IMDb > Year of the Dragon (1985)
Year of the Dragon
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Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   4,938 votes
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Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Robert Daley (novel)
Oliver Stone (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Year of the Dragon on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
16 August 1985 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
It isn't the Bronx or Brooklyn. It isn't even New York. It's Chinatown...and it's about to explode.
Plot:
Using unprecedented degrees of violence, young Joey Tai becomes the head of Chinese mafia in New York and undisputed leader of the Chinese community... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 7 nominations more
User Reviews:
very good eighties movie, not yet cinema more (52 total)

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Additional Details

Runtime:
134 min
Country:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This is the first movie ever to feature the now-popular Desert Eagle handgun, according to the gun's manufacturer, Magnum Research, Inc., and Rick Washburn, the film's weapons coordinator. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Scene in Stanley's kitchen, where the sink pipe bursts and water spouts on Stanley - water also gets on the camera lens. more
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.
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Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Uphill (Peace of Mind) more

FAQ

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10 out of 16 people found the following review useful.
very good eighties movie, not yet cinema, 28 May 2002
Author: rogierr from Amsterdam, Netherlands

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

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masterpiece Raoul813
Mickey Rourke only 28 years old! orangerunner
Who was that?? pingvuiini
nothing but typical degradation of asian women klsjdfl
Ariane alanjayh-1
Great movie, just a little too long exclusiveburner
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