Movie Reviews for Year of the Dragon

Year of the Dragon

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Movie Reviews of Year of the Dragon

Movie Review: Year of the Dragon
Summary: 5 Stars

I want see Mickey Rourke in his films these he had played.
I met only his cine "Nine half weeks."
He is a famous actor. For me was a new approached to something
of him. His films are good. Sometime heavy and hard.

Movie Review: "This is Chinatown, White..."
Summary: 4 Stars

Michael Cimino said part of the reason he made it Year of the Dragon was to prove that he could come in on time and on budget (which he did) after being fired from Footloose for asking for a very minor increase in the budget (can you blame them after Heaven's Gate?) and seeing The Yellow Jersey and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (a four hour western with most of the dialog in Sioux? Sure, Mr Cimino, and shall we declare bankruptcy now to save time?) fall through. Tempting fate, Cimino even cast two of the bit players from Heaven's Gate in the leads, Mickey Rourke sporting stylishly grayed hair and Caroline Kava as his ovulating wife.

Yes, the dialogue is highly variable and the epilogue ("He's a good cop but he just won't give up!") is worthy of public ridicule. Yes, the Vietnam parallels are overplayed at every opportunity ("It's just like Vietnam! Nobody wants to win this thing!"). Yes, the plot is pretty much standard-issue. Yes, co-writer Oliver Stone and Cimino show off their research by giving characters big historical speeches about Chinese civilization and the hundred years of discrimination the Chinese suffered in America at every turn. Yes, the motivation is sometimes laughable - they kill Rourke's partners and a family member but it's only when they lay hands on his mistress that he decides that "This time he's gone TOO FAR!" But there's an epic grandeur to the film that's unusual in the cop movie genre. It's not just scenes like the spectacular entry into a drug-dealing Thai general's village either: even the nightclub where Mickey Rourke beats up John Lone (quite excellent here) is large enough to hold an aircraft carrier. Cimino doesn't really do small, and his sense of grandeur gives the film a gravity it doesn't really deserve. And his eye for a good set piece that deserted his subsequent films is still very visible in the restaurant shootout. Overblown it may be, but it's far from being just a guilty pleasure.

The NTSC edition has a trailer and an audio commentary by Cimino.

Movie Review: Rourke offends and charms in great looking action/drama
Summary: 4 Stars

Scripted by Oliver Stone, "Year of the Dragon" is a dark, edgy, and complex action film rich in weighty character study and politically incorrect social issues. Working with a huge budget, award winning director Michael Cimino suavely glides his camera through gorgeous detailed sets that range from elaborate urban settings to drab suburban trappings and even exotic global locations. Despite the early 80s setting and a few dated hair cuts, the film is strangely timeless, drawing heavily from the gritty look of classic gangster films. The shoot outs and chase sequences are small scale and spacious but bloody and shocking when they erupt at unexpected moments, escalating in brutality and emotional impact as the film progresses. There's also some impressive real car wreckage you just don't see in modern films.

Already world weary and battle scarred, Mickey Rourke dominates the movie as its morally ambiguous protagonist, delivering a charismatic but layered performance that demands the audience understand him even if they don't completely like everything about him. He comes across as racist, sexist, and selfish but also genuinely tragic and heroic. The physicality he brings to the role is also impressive; his crude realistic punches putting the decade's bigger action stars to shame. The soft spoken John Lone is as classy and unusual as villains get, ruthless but cool and oddly likable. Tall husky voiced, Ariane Koizumi gives a strong supporting performance as Rourke's reluctant lover, their anti-cliche romance seeming geniune despite an emotional distance on the surface. Dennis Dun also shines in a brief but sympathetic role.

-Dan S. of dangerdiablogik

Movie Review: Whatever happened to Ariane?
Summary: 4 Stars

Anyone know? By the way this disc is worth picking up just for the commentary by Michael Cimino...I always thought he was semi-reclusive, so it's pretty entertaining to listen to him ramble on in a pretty stream of consciousness kind of way...As for the movie, I'd say it's pretty harsh, and probably politically incorrect, but I still find it damn entertaining, and it's nice to finally have it in widescreen with remastered sound. It's well worth the price and very underrated. After Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, this is my favorite Cimino film, and it's very re-watchable....which I think is essential to owning DVD's.