parody of old Charlie Chan films (this is a comedy after all) where the Chinese detective was always played by a white guy so it wasn't a problem. But the real problem is that it was never played for laughs. Nor was anything really. The slapstick was very clumsy and watching Apollo ham it up for the camera as his grandson was tough. The plot is supposed to revolve around a murder mystery but it never actually does anything with it. Instead we're treated to the cast of boring characters wandering through their daily lives in ways that are supposed to be funny. And they're just not. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review bill t I have seen pretty well all of the Charlie Chan movies, and I gotta say, this is the worst of of the lot. Every single actor in this movie embarasses themselves greatly in this. Biggest culprits are the ladies though. Michelle Pfeiffer hasn't a clue how to do comedy and Lee Grant is just mugging, mugging, mugging. Ustinov as Chan couldve been great, but the script really just defeats him. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A simplistically written caper that should by no means be taken seriously. Peter Ustinov and Richard Hatch are fine here, but the film belongs to the wonderful Angie Dickinson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roddy McDowall, and Lee Grant in supporting roles. Brian Keith's foul-mouthed dialogue backfires, though, and is nothing short of annoying. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Abysmal. Why actors of this calibre were in such a horrendously bad film is beyond me. This is just bad slapstick, a very boring and messy film. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen

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Movie Info

Synopsis The retired detective (Peter Ustinov) and his clumsy grandson (Richard Hatch) probe murders in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Director
Clive Donner
Producer
Jerry Sherlock
Screenwriter
Stan Burns, David Axlerod
Production Co
American Cinema Productions, Jerry Sherlock Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 26, 2018
Runtime
1h 37m