The Warriors (1979) Movie Review

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

In 1979, a charismatic leader summons the street gangs of New York City in a bid to take it over. When he is killed, The Warriors are falsely blamed and now must fight their way home while every other gang is hunting them down to kill them.

The Warriors (1979) Movie Review

The Warriors (1979) Movie Review


The Warriors may be a camp conceptual ballet choreographer's vision of street life, but it still rocks the bells. The names, the music, the design, the simple story (and don't forget those jackets) are flick knife sharp. Why don't gangs this uber kuhl exist anymore? Because they never did, or can't you remember that, old maaaan?

On the train journey home, contrast the affluent optimism of the young couples, laughing with flowers after the big show, with the filthy, bedraggled and hopeless ghetto pride of Swan and his desperate squeeze. Only one side of the carriage looks embarrassed, and it ain't the Warriors, baby.

The Warriors, headed by Swan (Michael Beck), framed for killing Cyrus, a gang leader that would've united all of them, have to get home to Coney Island while all the rival gangs are gunning for them in this slightly surreal, slightly futuristic classic. All of the actors were brilliantly casted and well acted, not the least being David Patrick Kelly as highly memorable villain, Luther (Waahhrriioors come out to pllllllaahhhhyyyaaaa, is all I have to say). The new Director's cut which adds a prologue text crawl that ties it more firmly to an ancient Greek tale, as well as comic book wipes that transitions some scenes, may dumb it down a tad and spell it out for the audience too unsubtly, but it does NOT diminish from the overall greatness of the movie in the least. The superb director/ writer Walter Hill has made some all-time classics with "48 Hrs.", "The Getaway", "the Driver", Red Heat", among others. ALL of them much loved by me and to say that this film is hands down the best of all is quite a compliment indeed. Followed by a video game based on it by Rockstar that looks simply amazing and a planned remake that will in no way even hope to be as half as good as the original (It won't even have the great Baseball Furies, I mean, come on now!!) 

"Listen boppers", this is a great gang flick that has a small crew chased down by every gang in NYC after they are wrongly accused of killing Cyrus (the local crime boss) at the Bronx Zoo. The Warriors have to make it from the Upper Bronx to Coney Island with every gang in town trying their own unique ways of knocking them off. Baseball mimes, Roller Skating posses, chick gangs, and of course, the "Riffs" do their darnedest to knock off the resilient Coney Island gang before they can make it back to their stomping ground. A local radio announcer (the woman from "Where in the World is Carmen San Deigo?") narrates their progress downtown, tipping off rivals and setting up further confrontation. A great movies for all ages.

Wow, I haven't been this amazed in a very long time. Where was I living all this time that not once did I hear anything about this movie. "The Warriors" is one of the best moves of the 70's and it definitely deserves more recognition than it apparently has. There isn't a single thing in this movie that disappoints, on the contrary, everything in it is brilliant. The acting, the very cool costumes, the amazing photography, the great adrenaline music, the fight sequences, the minimalistic plot, and of course the memorable one liners. From the moment it starts "The Warriors" just never loses its fast pace and we're not able to rest until the end. There are very few movies I wish would have last longer, there are even fewer that ended perfectly and "The Warriors" is one of them. If people though "Taxi Driver" was controversial they probably didn't see this movie. Cop bashing, interracial skinhead gangs, pretty girls that put out on every other corner; man, I'm not the least bit surprised that people wanted to imitate the Warriors. I felt like it today and I thought I was past that faze. All the praise to Walter Hill for helping make one of the best movies I've ever seen. The photography, that can only be surpassed by individuals the kinds of Kubrick and the shere minimalism of just about everything, even the deserted streets of New York, have never been more powerful. This is cult at its best. 9/10

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