‘Year Of The Dragon’ Blu-Ray Review – Mickey Rourke Is An Agent Of Chaos In Memorable Crime Thriller

Mickey Rourke 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 plays the crime lord standing in the line of fire of White’s relentless campaign. And Academy Award-winning director Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot), working from a screenplay based on the novel by Robert Daley (Prince of the City) and coscripted by Oliver Stone, fills the screen with adrenaline rushes of action and excitement.

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Video Quality

Year of the Dragon received a stellar upgrade on Blu-Ray when it was released in 2019 courtesy of Warner Archive with a 1080p master sourced from a 2K scan of the Interpositive. The transfer retains the incredible natural film grain free of any compression artifacts or other such digital nuisances. The colors of the film are faithfully saturated to recreate the neo-noir aesthetic. Certain hues make a notable impression within the outfits, production design, and moody light sources. Skin tones appear to be natural across the ensemble. Black levels are deep and detailed in the shadowy areas of the screen, and highlights never fall victim to blooming. The mixture of practical locations and intricately constructed sets reveal textures that are easily visible for the first time. Warner Archive has provided a dynamite transfer for this visceral narrative. 

Audio Quality

Warner Archive brings this Blu-Ray to consumers with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that offers an ideal presentation. The score from David Mansfield established the tone of the film, and it sounds strong throughout with unwavering fidelity. Dialogue mostly stays anchored to the center channel with some favorable expansion to the surround speakers when necessary. The action comes in fits and spurts, but the environmental effects are omnipresent while giving this one life. This is a balanced track that achieves everything it needs to without issue. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are provided on this disc.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Director Michael Cimino provides an archival commentary track in which he broadly speaks about the production of the film rather than scene-specific insights. During this track the filmmaker touches on the efforts to represent elements authentically, collaborating with Oliver Stone, the shooting locations, the casting process, and more. 

• Trailer: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

Year of the Dragon is a gripping crime thriller that works well when you are exploring the power structure of the triad and the terror they bring down upon the community. Things become a little more chaotic when you introduce the unpredictable presence of Mickey Rourke who is so driven to complete his job that he cares about little else. We don’t need our protagonists to be Boy Scouts, but this character is so reprehensible at times that it leaves you wondering who deserves to come out on top (and at what price?). The film is a bit overlong and tonally messy, but crime film fans will enjoy the outing. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a formidable A/V presentation and a couple of special features. The film is decent entertainment and the technical presentation soars.  

Year of the Dragon can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.