Year of the Dragon | Blu-ray (Warner Archives)
RELEASE DATE: February 19, 2019
On February 19th, 2019, Warner Archive will be releasing the long-awaited U.S. Blu-ray for 1985’s Year of the Dragon, from Academy Award-winning director Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter), based on the novel by Robert Daley (Prince of the City) and coscripted by Oliver Stone (Scarface).
In this criminally underrated thriller, Mickey Rourke (Double Team) portrays White, a war veteran who has a Vietnam-sized chip on his shoulder when dealing with an emerging blood feud in Chinatown. John Lone (The Hunted) plays the crime lord standing in the line of fire of White’s relentless campaign.
Year of the Dragon also stars model Ariane (King of New York), Dennis Dun (Big Trouble in Little China), Raymond J. Barry (Rapid Fire), Victor Wong (Golden Child), Fan Mei Sheng (The Story of Ricky), Jeff Chen Chao Jung (Eat Drink Man Woman), Baau Hon Lam (God of Gamblers) and Joey Chin (China Girl).
Blu-ray Features:
- Brand New 2019 Remaster
- Audio Commentary by Director Michael Cimino
- Theatrical Trailer
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
Pre-order Year of the Dragon from Amazon.com today!
I have never sat through the whole of this film … Once I watched it on VHS as a youngster and didn’t get past the middle and then recently on DVD I just couldn’t get through it …. But I have to say, some of this may have been me. Plenty of people hold this film in high regard … And I think Rourke is just one of the great screen presences of the era … Hopefully Im wrong about the film and will get the chance to experience it properly, discovering all the merits I’v missed on previous attempted viewings..
And lets just have a cheer for Italian-American directors … What an impact they have had on cinema.
I know this has been an extreme favorite at COF for many years. I’m sad to say I wasn’t a fan of the film. I normally like gritty melodrama, but I felt like Year of the Dragon went overboard with it, and there was a lot of corny dialogue and acting.
Ariane has already gotten flack for her performance, so I won’t repeat it here, but I didn’t feel that she and Rourke had chemistry. Maybe I’ll give this a rewatch later.