Year of the Dragon (1985) User Reviews

Violent Thriller About The Triads

[gogoschka-1 · 7/10 · 11 February 2018]

'Year Of The Dragon' is a dark, brutal thriller about the Chinese mafia's turf wars in the United States. This was once celebrated director Michael Cimino's last attempt to create something daring in Hollywood after his previous film 'Heaven's Gate' infamously bankrupted studio United Artists, but while 'Year of the Dragon' might not the be the masterpiece Cimino's multiple Oscar-wining epic 'The Deer Hunter' was, it is still a very good film and remains one of the best cop thrillers of the eighties - plus it features a Mickey Rourke in absolute top form.

And it's an interesting film for some other reasons as well. For one, the script was written by none other than a young Oliver Stone. For another, it was the first time a Hollywood movie addressed the topic of Chinese gang violence in America, and although it seems rather tame now when compared to the reality of Triad wars, at the time, it was accused of being racist towards the Chinese community. The controversy it caused when it opened, plus the fact that it flopped badly, were the final nails in Cimino's career (he only made 3 more films until his death in 2016). But it's a very well crafted, gripping cop thriller that deserves to be re-discovered. 8 stars out of 10.

In case you're interested in more underrated gems, here's a list with some of my favorites:

imdb.com/list/ls070242495

One of the more realistic films about Chinese Americans

[2004RedSox · 8/10 · 17 August 2003]

When "Year of the Dragon" was released in 1985, it was ripped to pieces by Chinese anti-defamation organizations as being a very racist film. The film was likewise given lot of bad reviews by critics, who probably wanted to be politically correct.

Being a Chinese American who was raised in Boston's Chinatown, I had expected bad things about this film. Even though "The Deer Hunter" is a great film, the depictions of Vietnamese and Chinese in that film are truly horrendous (no, Chinese DID NOT engage in Russian Roulette!!) I expected the same with "Year of the Dragon." I was totally shocked after I saw the film at how realistic the film was about Chinatown. I do understand many Chinese Americans do not want themselves portrayed as drug dealers, gang members, etc. However, I don't think there has been any film in Hollywood history who portrayed the dark side of Chinatown as accurately as this film. I know because I grew up in the area when there lot of Chinese street gangs and mafia activity.

The sad thing is after this film was released, depictions of Chinese Americans has gotten a LOT worse; they are depicted as chopsocky kung fu gangsters (now isn't that ironic!!) in Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies, or as baby killers, rapists, or domineering bigots in "The Joy Luck Club" (by the way, this film is truly truly AWFUL in it's portrayals of Chinese; the ignorant critics however gave this movie great reviews.) Strangely, Chinese anti-defamation leagues has been very silent during these years.

"Year of the Dragon" is Cimino's unappreciated gem. According to my view, it's his second best film. I understand this film has flaws but Cimino was brilliant in showing the side of Chinese Americans that few Americans know. Not all of us Chinese went to CalTech or MIT and became successful software engineers or research scientists.

hard-boiled crime drama

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 8 January 2017]

A group of young Chinese thugs in NYC murders triad leader Jackie Wong. They also murder a store owner protected by the Italians. Police Captain Stanley White (Mickey Rourke) is one Polock unwilling to uphold the established understanding between the cops and the Chinese leaders. His marriage to Connie is on the rocks when TV reporter Tracy Tzu (Ariane Koizumi) comes into his life. Joey Tai (John Lone) is the ambitious leader who pushes his way to the top as he advocates a risky strategy to ramp up the drug trade from Thailand. Stanley recruits rookie cop Herbert Kwong to infiltrate Chinatown.

First of all, this is not reality. This is a hard-boiled crime drama and it's not going to put Chinatown in a good light. Certainly, Michael Cimino and Oliver Stone are willing to write in some Chinese stereotypes such as bad driving. There are some fun surprising bits like the Chinese speaking nuns translating the wiretaps. Despite the hard-boiled unreality, I find the semi-claustrophobic feel of Chinatown very compelling. That's why John Lone going to Thailand takes away some of the tension. Otherwise, John Lone is great and Mickey Rourke is pretty good at this role. Ariane is basically a model-turned-actress. It would have been better to sacrifice a little on the looks for better acting. Part of it is the jarring dialogue like when she injects her rape into an argument out of nowhere. I watched this again after these many years and I'm surprised at so many of these memorable scenes. Cimino is capable of great visual mastery but once in awhile, he loses his way through his excesses.

Film-noir in the 80's

[rainking_es · 7/10 · 4 May 2007]

Here's a nice recreation of the Chinese underworld and the Chinese mafia in New York. A great detective movie that combines drama and violence with a touch of film-noir. Nevertheless there's something in the script fails: it looks like Cimino and Stone had written a longer story and the had to cut it or something. The main plot is so solid but there some parallel stories that are not clear enough (Stanley White and Joey Lang's characters are rather confusing).

Mickey Rourke makes a good job, as usual... Tood bad he decided to become a boxer and destroy his own career.

Although Cimino's masterpiece is still "The deer hunter", "Manhtattan Sur" is worth seeing too.

*My rate: 7/10

very good eighties movie, not yet cinema

[rogierr · 28 May 2002]

This is the first movie in Rourke's golden years: Year of the dragon (1985), 9 1/2 weeks (1986), Angel Heart (1987), Barfly (1987): every single one underrated IMO. His glory started to erode heavily with Johnny Handsome (1989), really hit an all-time low with Wild Orchid (1990) and confirms that as the Marlboro Man's sidekick Harley Davidson (1991). Nevertheless I'm sorry that his footage was cut out of the Thin Red Line (1998), because I like his style. Michael Cimino (Thunderbolt&Lightfoot, Deerhunter) and cinematographer Alex Thomson (Excalibur, the Keep, Legend) apparently know their way in the eighties as well, although the story plays just before.

Is the recent wave of violence in Chinatown caused by Stanley White, the new (Polish originate) gung-ho sheriff in N.Y. Chinatown, or by the hunger for power by the young chinese gangsters? White, ironically, makes his own job harder because he has serious trouble respecting the Chinese in any way. Stanley hits the crime in chinatown like Popeye Doyle in the tradition of the French Connection, instead of a sheriff with brains. He will have to pay for his callousness and hypocrisy.

'Year of the dragon' depicts some of the the money and gambling problems of the Chinese in an early but profound eighties' style. The score sounds cheap, but fortunately is scarce too. I particularly like the noirish feel of this way-above-average cop-flick. Michael Mann could only wish he made this: it's one of my favourite tv-movies. The few negative points are probably due to interference of producer Dino de Laurentiis. 8/10

Michael Cimino thriller based on Robert Daley's novel with lots of action and violence

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 22 January 2023]

Captain Stanley White (Mickey Rourke) is a good cop...too good for his own good . His superiors and colleagues (Eddie Jones, Raymond J. Barry) hate him for not playing the NYPD game according to their rules. The underworld of his Chinatown precinct hates him for disturbing their cozy arrangement with the authorities. The men under White hate him for tightening the screws of the law in NYC's most exotic and explosive ghetto. White is all by himself when he goes after the untouchable kingpin of the Chinese Mafia (Victor Wong , John Lone) , in a one-on-one war that moves from the streets of Hong Kong to the jungles of Thailand to the gambling dens of Little China...with White's career and a quarter-billion dollars' worth of heroin at stake . It isn't the Bronx or Brooklyn. It isn't even New York. It's Chinatown...and it's about to explode.

Action-packed movie with brilliant photography , well-done action scenes with maximum violence and entertainment enough. Cimino's heroes have always been insufferably self-righteous and captain Stanley is no exception , as he conducts a clean-up campaign on N. Y. Chinatown which amounts to declared warfare . Here there's a racist hero you don't want to root for , a murky storyline with a headstrong cop unmercilessly battling the Tongs , and a semi-efective filming , all of them are the highlights of this tour through the black market's underbelly hierarchy . His feud is conducted with extreme violence , savage relentlessness and disregard for official procedural , in fact our starring finds himself fighting his own police force , his wife : Caroline Kava , his girlfriend : Ariane , as much as the local Triads led by Victor Wong and John Lone . Once again Cimino's ability to handle furious action set pieces is well paced such as a crossfire in a Chinese restaurant and a battle with two pistol-packing Chinese punkettes put him in the Peckinpah class .The connecting material ; however, resulting to be disjoined , muddled , boring and crass , amounting mostly to Stanley's interminable shots and a deep self-justification. The cast is acceptable with great main and support actors . Mickey Rourke provides overacting as Polish police captain Stanley White of the NYPD who vows to neautralize the crime lords running New York's Chinatown. Being finely accompanied by John Lone , Ariane, Victor Wong , Raymond J. Barry , Caroline Kava, Dennis Dun and Eddie Jones.

It contains colorful and adequate cinematography by Alex Thomson , though the exterior frames of New York City were actually sets built in North Carolina, that's why the settings proved realistic enough to fool audience . As well as thrilling and atmospheric musical score with Oriental sounds by composer David Arnold . The motion picture lavishly produced by Dino de Laurentiis was professionally written/directed by Michael Cimino. This filmmaker was a good craftsman who made few but very nice films with successes and flops, such as : Heaven's Gate , Year of the Dragon, The Sicilian , Desperate Hours , The Sunchaser and , of course , his biggest hit : The Deer Hunter . Rating : 6/10 . The flick will appeal to Mickey Rourke fans and Michael Cimino followers.

Absolutely blistering cop film. An underrated classic.

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 10/10 · 11 May 2016]

Michael Cimino's Year Of The Dragon is a visceral blast of pure Americana as only the man could bring us. It kills me that he suffered through that whole Heaven's Gate fiasco (which is actually a really good movie, but that's another story and argument entirely) because it extinguished any hopes of him making future films, and in doing so the studios effectively committed genocide against their own. Sure the guy was crazy as hell, but damn could he ever make a great film. This one is one of the most criminally overlooked cop flicks of all time, partly due to Cimino's scorching direction and partly due to a a performance of monolithic grittiness from Mickey Rourke as Captain Stanley White, the cop who won't stop. White is fresh out of Nam and mad as hell, launching a unilateral crusade of racist violence and self righteous fury against the Chinese crime syndicate in New York City, particularly a young upstart in their organization named Joey Thai (John Lone). Thai is as ruthless as White is determined, and the two clash in ugly spectacle, causing leagues of collateral damage on either side and inciting them both to roar towards an inevitable, bloody conclusion. Thai's elderly superiors warn him of men like White, men who are fuelled purely by anger, bitterness and nothing else, smelling the fire and brimstone in the air and wisely stepping out of the way. Thai is of a younger, more petulant generation and foolishly decides to meet the beast head on by essentially kicking the hornet's nest. White is warned by his caring wife (Caroline Kava) and fellow cop and friend Lou (Raymond J. Barry is excellent, firing Rourke up further with his work) not to mess with such a dangerous crowd. He has a volatile relationship with a beautiful Chinese American reporter (Arianne is the only weak link in the acting chain) who puts herself on the line for him by digging around in dangerous corners. The intensity level of this film is something straight from the adrenal gland; even in episodic scenes of introspect we feel the hum of the character's emotions, and when the conflict starts again, which it does in fast and furious amounts, the actors are simply in overdrive. Rourke has never been better than he was in the 80's, it was just his zenith of power. This isn't a role that gets a lot of recognition, but along with Angel Heart, Rumble Fish and Pope Of Greenwich Village, I think it's his best. He puts so much of himself into Stanley White that the edges which separate performer from performance begin to blur and waver, until we are locked into his work on a level that goes beyond passive consumption of art and elicits something reflective in us. Not to sound too hippie dippy about it, but the guy is just that good. On the calmer side of the coin, John Lone brings both evil and elegance to Joey, a slick surface charm that's constantly disturbed by Rourke's hostility, leading to an eventual meltdown that's very cool to see in Lone's expert hands. This is one for the ages and should be in the same pantheon with all timers like Heat, Serpico, The French Connection and others. Rourke fires on all cylinders, as do his colleagues of the craft, and Cimino sits cackling at the switchboard with a mad calm, yanking all the right levers in a frenzy of unhinged genius. Not to be missed.

Mickey Rourke was the ideal choice to play Stanley.

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 5 November 2014]

Stanley White (Rourke) is a Cop On The Edge (and Vietnam vet) in New York City. Assigned to Chinatown, he discovers the area is rife with gangs demanding protection money from shopkeepers, illegal gambling, and other activities that are against the law - U.S. law. When White confronts the leaders of the community, he is informed that their traditions are thousands of years old, and he can't just waltz in and change things. But then the violence spins out of control and the murder rate rises. The headstrong Stanley just won't tolerate their growing domination. Meanwhile, Stanley finds himself growing apart not just from his colleagues on the police force, but from his wife Connie (Kava). He develops a relationship with Asian TV reporter Tracy Tzu, and when she gets caught in the middle between Stanley and his growing sense of vengeance to crime leader Joey Tai (Lone), fireworks - literally - occur. Will Stanley clean up the streets of Chinatown? Find out today! Michael Cimino is one of the only currently-living masters of American cinema, and with a screenplay co-written by him and Oliver Stone, in a movie produced by Dino De Laurentiis, you know you're going to get a high-quality production. It's an expertly-shot and acted film as well, and with some of the themes it deals with, it was ahead of its time in 1985. It's filled with intense moments, and its length and pace bespeak its status as an epic crime drama, which would make sense as the novel it's based from was written by Robert Daley of Prince of the City (1981) fame. So we applaud that it did not cave in to the trend of "MTV editing", and it comes out smelling like a rose in the 21st century.

Mickey Rourke was the ideal choice to play Stanley. This was at the height of his initial fame in the 80's, and he's looking young and trim. Stanley, despite appearing, on the surface, like a brash, insensitive, politically-incorrect brute, actually has a highly sensitive soul and a powerful and overriding sense of morality. But he's caught up in a corrupt world so he deals with it the best he can. Rourke, one of the most talented actors currently working today, can expertly play that subtlety and complexity. Plus not only does he have cool hair, he has a cool hat, and when he's not wearing his cool hat, the coolness of his hair can shine, and his hair seems to get cooler as the movie goes along.

On top of the cultural knowledge and references in the movie, not just of Asian culture but biblical as well (could Stanley's shot in the middle of his hand with its blood be a reference to the stigmata of Jesus?) , it's important to recognize that this was the 80's, after all, and we get the disco scene we all love, and arcade games Pac-Man, Galaga and Defender can be seen. This movie truly has it all.

So for a serious-minded, extremely professional cop/crime drama that has all the hallmarks that we know and love, plus a lot more, it's hard to beat Year of the Dragon.

Cimino, Rourke, and Lone at the top of their game

[rwildfong · 10/10 · 16 June 2004]

Following the Heaven's Gate debacle it must have been questionable if Michael Cimino would ever helm another epic film. Having shot The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate on such a grand scale, you expect that type of film from Cimino. Well, he was given one last shot to work the big screen using his considerable talents to create one last masterpiece. If there is a Michael Cimino trilogy it's his three epics The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate, and Year of the Dragon. In all honesty Hollywood does not make a lot of films like these so when they come along they are something special. These are films that show Hollywood at it's best, stretching, pushing the limits, and trying to create something huge fueled by a clear artistic vision. It may fall flat, as Heaven's Gate did, but the risk can be exhilarating. Looking back on Heaven's Gate now, many critics find it to be one hell of a film. There's a simple reason for that, they just don't make 'em like this much any more. So, in retrospect the Hurculean effort now looks refreshing.

Year of the Dragon is a powerhouse film. Where Heaven's Gate meandered on the plains, Year of the Dragon charges across the screen. I believe this was powered by Cimino probably giving his best effort to entertain as well as create on a grand scale. The result is a breathtaking ride and one of the best cop films we'll ever witness. Rourke as Stanley White is in his prime 80's form. There was no doubt about it, in the 80's the camera loved Mickey Rourke. If he had not gone off track it makes you wonder what could have been. His is not the only great performance in the film. John Lone as his prey is nothing short of magnificent. He is everything Al Pacino was in the Godfather films. I would say his performance owes a debt to Pacino and watching the film I wondered if he had used him as a model for Joey Tai. These three elements alone could be enough to make great film, two great actors dueling on screen and a director giving his best effort.

It doesn't stop there though. They are working from an Oliver Stone script which is beautifully composed to blur the lines between good and evil. It's not as simple as good guy and bad guy. These characters are fully fleshed out and complex. White may be the cop but he is deeply flawed as a human being. This script doesn't pander to the audience and you will not like Stanley White much of the time. Joey Tai is not pure evil. He follows a moral code and is an honorable man. This kind of writing is not for everyone and some may be put off or confused by the nature of these characters but that's what makes for great cinema.

Not only are the leads good but the supporting cast is also fantastic. Kava as Connie White brings nice weight to her performance as Stanley's wife. Raymond Barry and Victor Wong are excellent as are the entire supporting cast. There is one often noted exception. Ariane as Tracy Tzu the reporter and White's fling is very wooden. What causes her to stand out is the fact that all the other actors are so good. I believe this was her first film and she is out of her element. She just doesn't have the chops to keep up. Her performance doesn't drag down the film but it does stick out whenever she's on screen.

1985 saw a couple of fantastic cop films in this and To Live and Die in LA, which not surprisingly was directed by another great William Friedkin. Films like these are hard to come by. We were lucky to see Friedkin's film released as a special edition DVD. Year of the Dragon has been sold by MGM to Warner Brothers and now sits in limbo. It would be unfortunate for films like this and Sidney Lumet's Prince of the City (1981) to sit and rot on some shelf. The work of directors like Cimino, Friedkin, and Lumet should not be ignored. It's interesting that each of them made a fantastic film about cops in the 80's. Two of the three films though appear to be lost. Let's hope someone rescues them to DVD.

An Interesting Mess

[Treeman222 · 6/10 · 7 June 2005]

Somewhere in this stylish, violent, great-looking, meandering mess is a good movie, but it's not so easy to find. This is basically a character study of a disenchanted Vietnam vet turned cop who's trying to win a personal war, which happens to be directed at the Chinese mafia. Mickey Rourke's solid acting and Michael Cimino's direction and visual flare are the biggest assets. Oliver Stone's screenplay is muddled and too preachy at times, and the performance by "Ariana" as the reporter is amateurish at best.

Overall this is a movie you can sink your teeth into and really get lost in another world, but the world isn't that much fun to visit. Too many scenes just seemed contrived, and the idea that this is supposed to be an important "event" movie is hammered home. Lastly, the music score is really bad, and the final, awkward scene is just plain stupid.

Still, worth a look.

Stanley White is a rough, tough, nasty piece of work - and the movie, too

[Quinoa1984 · 5/10 · 3 September 2012]

Year of the Dragon doesn't need too much plot write-up. I'll try in a sentence, just to test this: a tough-as-nails-racist-maybe-sexist-don't- play-by-the-rules-but-not-crooked-wannabe-Mickey-Spillane cop (Mickey Rourke) goes head-to-head with the Triads of New York's Chinatown, lead by a calm businessman-cum-psycho (John Lone) while juggling two lovers and a police force who don't like him much. There, let's move on: this movie is frustrating. Simple as it gets, Michael Cimino's rehabilitation from Heaven's Gate to try and get back into Hollywood's good graces (with Oliver Stone as his screenwriter) is preachy, loud, and full of BIG moments that should add up to more. Frankly, Heaven's Gate was more satisfying (if less tonally consistent) on simple entertainment/quality levels.

It's a little like the East Coast cousin of 1985's own To Live and Die in LA. But where Friedkin had a firmer grasp of William Peterson's anti-heroism with fantastic action set pieces, Cimino's direction is either just basic stuff (lots of people talking with dialog that is padded and just speaks too heavily on the points over and over again as if we didn't hear it the first time) and the action, with some exceptions like a climactic shoot-out by a train-line, cluttered and just TOO over the top. Yes, even for an 80's action movie.

Maybe there is some real interest here, in doing a story on the triads and gangs of Chinatown, or how it spreads to the exploitation of workers in sweat-shops and factories. It dances with that, and I'm sure Cimino and Stone did their research, but it doesn't add up to more than just a simplistic pot-boiler - and not a strong one either. Rourke certainly tries to act his ass off (or, sadly frankly, sometimes over the top as well, or smirking through scenes), and John Lone certainly makes good back-up. Other players, like Ariane as the One Female Reporter who will get the scoop (cause, you know, there aren't any other reporters who might cover a big crime war in New York city except for the one Chinese one), are not very good at all except in one note turns.

And maybe more than anything, the consistent tone of just nastiness from this character of Stanley White, which also permeates other cop and gangster characters, left a bad taste in my mind watching it. There are moments where other characters call Stanley on his myriad of faults - and that he uses Vietnam as a crutch for his issues and as another Rambo 'still fighting the war' (how obvious they tell us, more than once, almost makes Rambo: First Blood Part II subtle by comparison) - and yet none of it really stuck with me to have any kind of feeling for the character except distaste. Again, Rourke does try to make him sorta likable... which could make it worse. When he cries in Ariane's character's apartment for not having anyone else to go to, and a tear goes down his cheek in close-up, there was just indifference there between myself and what was going on. Not good.

Yet Cimino does pull off moments that do work, shots that can get excited about. Hell, even a scene I didn't expect to work, which is a funeral for a (should be more) significant character as the second plot turn, was touching for how Cimino held back and let the big emotion swell instead of being the same high pitch. But for all that should be well-intentioned in Year of the Dragon, or 'realistic' as based on a Robert (Prince of the City) Daly book, it just isn't. Year of the Dragon is dated, probably racist Hollywood trash which fluctuates too much between something better and something s**t too often.

violently tough and gritty, Rourke takes down china town

[msorenson-1 · 9/10 · 2 December 2005]

Year of the Dragon is something of a little known masterpiece. It is well written by oliver stone, and directed by cimino at a turning point in his career. The centre piece, however, is Rourkes performance, which was caught while he most likely was at the peak of his acting ability's. You will be totally blown away by the realism of his acting, and it's even more noteworthy that the film was made while Rourke was youthful while making this and was made to look more senior (that grey hair is dye). A heartfelt performance from an actor playing a cop with "scar tissue on his soul", will never be forgotten once seen. While the main character is far from perfect, it is just that which makes him believable as well. Stanley White is on a crusade and would die for his principles, which effects all those involved with him. It is a complex film, often talky, which is punctuated throughout with explosive violence, well shot with use of excellent set pieces. Bloody in places and above all gritty and realistic, in parts it is even beautiful. The film works on many levels from it's slow burn beginnings with emphasis on conspiracy to the final pay off on the dock yards. Well drawn characters are everywhere in this film, and it never losses its hard edge. Rourke has seen a much needed and deserved return in recent years. He may have lost his handsome good looks due to boxing and due to too many face lifts, but the guy will never lose his acting ability. We, the true fans, never gave up on this chance. And now he's finally gaining popularity with a new generation, who need to see and experience The Year Of The Dragon, To believe the hype. Also check out his other classics Angel Heart and Barfly.

"Well, I guess if you fight a war long enough, you end up marrying the enemy"

[Bored_Dragon · 6/10 · 9 October 2016]

Saying that this movie makes the "Cimino trilogy" together with "The Deer Hunter" and "Heaven's Gate" is ridiculous. This movie is not even close to "Heaven's Gate" and comparing it to "The Deer Hunter" is total blasphemy. Cimino had a touch of God when he made "The Deer Hunter". Nothing else he did can come close to that.

Average crusader cop movie, worth watching if you don't expect more than some action fun to kill a few hours.

For those who watched it or will do, censorship forced them to replace the very last line of Mickey Rourke: "Well, I guess if you fight a war long enough, you end up marrying the enemy", with: "You were right and I was wrong. Sorry, I'd like to be a nice guy. I would, but I just don't know how to be nice."

6/10

Over-the-top film that leaves a bitter aftertaste

[Maciste_Brother · 3/10 · 10 May 2007]

Everything in YEAR OF THE DRAGON is over-the-top: direction, acting, writing, editing, score. Michael Cimino is not the master of subtlety. He's like the little kid who starts crying to get attention, not in order to get just one thing but starts crying for attention for everything. Practically every scene in this film is directed in such a way as if they were the climax: a car crash is not just a car crash, it's a spectacular ball fire explosion of a car crash; a funeral is not just a somber affair but something as revered as a funeral for the Pope; a gunshot to the head is not just to kill the bad guy but to be as gory as a Tom Savini scene in any horror film; the characters are not just people affected by the circumstances of the drama but are as extreme as those types in a Jerry Springer show; the unusual attention to details is not because the film wants to be true-to-life but because the film confuses such anal-retentive attention to details as validation for the unpleasant, over-baked story it's trying to tell, and in turn, becomes almost a parody of itself (Rourke's hair being the best example of this); the dialogue is not just dialogue if it's as loud as a Russ Meyer script; so on and so forth.

The direction is really at fault here. The director doesn't know when or where to stop with the OTT stuff and just tell a story. Because of this, the film's weight is totally lopsided. For instance, it spends more time on the wife after her death than when she was alive. Or we really do not feel the loss when she's killed and yet the direction makes it so that it's like the most important thing in the entire film. Had we known her a bit better maybe it would have worked but because the film only showed her bitching and screaming at Rourke that her death didn't seem that important to us. Hence, the OTT direction.

There are a few good things in the film. John Lone gives an amazing performance, when everyone else is screaming their dialogue at the top of their lungs. Some scenes are effective, like the chase scene between Rourke and the two Chinese girls (it's the best scene in the whole damn thing). But the film is a cleverly disguised mess. Too many pointless scenes that really add nothing to the story. Too many uninspired scenes, like the overlong moments when the Chinese mobsters talk endlessly about the virtues of being in the mob. For a film where every scene is over-directed, the resolution to is remarkably disappointing because it's so low-key. It falls flat and really doesn't work at all. We went through all that trouble for such a lame resolution? The last scene, when Rourke's presence causes a riot and then he and Arianne kiss, is so corny that it's truly embarrassing.

I've seen YEAR OF THE DRAGON on numerous occasions and will probably watch it again in the future as I'm fascinated by this mess. While watching it, I always try to understand what the director (and writer) thought they were doing. And I still can't figure it out even after seeing all these times, aside from leaving a bitter aftertaste.

Balaclava

[chaos-rampant · 27 July 2012]

Cimino shows that he is a crass and hysteric filmmaker here. His sensibilities place him somewhere between Cecil B. DeMille and Francis Coppola. He's got to film big, so even a cop flick about violence in Chinatown has to be a saga. There's no weight to it, it just has to be a sprawling story that's only vaguely about social issues of importance. He's got to have both the scope and relevance, preferably something to brood over. He's got to have lots of people and lots of scenery in the frame. There's a pretty ludicrous scene set in backwoods Thailand that only seems to exist so that a Triad boss can majestically gallop in view of a swarm of soldiers (and later brandish a severed head).

There's nothing worse than a filmmaker who can only leverage ambition and control in his art (Coppola once in a while had good intuitions). So at its most profound, cinematic beauty is at perfume ad level here, say a woman in silhouette sliding into a majestic night-view of New York. What's the term, 'elephant art'? I say it doesn't breathe.

Worst of all, since he is very much a storyteller, these days a novelist living in Paris, his dramatic sense is a lot of puff and noise on a typewriter. It has no life. It's screen writing 101 like in one of those books that tell you about the 'hero's journey' and where to put the 'inciting incident': the couple is growing bitter and distant, and it's right on the first scene that they have to curse, yell, and throw things as they explain all that's wrong between them: he's never at home, he doesn't care, she wants a baby.

And he's got the ideal writing partner for this. Oliver Stone: so angry barbs at the media, school-lessons in American and Chinese history, and Vietnam is behind all of it. It's all abrasive on this end, as is Stone.

Mickey Roorke, usually game for roles that call for lots of smirking and boyish thrashing-about, is the violent, crazy, anguished new sheriff in 'Town. He browbeats and ridicules the Chinese journalist girl and of course she goes to bed with him the moment he has finished doing so, because what's more charming than a 'flawed protagonist'.

The film is bookended by public funeral processions and that could have been something, connoting obsession, artificial images, false narratives. Watch John Lone in M. Butterfly for that. Watch Fukasaku for chaotic action.

Just doest work.

[Rich359 · 6/10 · 12 February 2021]

The biggest problem with this film is the logic. How could a character like O'Rourke's survived on the force the way the character is portrayed and acted? Think of Gene Hackman's performance in the French Connection. Even though they are similar hard edged characters, Hackman was believable while O'Rourke was not .Hackman knew how to gauge his character from charming to obnoxious, while O'Rourke has outbursts and not much more. Also he looked too young to play the character. The horrible hair make-up just made it look silly- like a high school play. Second the affair between him and the reporter was vacuous . Why would this woman be attracted to this bore, even if she thought his cause was noble? He makes constant disparaging remarks about Asians that was off putting to me. I did not buy this contrived romance for a second. Also O'Rourke's motivation is unclear. Out of the nowhere he is championing for protection of the Asian community? Why? He clearly dislikes Asian people or does not trust them. The performances are wildly uneven from most of the cast with the exception of the Asian gangsters. That said the set design is great and there are some jaw dropping action scenes that are worth the price of admission alone. A mixed bad, but a spectacular one.

Overscaled, uneven.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 12 November 2000]

This would probably have been more effective as a straightforward crime thriller; Michael Cimino stages some unusually gripping action scenes with great flair. Unfortunately, those scenes are brief interruptions of the long, talky passages that occupy most of the film. Often plodding, "The Year of the Dragon" has an intense moralistic tone, trying to make the hero's crusade against crime seem a lot more grand and tragic than the script would justify. But Rourke, who has always been an underrated actor, does bring some depth and ambivalence to his character. (**1/2)

When Mickey Rourke dominated Hollywood

[atzimo · 10/10 · 17 January 2002]

In the mid eighties Mickey Rourke was considered a cult figure in Hollywood (he still is, only at that time we was a promising one). This movie truly reflects all of his talent in the role of a police officer and Vietnam veteran, who tries to clean up China Town. It's easy to realize that Oliver Stone wrote the script, and it's probably Stone's personal opinions that come out of Rourke's mouth.

It's still good after all these years and although it's no masterpiece, it's quite entertaining.

Pretty good movie, considering the stereotyping involved...

[tomarx7 · 7/10 · 20 September 2010]

When I watched this movie the first time, I did get offended by the stereotyping and the white man dominating the Asian theme of so much mainstream movies. But besides all that, now that I watch it a couple of decades later... I grew up in the Boston area too, like a previous reviewer, and spent a good amount of time in the 80's at the college parties and the nightclubs in the area, and so did my cousins. There was definitely a lot of this kind of stuff happening, in fact I sometimes look back at those days and wonder how we survived them. Only one of my cousins got jumped a couple of times by Asian gangs in the course of his college years. One time by Korean gangsters in a Korean club in N.Y.C. Another time at the Palace in August 1988, a local gang jumped him because he tried to intervene, when one of them threw a drink at my back on the dancefloor. Luckily a girl he had dated also happened to be connected to the group and she stopped the melee.

Unfortunately the stereotyping was based on true archetypes, and there definitely was plenty of this stuff happening. The sad thing is now Boston's Chinatown is not nearly as busy as it used to be, because of the continuing expansion of the Asians into the surburban areas, there is now less and less reasons to have a Chinatown in a lot of places.

This movie is basically a snapshot of a time that is thankfully gone and hopefully in the near future, we won't need Chinatowns at all anymore...

One hell of a year

[videorama-759-859391 · 9/10 · 1 August 2014]

I'm quite dumbfounded at the user rating. This is a great film, not perfect but great. It's one of those electrifying films from the eighties, I'm eternally grateful at having the privilege of having seeing up on the big screen, where as Rourke's character, Stanley White, says, the streets are gonna run red with blood, or words to that effect. If watching Rourke's performance here, and other films around that 1986-1990 time, looking back, you can see just what a remarkable actor this guy was, but not so now. This film was back in the day, when he had a much lighter and polite voice. He's top form here as an unstoppable ex Vietnam cop, determined to take a silky smooth talking kingpin (the excellent John Lone) down. At first we think Lone is one of the good guys, where soon he becomes Rourke's worst enemy. You want so much for Rourke to take this guy. On one side I loved Rourke's character, his mettle and determination, but on the other side, I found him detestable, his pushiness and arrogance, and being a thankless fu..er. Also he's a pig when it comes to treating women, which kind of stayed with him as he went onto to do that weird out sex flick, 9 and a half weeks. There are some shockingly violent moments, some in the starting of the flick, where life doesn't mean anything to these Asian badasses. Rourke's wife getting killed was an explosive and impactful moment, I'll never forget, and there was some others. You'll never guess how Lone buys it, that too has dramatic affect. Also the films is a little educational as in regards to the Triads. Arianne adds beauty as a relentless Asian reporter, not half bad in the role. When she confronts Rourke, after taking a raping, Rourke's reaction is comical. He's the one true anti-vermin, cop who's gonna make a difference, and it's admirable. This is compulsive viewing all the way, with some tough violent moments, but this is one of those films that comes along every so ofter that leaves a lasting impression, as does Rourke's performance, staying true to the end, his character one tenacious son of a bi.ch.

Hard hitting but flawed epic.

[Trajanc · 7/10 · 27 January 2003]

Mickey Rourke shines in this brutal account of a New York police captain's mono-maniacal quest to bring down a Chinese gangster. His intense performance as a man who is willing to risk his life and the lives of everyone around him to achieve his ends anchors a film that was almost truly great. Cimino's direction is stylish but at times the editing betrays him. Added to this is the awful performance of Ariane as Tracy Tzu, a script that brings in more ideas than it knows what to do with and an erratic musical score. It's maybe a kind of triumph for Cimino that in spite of those faults the film is still gripping. His stunning set pieces, the excellent supporting turns by John Lone and the frequently under rated Raymond J. Barry and the films own uncompromisingly tough attitude work hand in hand with Rourke's bravura turn. Definitely recommended.

Dull

[Tiemler · 5/10 · 18 September 2002]

Mickey Rourke and Tracy Tzu seem to deliver their lines in a trance. The audience is asked to swallow the preposterous notion that no one in the NYPD had ever heard of the Triads before Rourke's character rolled into town. When the focus shifts back and forth between the protagonist's personal life and his investigation, we are merely bounced from cliche to cliche. There is even a thoroughly PC speech delivered by Rourke in a Chinese restaurant about all the terrible discrimination faced by Chinese immigrants a hundred years ago. Granted, this is something every schoolkid should learn about, but there's a time and a place. Even in the feeble On Deadly Ground, Steven Seagal did us the courtesy of putting the soapbox speech at the end of his awful movie.

Yet another under-rated 80's classic

[thirdi · 10/10 · 3 November 2001]

Next to "Barfly", this is Mickey Rourke's best performance. His turn as an uncompromising, tough New York cop is unforgettable.

The story is complex and involved, and much more engaging than your average 80's cop movie. The cinematography is stylish, and the acting performances all around are outstanding, especially John Lone and Raymond J. Barry.

There's some very graphic violence and some revealing sex scenes, so not for the kiddies! (I'm sure my parents regret taking me to see this one in the theater as a teen, but I made them!)

Overall I think this movie was misunderstood and overlooked by the "award people" and critics. Michael Cimino always has a gritty way about his films and this one is no different, maybe the brutality and violence in this film turned some people off. But if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend it. I really hope this one comes out on DVD at some point!

This film is made of two apparently unrelated stories.

[gratwicker · 7/10 · 25 October 2008]

This script has two plots one not so related to the other. There is a love story, that of a failing marriage and blossoming love affair and the second of a three way war in Chinatown, NY, between two sides of a Chinese Tong and on the third side an uncompromising honest policeman. he actors in the love story, (Mickey Rourke and "Ariane,") acted so stiffly that I thought that they were made of frozen sheet metal. It may have been their lines,because when Mickey Rourke, at least, plays in the rest of the film the acting lights up and there is a real person on the screen. Perhaps the two screen writers, (Oliver Stone and Michael Cimino) split the writing and one took the romantic scenes and the other the action. Which ever one took the romance gets a 1 out of 10, while the other moves up to an eight. I discounted completely the romantic thread of the story and gave the film a seven.

• I believe in Michael Cimino, and think that his work is first rate, and usually underrated, but his principle weakness is unnecessary extension of scenes.

Michael Cimino has a great film buried deep in himself, but he should get himself to a monastery and read Hemingway for a few years, then come back to film.

Horrendous

[tankers · 1/10 · 5 January 2005]

High-minded, big-budget garbage. A ludicrous story of a gutsy, out-gunned crusader taking on an evil gang and the establishment that does business with it.

Rourke (hopelessly miscast...apparently the union ran out of actors better suited to playing 50-year-olds) somehow is directed to huff and puff in order to make us believe that he's re-fighting the Viet Nam war in the streets of Chinatown. (I guess that this makes Year of the Dragon a more pretentious iteration of the theme of the Rambo movies.) Throw in a couple exotic Oriental types, John Lone, galaxies removed from the greatness of his starring role in The Last Emperor, and a non-acting actress who is tossed in merely to provide eye candy and to establish Rourke's characters bona fides as a non-racist, since he demonstrates that he is willing to sleep with some of them.

A snooze-worthy debacle. See it only to satisfy your morbid curiosity.