Cleopatra 2525: The Complete Series DVD Review:

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Cleopatra 2525 was pitched for the first time. I can only imagine the reactions as the idea for a futuristic action show with an exotic dancer as one of the main characters was explained. Logically it makes sense to mix scantily clad women with science fiction, considering the target audience, but nobody had the courage to do so with such B-film vigor before this show, and my guess is that it will be a while before it happens again.

In the first episode we are brought into the future, year 2525, in which humans are forced to live underground because of mechanical terrors above. The details are not made clear at first, and even as they are trickled out through the series there are still many questions left unanswered. This is somewhat irrelevant however. After all, it is a show about a stripper who is cryogenically frozen after a complication during breast implants and wakes up in a future filled with monsters and mutants below the earth’s surface.

Cleopatra is taken under the wings of two resistance fighters, one of which gets directions from a voice that talks to her through an implant in her brain. These scantily clad women set out to battle against robots called Baileys and other creatures. They are trying to save the world in some way, although the half-hour episodes don’t usually leave much room for details as to the bigger picture.

Each episode is jam packed with action and an ambitious amount of special effects. Although some of the special effects are cheesy and fake it is almost expected with a show like this. It fits somewhere in the same category as She Spies and nearly any show with Pamela Anderson. Ultimately the show is meant to be fun rather than good, which it usually is successful at achieving. I feel bad for anyone who can watch an episode with the clown-like villain with any amount of seriousness.

The 28 episodes which made the series are fit onto three double sided discs in a colorful and eye catching box set with images that pop out of the box. It’s geeky, sexy, and intentionally terrible at the same time. Not many shows can achieve that. There are also three special features in the package as well. The deleted scenes are what you would expect and the outtakes are only somewhat funny, but the special effects and stunts featurette is worth watching. It gives a certain amount of appreciation even for the worst of special effects.



Ryan Izay