Review of The Warriors (1979) by Art S — 11 Dec 2015

Taut action, similar in style to early John Carpenter (or perhaps that's just the electronic music score that's creating those links in my head). However, the fights (fists, knives, or baseball bats) seem drawn straight from Stagecraft 101 and the acting by many young first-timers is a bit ordinary.

Director Walter Hill may have been a better writer than director, but here (as elsewhere) he has a tendency to be crude. I suppose it fits the material: a street gang leaves a big gang conclave in the Bronx after being unjustly accused of an assassination and needs to make it back to Coney Island, their home turf, with all the other gangs gunning for them.

One or two of the gangs wear glam face paint (a la Kiss) and this gives the film a distinct feel of unreality and lends evidence to the conclusion that it's all pretty juvenile after all (although it was apparently taken seriously by real gangs at the time, presumably not in face paint).

But in the end the film is brisk and not too tough on the brain for an easy-going Friday night.