Writer/director Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon follows a violent, politically incorrect Vietnam vet cop (Mickey Rourke) going on the rampage when he is given a mandate by his superiors to clean up the youth gangs threatening mob war in New York City’s Chinatown. He finds a formidable opponent in John Lone, an elegant upstart restaurant owner who is dealing cocaine and secretly pulling strings behind the scenes to usurp power from the elders of the Chinese-American underworld. As Rourke and Lone repeatedly clash, things become more and more personal, inexorably sucking Rourke’s bitter, long-suffering wife (Caroline Kava) and TV reporter mistress (Ariane Koizumi) into the fray. The pyrotechnics culminate in one of the most exhilarating climactic showdowns this side of John Woo’s The Killer. Featuring an explosive script co-written by Oliver Stone.
“You forget to breathe during it!”- Quentin Tarantino
“Cimino is a blazingly gifted movie maker, he has succeeded astonishingly. Year of the Dragon has an arrogant, electric energy that dares you to look away from the screen for an instant. Do so and you miss a furious piece of action that has bubbled up, seemingly out of nowhere.…why does Year of the Dragon linger so long and so hauntingly? Because it’s part ‘documentary,’ part grand opera.” – Sheila Benson, The Los Angeles Times
In an in-depth exploration of the film, Cinephilia & Beyond declares Year of the Dragon one of the most significant action movies of the period.
Ariel Schudson discusses the controversy and artistry of Year of the Dragon on the New Beverly blog.
