One of Mickey Rourke's best performances, November 9, 2004

"Year of the Dragon" takes us into a world most of us never knew existed, let alone have seen: the seamy underbelly of New York City's Chinatown, a world unknown to the outsiders who visit the trendy restaurants and tourist traps. It's the story of the Asian heroin trade controlled by the Chinese triads; the young Chinese drug lord who will stop at nothing to take it over, and the police captain who will stop at nothing to destroy him. As Captain Stanley White, Mickey Rourke gives the performance of his career; he doesn't just act Stanley White, he is Stanley White. And Stanley White, as Rourke portrays him, is a straight-up jerk. This guy is about as subtle as a runaway steamroller. He's totally self-centered, treats his wife like part of the furniture, and barges into his Chinese girlfriend's home and takes it over is if he owned it. And John Lone is remarkable as Joey Tai, the young drug lord who cynically arranges for the murder of his own father-in-law and then tells the...

This is one of my favorite movies. John Lone is so good, I think he steals the show. Rourke and Lone carry this movie, and the actress who plays Rourkes wife is terrific too. I might be bias here, because I relate to Rourke's character so much; A cop caught between his private ideals and the political groups and beauracracy. The movie shows how compromise and expediancy work to extend the life of the evil they are trying to destroy.

For the longest time I didn't know what this film was called. I would catch it late night on cable like twenty times and finally found it on vhs.