Year of the Dragon (1985)

Using unprecedented degrees of violence, young Joey Tai becomes the head of Chinese mafia in New York and undisputed leader of the Chinese community. Stanley White, the most decorated cop ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Cimino

Writers:

Robert Daley (novel), Oliver Stone (screenplay),

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, John Lone, Ariane

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Stanley White
John Lone	...	Joey Tai
Ariane	...	Tracy Tzu
Leonard Termo	...	Angelo Rizzo
Raymond J. Barry	...	Louis Bukowski (as Ray Barry)
Caroline Kava	...	Connie White
Eddie Jones	...	William McKenna
Joey Chin	...	Ronnie Chang
Victor Wong	...	Harry Yung
K. Dock Yip	...	Milton Bin
Hon-Lam Pau	...	Fred Hung (as Pao Han Lin)
Way Dong Woo	...	Elder
Jimmy Sun	...	Elder
Daniel Davin	...	Francis Kearney
Mark Hammer	...	Commissioner Sullivan

Storyline

Using unprecedented degrees of violence, young Joey Tai becomes the head of Chinese mafia in New York and undisputed leader of the Chinese community. Stanley White, the most decorated cop in New York, who hates Asian people since his service in Vietnam, is put in charge of Chinatown. Both men are prone to breaking long-established rules and both men are unlikely to make compromises with each other, which leads to unavoidable and bloody conflict.

---

Plot Keywords:

vietnam | violence | chinese mafia | heroin smuggling | tv dinner | 

---

Taglines:

It isn't the Bronx or Brooklyn. It isn't even New York. It's Chinatown...and it's about to explode.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

Mandarin English Cantonese Vietnamese Polish

Release Date:

16 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Manhattan Sur

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$18,700,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino De Laurentiis Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The exterior shots of New York City were actually sets built in North Carolina. Said sets proved realistic enough to fool even Stanley Kubrick, who attended the movie's premiere. Co-writer/director Michael Cimino actually had to convince the Bronx-born Kubrick this film's exteriors were shot at a sound-stage and not on location.

---

Goofs

Reflected off the glass of the paintings in the bank.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Tracy Tzu: Captain McKenna, any leads in the murder of Jackie Wong?
William McKenna: Nothing at this time.
Tracy Tzu: Do you think this killing means there's some kind of war going on in the Chinatown Tongs?
William McKenna: No, I don't. This is basically a situation where the youth gangs are lashing out at the establishment. The community is cooperating. The situation's under control.

---

Crazy Credits

The end credits roll over a squeezed image of the Chinese woman restaurant-singer crooning a Chinese easy-listening ditty.

---

Connections

Referenced in Rushmore (1998)

---

Soundtracks

"Resurrection Symphony #2 (Fifth Movement)"
Written by Gustav Mahler (uncredited)
By Bernard Haitink and The Concertgebouw Orchestra
Courtesy of PolyGram Special Projects, a division of PolyGram Records, Inc.

User Reviews

One of the more realistic films about Chinese Americans

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.