Third_Person2 Year of the Dragon (1985) is a film about A police detective cracks down on organized crime in Chinatown after the murders of Triad and Mafia leaders. I thought this film was great an absolute underrated gem. The film is Based on the novel of the same name by Robert Daley, the screenplay was written by Michael Cimino & Oliver Stone, The Direction by Michael Cimino was good the film was made after his box office disaster Heavens Gate (1980) when everybody probably doubted him he really brought it he really created something new and it's nothing like his other works. The film is a Neo-Noir thriller and has everything Action, Drama, and Crime and has themes of ethnicity, racism, and stereotypes. The film stars Mickey Rourke as Stanley White a Vietnam veteran, John Lone as Joey Tai, and Ariane as Tracy Tzu, Mickey Rourke was good in this role he is a complex character who in order to arrest Joey Tai Stanley White blurs the line between right and wrong and it's very interesting to see, like Michael Cimino's film The Deer Hunter (1978) he gives a dash of the psyche of the Vietnam vet in this film. John Lone is good as Joey Tai he really had an awesome presence on screen sinister and smooth who is not all completely evil he has a code of honor which makes him the perfect foil to Stanley White who is a very flawed man who wants to do the right thing. The main criticisms of the film are the performance of Ariane a first- time actress as Tracy Tzu I didn't think she was that bad I like every time she interacted with Mickey Rourke I thought they had an interesting relationship. The film portrayed Chinatown in a negative light which at The time was met with protests by some Chinese Americans which led to some people not wanting to see The film or giving the film a negative reaction but if you watch it today all that is completely irrelevant and you can just enjoy this good film. The film had good cinematography and good action scenes that really make the film, the film goes where you don't expect it to go twists and turns and adrenaline. The ending will have you on the edge of your seat it ends in a way you won't expect and it's awesome. All and all this is a great under- appreciated film and should be talked about more. 10/10

Comeuppance Reviews 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.

lathe-of-heaven I am COMPLETELY dumbfounded that Michael Cimino never really was given any decent films after this. Even after he made this EXTREMELY powerful one, how the hell could that even be possible? You would think after making this one, he would have easily gone on to make many more.Oh well... One of life's (and Hollywood's) many completely senseless mysteries I guess...I DO love a good Crime Thriller and this little baby put such a permanent stamp on me when I first saw it 30 years ago, I have truly never forgotten it. I just watched a nice HD rip of it this evening for the first time in many years, and YES, it still packs every bit of the powerful punch that it did almost 30 years ago when I first saw it.Where do I start...? Mickey Rourke's amazing performance? John Lone's wonderful and SMOOOOOOOOOOTHE role? The way the story is beautifully laid out and built up to it's great ending? The fascinating 'behind the scenes' view of the Chinese Mafia? The gripping Suspense? The frigg'n EDGE of your frigg'n seat Action? The gritty portrayal by Rourke as a self-obsessed, VERY flawed, but tenacious and ultimately deeply caring cop?Those were just SOME of the first things that came to mind. SERIOUSLY, I am really NOT one to get very worked up about Action films per se, but this one was done SO damn well that it honestly holds a place forever in my personal list of best films ever made!Oh, and just to say too that I COMPLETELY agree with 'Cracker's review here that you compare it to the HUGE amount of cinematic sludge floating around out there, and this baby holds it's own quite well. Take a very similar film made by the GREAT Ridley Scott, who I TOTALLY revere (can you say 'BLADERUNNER' anyone?) called 'BLACK RAIN', is a lot like this one, but was more visually stylish, and also was quite a good film. So, if a director like Michael Cimino can hold his own compared to one of the absolute GREATS like Scott and make a film that is possibly even MORE powerful, then what's the deal anyway with not giving him any more films...??? (BTW I thought that Mickey Rourke's performance categorically BLEW Michael Douglas's out of the water, for what it's worth. And I LIKE Michael Douglas...)So, if you like good film making, a tense, gripping Crime Story, VERY involving characters, and GREAT acting, then YES, you will indeed like this film...

tomarx7 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...